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WORLAND - On paper the 3A Worland Warriors (2-3) posed a challenging task for the 2A Riverside Rebels (0-3). Then when it came time to play the Warriors were as overwhelming as expected as they rolled to a 69-14 victory Thursday night at Worland High School.

In the first quarter Worland jumped out to a 24-0 lead and at halftime increased their lead 44-10. The Warriors controlled every aspect of the game whether it was on the offense, defense or the hustle plays.

Knowing that if they played to their talents WHS basketball coach Aaron Abel set three goals for his team to accomplish throughout the game. Goal one was to work on the offensive zone sets, goal two was to give the bench some run and goal three keep up the defensive intensity.

"Goal one was to work on our zone offense and we figured they'd come out in some sort of zone," said coach Abel. "We don't see that a lot in 3A, most teams play a majority of man-to-man. They might mix zone in there to throw you off for a little bit. So we usually don't see a team that will go zone for 32 minutes. This game was really good for us to work on our zone offense and we did a heck of a job."

Goal two was giving the bench more run than usual and allow for them to show the coaching staff they were able contribute to the team.

"Our second goal was to get a better look at our depth. Our lineup was different tonight and we wanted to give guys an opportunity. In the second quarter I thought we had guys who wanted to get their names in the scorebook rather than defend. We talked a lot at halftime that the guys who will play meaningful games are going to be the guys who are willing to do the dirty work and play defense. They needed to have that mindset rather than thinking they need to score the ball first. I thought they did a much better job of that in the second half of showing that mindset," said coach Abel.

The third and final goal was to keep the defensive intensity high and maintain that intensity from start to finish.

"The third goal was having a defensive urgency in a game where we maybe didn't need it. We want to play that way all the time consistently. Before the break we were like a roller coaster with our effort, in rebounding and ability to defend. We don't want that roller coaster ride we want to have a sustained sense of urgency on the defensive end. We did a better job of that tonight and considering the opponent you want to always strike a balance between playing hard and playing the right way while also trying to be gracious to your opponent in a game like that. These games are tough to coach in finding that balance but I think the guys did a good job of that," said coach Abel.

Of the young players that stood out to coach Abel was 5-foot-eight junior McCoy Molzahn.

"One guy who has really done it in practice all week long has been McCoy Molzahn. For his size he really gets after it rebounding wise and is not afraid to mix it up. He's a small kid but really gets after it. He has been a kid we've been happy with in practice and it is part of the reason he's one of the guys who is getting the opportunity to play now," said coach Abel.

The Warriors travel to Cody to take on the Broncs in the Big Horn Basin Shootout semifinals matchup with a 4:30 p.m. tipoff time.

"Defensively we're going to do some different stuff. We're going to run things to keep Cody off balance and other than that we will look to execute our gameplan," said coach Abel. "This will be a good test for us coming out of the break to see where we improved as a team. Cody is a team that will be a good benchmark for where we should be at. I don't know if we are there yet but tomorrow we will have fun as a program finding out."