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CODY - The Worland boys basketball team displayed their grit and aggressive mindset on the final day of the Big Horn Basin Shootout in Cody on Saturday.

After dropping the semifinal game to Wind River, 53-52, the Warriors recovered, even with some early adversity, to beat Wyoming Indian 82-74 in overtime in the third-place game.

Versus Wind River, the Warriors (4-4) were behind by 16 points at one point in the first half but were able to cut the lead to 10 by halftime.

"We dug ourselves a hole to begin the game," said WHS boys basketball coach Aaron Abel. "We weren't executing like we should have on either end of the court but we didn't give up and kept chipping away at their lead."

Starting the second half the Warriors went to work on the Wind River lead with a run that cut the deficit to five off a McCoy Molzahn 3-pointer.

Worland would take their first lead with three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. With a one-point lead in the final minute, a foul sent Wind River to the line where they made both to go up 53-52 with 33 seconds to play.

Trailing by one the Warriors tried working the ball inside for senior Cody Baumstarck, who was shooting a red-hot 74 percent from the field, but Wind River denied the entry pass forcing Stone Ramos to take the last second shot that wound up missing.

"We just didn't execute very well at the end. Wind River went 4 for 4 from the free-throw line and we missed a few. On that last play we wanted to go inside to Cody (Baumstarck) but weren't able to and Stone (Ramos) had to take the shot," said coach Abel.

Senior Clay Bullard led the team in scoring with 18 points, on 6 of 8 shooting to go with five rebounds and a team leading four steals. Baumstarck notched another double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

As a team, the Warriors shot an impressive 62 percent from inside the arc.

"We told them they should be proud of how they fought back to get in the game," said coach Aaron Abel on what he said to his team after the game. "We just can't dig ourselves early holes like that and need to be ready to go from the start."

Wyoming Indian

Unfortunately, the Warriors did exactly what their coach warned them of not doing against Wyoming Indian. The Chiefs were hot from beyond the arc and opened the first quarter with a 26-11 lead.

Frustrated with another slow start coach Abel sat all five starters for the entire second quarter, giving the bench all the run.

"They weren't playing well," said coach Abel, "We did not have that urgency. The bench played the Wyoming Indian starters 18-17 (in favor of the Chiefs) in the second quarter. I thanked the bench afterward and told them if it wasn't for them showing the starters how they need play with energy, there probably would have been a different outcome."

The starters responded with the sense of urgency coach Abel wanted in the second half. Defensively, they forced tougher shots while cutting into the 16-point Chiefs lead.

In the final minutes of the fourth quarter Worland seized the lead but Wyoming Indian was able to go up 72-71 on their second to last possession.

The final two possessions of the game guard Ramos came up huge for his team by drawing a foul and earning a trip to the free-throw line. Ramos missed his first attempt but made the second, tying the game at 72-all. Then on the defensive end Ramos came up with a big stop to force overtime.

In overtime the Worland locked it down defensively denying the Chiefs a field goal and only giving up two points from the free-throw line. On offense the team scored eight points to solidify their comeback victory and third-place finish.

Ramos led the team in scoring with 18 points and four steals, while shooting 60 percent from the field. Baumstarck chipped in 16 and Bullard added 12. Elijah Leyva and Rylan Macko came off the bench to score seven points each in the victory.

As a team Worland continued their hot shooting inside the arc with 69 percent, shot 36 percent from 3-point range and committed only six turnovers

"Both games we fought back," said coach Abel. "One, we made enough plays to fight back and the other we didn't. Overall there were more positives than negatives. We just can't get complacent we have to continue to build on the improvements."

Coach Abel believes this team has yet to hit their potential and if they can fix two things they'll be on their way. The first being turnovers.

"Two things are separating us from being a good team. One would be turnovers, if you look at our averages it can be misleading because against better competition, like Wind River, we turn it over too much. I think it might be because we're so desperate and frantic on the defensive end that when we go on offense we have a hard time calming down. Because the mistakes we're making are our own doing and not really forced."

The second is better defensive rotations.

"We're not good at moving during the air time of a pass. When the pass is in the air our defense hasn't shifted yet. That's something we need to speed up if we want to be good," said coach Abel.

The next game for the Warriors will be on the road vs. Riverton High School (11-0) at 7 p.m. Thursday Coach Abel considers Riverton to be the best basketball team not only in 3A but the entire state.

"They're the best team in all of Wyoming. They've beat Douglas, Kelly Walsh, the Cheyenne schools and eight of their 11 wins have come against 4A teams," said coach Abel. "They're an all-around good team and the best in Wyoming and it's always fun to go against the best."