...And more heartbreak
Riverton downs Worland in 3A boys basketball title game
March 14, 2017
CASPER - Again, repeating as state champions is one of the tougher things to do in sports,
repeating with an entirely different starting five adds to that difficulty.
Regardless, the Worland Warriors were still able to reach their third-straight championship game and were in position for back-to-back titles.
Standing in their way in the 3A boys basketball championship were the Riverton Wolverines (28-1 overall).
The Warriors were able to get on the scoreboard first by an Isaias Terrazas pull-up shot at the free-throw line. And in the first four minutes of the game the Warriors were standing toe-to-toe with the Wolverines.
Cody Baumstarck was a force on both ends of the court, protecting the defensive interior and finishing around the rim on offense.
Up 6-5 with 4:45 in the first quarter the Warriors looked to be in control. Then the Wolverine onslaught happened.
Riverton went on a 15-0 run to close out the first quarter and take a commanding 20-6 lead.
"We like to switch ball screens. That's something we have done during our winning ways. Other teams know that we switch but no team had been very successful attacking the switch. We do a really good job of getting high hands to the ball and the guy that's switching to the roll man usually has good high hands as well. Teams have to make a perfect pass to take advantage of our switching," said WHS boys basketball coach Aaron Abel when breaking down Riverton's run.
"Riverton was very patient. They rolled and would drag-dribble and typically what we do is when we get the ball out of the hands of the guy that accepted the pick-and-roll, we'll switch back. Riverton did not give the ball up, they were patient, waited and had good spacing and hit the guy in the post which would be a mismatch for us. We had to have Cody (Baumstarck) or whoever was guarding the ball dig down and they would kick it right back out for an open 3-pointer. They had a great game plan for attacking our switching ball-screen defense and credit to them for such a good game plan," Abel said.
The Warriors tried to respond but the Wolverines had an answer each time as they went on to defeat Worland 62-34.
"We started corralling the ball in the second half which worked but it was kind of too little too late. They also still hit shots and we had to pick our poison. Either it was staying on the corral or having Easton Paxton come one-dribble off the ball screen and shoot it. Even when we had good defense he still hit a couple of those shoots. That was an adjustment we made too late.
Another thing I would have done different was calling timeouts earlier during their run. We thought one more possession then we'll call timeout but then (Riverton) would hit another 3. So I felt like our first timeout was a possession too late. Overall, I felt they were the best team in the state and were deserving of the win," said Abel.
Riverton also played strong defense on Baumstarck, who had 12 points, six rebounds and six blocks on the night, hether that was with their starters or reserve forward Soloman VanDellen.
"I was really impressed, he's a junior and hadn't been in their rotation until an injury. He did a great job on Cody, had five offensive rebounds and finished with eight points. He was really a guy that hurt us," said Abel about VanDellen's play. "We thought if we took away their two primary scorers we'd be all right. That didn't work out for us defensively. We limited (Brady) Fullerton and (Easton) Paxton but their role players stepped up big. They also shot the ball really well and were due. When they lost to Lyman they shot the ball horribly and they didn't shoot it well against Douglas in the semifinals either. They had a good night shooting the ball. At times I turned to our coaches and said that wasn't bad defense that's just good shooting."
After the game Abel told his team that this loss is going to sting but reminded them of everything they accomplished this season. And more importantly how they kept building on the Warrior basketball tradition
Abel said, "We told them it will hurt for a while but the larger picture will become known to them soon. I think we went most of the season considered to be in the bottom half of 3A and we were able to turn that around. Winning our quadrant again, winning 20 games for the third season in a row and making our third-straight appearance in the title game. It shows where our program has gotten to, as far as the tradition and high expectations.
"No matter who is here we expect to win year in and year out and be a highly competitive basketball team. Losing all five starters from the championship team then making it back to that point a year later shows that we have a winning tradition started and really high expectations for whoever wears a Worland uniform."