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By Alex Kuhn
Sports Editor 

Warriors find a way to win in 50-48 victory over Bulldogs

 

February 6, 2018

DAILY NEWS/ Alex Kuhn

Warrior Andrew Edholm tries to save the ball from going out of bounds during a Jan. 12 game against Riverton at Worland High School.

WHEATLAND - Not every win is going to be pretty. Some wins come on bad nights when nothing goes right, but those types of wins where a team finds the mental strength to power through can be the catalyst for something greater.

The Worland Warriors basketball team found themselves in such a situation Saturday at Wheatland High School. Playing poorly on both ends of the court, the Warriors used a 22-10 fourth quarter to defeat the Bulldogs 50-48.

For the young team, it was a big win, especially since they were without reserve guards Wyatt Wyman and Porter Harman, due to injury, and Devin Mercado, who did not make the trip.

WHS boys basketball coach Aaron Abel said, "When we got down double digits there in the fourth quarter, the boys hit a level of desperation. We told them before the game there were a lot of excuses that are handmade for you but we're not going to use any of them. We're going to go out, control the outcome and come out of here with a win despite everything that had happened earlier. We didn't make the trip with Devin [Mercado], we lost Wyatt Wyman and Porter Harman to possible concussions.

"All the things that happened, the guys could have made excuses but they dug deep when they were down by 10 and found a way to claw back in the fourth quarter. I was really proud of our guys for finishing the job. Sometimes in those instances coming back is easy but finishing it off is much harder. Luke Mortimer made key free throws at the end and we needed one stop and were able to get it."

Down 48-42 with 3:07 remaining in the fourth, Worland (5-8 overall, 1-2 3A East: West division) went on an 8-0 run that was started by a 3-pointer from freshman Rudy Sanford and capped off with two free throws by sophomore Luke Mortimer.

After Mortimer put Worland up two at 50-48, there was still 49.3 seconds remaining. For all 49.3 seconds left the Warriors played one of their better defensive possessions of the season to force the Bulldogs (4-12 overall, 0-4 3A East: East division) into throwing up contested 3-pointer from the right side of the court.

"We took away their [Wheatland] set play they were trying to run. They were trying to run a UCLA cut into a double-down screen and we were able to fight through that and take that pass away. After that, they were a little discombobulated and we were able to force them into a desperation 3-pointer. Good job by our guys to recognize the set and guard it well," said Abel.

The Warriors comeback win was big win especially when you consider how Wheatland held the lead for the majority of the game.

"Those are the kind of games that are important to get in conference play and tournament play. You're not playing well, haven't played well all game and haven't shot the ball well. We're a team that really goes by how we take our first two or three shots now. That's dictating for too much from our kids right now. If we don't make the first couple of shots, our guys know we're going to be in for a battle no matter who we play in the conference. That's been the story for us lately," he said.

"I thought it was critical that we were able to come out with a win, even though the game may not mean too much right now, standing wise. It was important to come out with a win in a game where we let Wheatland dictate the pace of play all night and we didn't have our best shooting performance and we didn't have our best game on either end of the floor," said Abel.

Leading the way for the Warriors were Mortimer and junior Andrew Edholm who both scored 15 points each.

The big game from bruiser Edholm was very much welcomed as Abel called his number during the Warriors big fourth quarter.

"I was really impressed with Andrew in the second half. He was a big turning point for us. The start of the fourth quarter we started running a play that I was kicking myself for not calling it sooner. We set a double screen down low and curl over the top and Andrew was able to get three buckets right at the start of the fourth on that set. And Luke got a bucket in the set when we ran it the other way. So I was kicking myself for not running it the first three quarters," Abel said.

He added, "We put a lot of pressure on [Andrew] in the first half, we told him he has to inspire confidence in our kids, you have to catch the ball. He muffed a couple passes early and we told him we have to use you in there. We can't have a guy in the middle of the floor that guys aren't going to have the confidence to pass the ball to and he started making strong catches and finish around the rim."

This week Worland has two 3A East: West division foes on schedule, first will be a home game against Hot Springs County (1-12, 0-3 3A East: West division) on Thursday at 7 p.m., then a road game Friday as they travel to take on the No. 4-ranked Rawlins Outlaws (10-6, 2-1 3A East: West division) at 7 p.m.

In their last outings against both teams, Worland defeated Hot Springs County 57-46 on Jan. 18 but lost to Rawlins 66-37 on Jan. 19.

With the limited practices they have this week the Warriors zone defenses will be a heavy focus as they prepare for their conference rivals.

"Last time we played Rawlins we manned them up the whole time and we eventually lost physically that matchup. We only have three days to prepare and we're going to look at our zones and we might put in a 1-3-1 zone, I've held off on that for quite a while. Our guys have to be more active in our zones and we came into this weekend with the plan of playing more zone and in both games, at halftime we had to throw that plan out the window.

"Our guys just weren't active enough in the zone, we want to look more like the way Buffalo is in their zone with how much pressure they put on the ball and force turnovers," said Abel.

WARRIOR JV

Adding to Saturday night's win was the Warrior's JV 46-44 win against the Wheatland Bulldogs JV. Before their game against Worland the Wheatland JV had been undefeated and had done so very convincingly.

But the Warriors spoiled the Bulldogs pursuit toward perfection and did so with a depleted guard group.

"We were left scrambling guard wise with Devin not making the trip and Wyatt and Porter getting hurt. They said they [Wheatland] hadn't even been competed with all year and our guys gave them a game. Chris Nicholas shot the ball real well and made a lot of first half 3s for us. Our guys were able rebound well, take care of the ball and finish off the win despite not having our usual backcourt out there. We've been up and down with that group but they did a hell of a job against Wheatland," said Abel.

 
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