It’s not the finish that either team had hoped for but state tournament dreams ended for the Wyoming Indian Chiefs and the St. Stephen’s Eagles late Saturday morning in Riverton.
The Chiefs fell 73-69 to Greybull at Riverton High School and the Eagles dropped a 69-62 decision to a late surging Kemmerer Ranger team at the Riverton Middle School.
St. Stephen’s played well through three quarters and looked to be in the driver’s seat with a 13-point lead late in the third period, but that all changed with the Rangers hitting long shots and taking the ball inside via a 22-point final period.
St. Stephen’s coach Mike Jenkins’ squad split with Kemmerer during the regular season, and he elected to go with a bigger starting line, moving 6-4 post Terrell Jenkins into a starting spot.
The strategy worked well until Jenkins began to get into foul trouble in the second half. He eventually fouled out, and the Rangers began to take the ball inside.
The Eagles battled inside, but their long-range shooting was off, with Cayden Lonedog hitting their only pair of 3-point shots on the game. He finished with 16 points. Lawrence Jenkins scored 18 and Tyren Ridgely had 14.
For Wyoming Indian, the opening half was a nightmare. Greybull shot the ball well inside and out, building a seemingly insurmountable 14-point lead at the half, 37-23.
Insurmountable for many teams, but many teams are not the Chiefs.
Wyoming Indian roared back into the game via a 25-point third period and took a three-point lead early in the fourth quarter, largely on the play of Jerrell Tillman who had 17 of his game-high 20 points in the third period alone, including three 3-pointers.
Greybull rallied on the play of 6-3 senior Cale Wright, and by hitting 12 of their 23 made free throws on the game in the period. Wright finished with 29 points.
Rounding out double-figure scoring for the Chiefs was Brandon Coffee with 15 and Izaiah Burnett with 10.
After Wright’s 29, Coby Henderson had 13, Aiden Reece 10, and Carlos Rodriguez 13.
Wyoming Indian 13 10 25 21 – 69
Greybull 15 22 13 23 – 73
Wyoming Indian – Jerrell Tillman 2 (3) 7-8 20, Izaiah Burnett 5 0-0 10, Kadin Lincoln 1 0-0 2, Jason Slowbear 2 0-0 4, Brandon Coffee 3 (2) 3-5 15, Cordell Spoonhunter 3 1-2 7, Tyson Soundingsides 3 0-1 6, Allen Redman 1 (1) 0-0 5. Totals 20 (6) 11-14 69
Greybull – Henderson 5 3-7 13, Reece 2 4-6 10, Cooper 4 0-0 8, Wright 4 (4) 9-12 29, Rodriguez 3 7-9 13. Totals 18 (4) 23-34 73
St. Stephen’s 19 16 17 10 – 62
Kemmerer 12 18 17 22 – 69
St. Stephen’s – Cayden Lonedog 4 (2) 2-2 16, Aynjle Monroe 1 0-0 2, Stephon Lonedog 2 3-5 7, Terrell Jenkins 1 3-5 5, Lawrence Jenkins 8 2-4 18, Tyren Ridgley 5 4-6 14. Totals 21 (2) 14-22
Kemmerer – Peternal 4 (1) 0-2 11, Witback (1) 0-0 3, Bowen 5 1-1 11, Wiswell 1 0-1 2, Rogers 4 (1) 4-4 12, Kampman 9 (2) 6-7 30. Totals 23 (5) 8-15 69