(Fremont County, WY) – It took the final Friday of the regular season to set the Class 2-A West boys tournament schedule beginning this Thursday in Riverton.
Wyoming Indian moved into a tie with Wind River for first place in the Southwest after a Tuesday night win at home, but dropped back into second place with a 71-58 loss to Big Piney in their final home game of the season Friday.
Meanwhile, just a few dozen miles east on 17-Mile Road the Cougars moved to the conference title with a win over St. Stephen’s at the Mission.
In the Class 2-A West, it might not matter where you line up on the opening day of the tournament. There are seven teams with a legitimate chance to advance to the state tournament, and three that will stay home after being eliminated Friday or Saturday.
In opening round action, Wind River takes the top seed from the Southwest against 0-6 Riverside from the Northwest, the Cougars beat the Rebels via the running clock during the regular season.
Thursday at 1:30 at the Riverton Middle School will be an interesting contest between runner-up Wyoming Indian, and #3 Northwest Shoshoni. The Wranglers fell 74-70 to the Chiefs in Ethete three weeks ago.
In the other two versus three contest, Greybull, who dropped an overtime game against Northwest 2-A champion Rocky Mountain on Friday, plays surging Big Piney, who tackled the Chiefs by 13 on the big floor at Alfred P. Redman Gym in their conference finale.
Greybull is an interesting team with wins and losses against Wind River, Wyoming Indian, Rocky Mountain and Shoshoni. They are indicative of how competitive this upcoming tournament will be.
Rocky Mountain won the Northwest 2-A with a 5-1 conference record and open with 0-6 St. Stephen’s from the Southwest. The Grizzlies handled the Eagles 71-59 in tournament play during the regular season, but St. Stephen’s has the most prolific scorer in Class 2-A in 6-5 senior Jordan Barraza and if he’s hot, can beat anyone on any given night.
It should be a fabulous three day tournament in Riverton with the four survivors moving on to the Class 2-A State Tournament in Casper beginning the following Thursday.