The final regular season game for the St. Stephen’s Eagles and the Wind River Cougars came late Saturday afternoon in Pavillion with St. Stephen’s taking a 72-59 win.
The game had no playoff implications and was the only regular-season meeting between the two Class 2-A Fremont County schools.
The Eagles came out hot, jumping to a 10-0 lead and eventually leading 18-1. Wind River finally came untracked but for the first 12 minutes of play, the Eagles pulled down defensive rebounds to end wild shots by the Cougars and turned them into fast break opportunities.
The 3-point arc was friendly for the visitors as well with the Eagles hitting eight on the game.
Paced by hot shooting guard Cadyn Lonedog who tallied 25 points, including five long-range bombs from the promised land, a pair of them beyond 25 feet, St. Stephen’s threatened to put the mercy rule in place with their fast-paced attack, but they cooled off late in the second period and the Cougars played even with them in the third.
A late rally by Wind River closed the gap but St. Stephen’s lead was never in danger.
Joining Lonedog in double-figure scoring were teammates Leland FightingBear with 14 and Stephan Lonedog with a dozen.
Wambli Romero led Wind River with 17 and Rowdy Shearer added 16.
Wind River opens tournament play on Thursday at 1:30 pm against Big Piney in the Riverton Middle School gym while the Eagles take on Shoshoni at 5 pm, also at Riverton Middle School.
St. Stephen’s 26 18 16 12 – 72
Wind River 9 15 14 21 – 59
Wind River – Mato Amos 3 0-1 6, Ford David 4 1-2 9, Wambli Romero 7 (1) 0-2 17, Juaquin Stevens 2 (1) 0-0 7, Rowdy Shearer 4 (1) 5-11 16, Kyzaia Jones 2 0-0 4. Totals 22 (3) 6-16 59
St. Stephen’s – Cadyn Lonedog 4 (5) 2-2 25, Stephan Lonedog 3 (2) 0-0 12, Stephen Lonedog 1 (1) 0-0 5, Lawrence Jenkins 3 0-0 6, Steve C’Hair 2 0-0 4, Leland FightingBear 6 2-2 14, Ethan FightingBear 3 0-0 6. Totals 22 (8) 4-4 72