JACKSON, Wyo. — Lady Broncs head coach knew going in that the Wolves of Green River were one of the top-scoring teams in the state. He identified the players he was most worried about — the outside shooting of Kayde Strauss and the low post game of Ashelynn Birch — and then watched as Green River did most everything it wanted to en route to a 55-34 win over Jackson.
The Lady Wolves came into the game averaging more than 58 points a game. They came up a trey short of that Saturday afternoon but looked very impressive. Junior shooting guard Kayde Strauss finished with 11 points. Birch poured in 15 of her own — all from the paint — and for the Wolves, everything they threw up seemed to fall.
Jackson could not recover from a 23-4 1st quarter. Hailey Hardeman led all Lady Broncs with 10 points on the afternoon. Gracie Hardeman, Megan Tucker, and Jennifer Feuz each added 5 points.
Jackson took care of the ball better in this game, cutting down the turnovers, but Green River just exploded on offense.
The Lady Broncs fall to 1-11 with the loss, 0-2 in conference. They host Evanston on February 1 for their next game.
Boys
The Jackson boys didn’t fare much better. It’s hard to believe Green River came into Saturday’s affair riding a 7-game losing streak and winless on the road. It was the Wolves who dominated play from the outset, running away with a 77-25 win over the Broncs.
Silas Wotkyns accounted for more than half of Jackson’s points with 13. Evan Brunner finished with 8. After that, there’s not much to talk about.
Colter Dawson did a pretty good job neutralizing Green River’s big man (all 6’7”, 222 lbs of Cole Murray), but the outside shooting of the Wolves was impressive to start the game. Jachob Fuss finished with 20 points. Dylan Taylor (14 pts), Drew Gibson (12 pts) were also impressive for coach Laurie Ivie’s green machine.
Poor passing and ball control continues to be something the Broncs have to work on, but this team also needs to make shots.
The loss drops the Broncs to 0-12 (0-2 in conference). Next up is a home game against Evanston this Saturday afternoon.
