Wolves snared as Herd opens season

Glenrock senior Chris Bearfield screeches to a halt after racing down court and prepares to pass the ball around  Moorcroft’s Denton Pavlenko Friday night at home. (Matt Adelman photo/Glenrock Independent)

 

See more photos of Herd players in this week's Glenrock Independent (Dec. 22, 2021).

By: 
Joshua Leach, Independent Staff

 

 

Mother Nature may have interfered with the start of the season for the Glenrock boys basketball team, but they finally got to hit the court last week, going 1-2 in their inaugural showings. 

 

Natrona County

sophomores 58,

Glenrock 37

A snow-delayed season opener had coach Shawn Huxtable scrambling to find an opponent for his boys to cut their teeth against. He found a willing one in the Natrona County sophomore squad. The young Mustangs couldn’t be tamed in this Tuesday night meeting though, and bucked the Herders, 58-37. 

Huxtable doesn’t want to read too much into an interclass matchup against a sophomore squad that came about as a replacement for a tournament lost to a snowstorm.

“This was just a really good warm-up competition for us,” he said. 

The Herders (1-2) were giving up size in the post and struggled to maintain possession at times, resulting in 30 turnovers as a team in the game. Still, until a 20-point third quarter, the Herders were hanging around. Even after getting down, Huxtable liked the effort he saw from his team.

“We never gave up,” Huxtable said. “They played all the way to the final horn.”

Senior Terrin Fauber led the way for the Herders in the opener, racking up 12 points, five boards, and three steals in the loss. 

 

Glenrock 43,

Moorcroft 40

It took them a bit to find their groove, but the Herders earned their first win of the season in spectacular fashion on Friday night when they welcomed Moorcroft into The Rock, besting the Wolves, 43-40.

Neither team could get anything going on offense in the early going, with turnovers and missed shots preventing anyone from finding a rhythm. The first frame ended with the score knotted at six and players on both sides already in foul trouble. It was part of Huxtable’s game plan to get physical early with a young Wolves squad. Fouls in the second frame favored the Wolves (2-3) and Moorcroft hit halftime with a three-point lead.

“Defensively, we wanted to be physical, we wanted to push cutters off screens so we didn’t have to switch,” Huxtable said. ‘We did a good job early on finding bodies, creating space, and rebounding.” 

Senior Aidan Orozco went to work on the boards in the third, but the Wolves went on a short-lived run that the Herders had to claw their way back from. Fauber, who had been limited in the game due to foul trouble, made his presence felt immediately in the fourth with a bucket on the opening possession to tie the game at 28 and junior Logan Jones followed that up with a three from another zip code to give Glenrock their first lead since the first quarter, and this time, they wouldn’t give it up. The Herders got the lead as high as six in the waning seconds despite a barrage of Wolf threes, and a missed buzzer beater ensured Glenrock got their first win in regulation. 

Jones led the squad with 14 points and seven assists in the victory. Fauber added seven points and 12 boards, while Orozco stuffed the stat sheet with four points, 11 rebounds and four steals. 

“I was really impressed with Aidan Orozco,” Huxtable said. “The last time he played basketball was in the seventh or eighth grade. I was really impressed with the way he was able to come out and get in the right spot to make some plays for us.”

 

Thermopolis 72,

Glenrock 28

Interclass matchups and long roadtrips can make for a tough game for any team, and the Herders couldn’t match the pace of the Thermopolis boys on Saturday, falling 28-72.

The Bobcats brought the pressure from the opening tip, pressing the Herders from end to end and forcing turnovers. Thermopolis raced out to a 20-3 lead after the first quarter. The Herder offense was able to string together some offensive possessions in the second and third quarters, but it wasn’t enough. 

“We needed to meet or exceed their intensity, and we were unable to do that,” Huxtable said. “We had some composure issues, and that led to some turnovers and some fouls. Hopefully we break out of that issue.”

Fauber led the squad in the loss, picking up seven points and five rebounds. Orozco and freshman Ayden Moulton had six points each. 

“I think having a game like that right before Christmas kind of leaves a salty taste in your mouth,” Huxtable said. “When we go to Sundance for the tournament, I expect to see a different group on the court than what we saw on Saturday.” 

The Herders will be back in action in 2022, traveling to Sundance for the Powder River Tournament. They’ll get underway on January 7. Times and opponents are yet to be announced. 

 

Stat of the week: 73 

After opening the season shooting just 23% from the free throw line, the Herders found a groove from the stripe in Thermopolis, converting 73% of their attempts. 

 

Top performers

Terrin Fauber: 8.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.3 steals

Logan Jones: 7 points, 4 assists, 80% FT 

Aidan Orozco: 4.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.3 steals

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