Serving all of Eastern Laramie County since 1908
Serving all of Eastern Laramie County since 1908
Pine Bluffs Hornets notch three victories as they head into post-season
The Pine Bluffs Hornets are heading into the post-season high on three solid road victories last week. On Tuesday, the team headed to Guernsey to play a make-up game. The final score was 81-75 Hornets. Friday night’s contest with Southeast also saw the Pine Bluffs boys come home with a V, after topping their host 59-41. The Hornets then headed west to face inter-district rival Burns. The Hornets nearly doubled the Broncs score to bring home a 64 -35 win.The Hornets concluded their regular season with a 14-7 record and the number two seed going into regionals.
Coach Will Gray said his squad got out in transition early and often and moved the ball very well against Guernsey.
The first quarter saw the Hornets put up an early 18-9 lead. Guernsey make a good attempt to get back into the game with a 20-18 quarter but were not able to surpass the visitors. Pine Bluffs sat on a 36-29 lead going into the third quarter, where they outscored Guernsey 24-15. Though their hosts put 10 more points on the board in the fourth period, the Hornets held on for the win.
“We were without two big contributors due to illness, but our young kids stepped up in a big way,” Gray said. “I thought we answered their runs well. Guernsey is a good team, they do a lot of good things.”
Topping the scoreboard for the Hornets was JC Thurin with 20 points, Taylor Fornstrom with 19 and Preston Thurin with 16. Brady Lamb tacked on six points, while Stephen Coverdale added four, Harvey DeLaCruz three and Kyle Jeffres had two points.
Gray said, “the kids did a great job of establishing what we wanted to do,” against Southeast. “We rotated a lot of kids in and out in the second half. Defensively, we had a quality effort in the first three quarters.”
The score by the quarter saw Pine Bluffs out-score the Cyclones in all but the final canto. The Hornets topped their opponent in the first quarter 16-7, 15-8 in the second, and 23-9 in the third. In the final period, Southeast put 17 points on the board to Pine Bluffs’ 5, but the effort was too little too late to pull out a win.
Fornstrom lead the team in scoring with 19 points. JC Thurin connected for 12 and Lane Nusbaum 11. Lamb, P. Thurin and Scott Gross each added four to the score. Coverdale found the net for three points, and DeLaCruz and Trent Werner hit a free throw apiece to complete the scoring effort.
Coach Gray’s squad “had a great defensive effort” on Saturday against Burns.
“We guarded as well as we have all year, and it came at a great time,” Gray said. “Our seniors chose a great night to have one of the better performances of their careers.”
The Hornets posted a 14-11 lead in the first quarter against the Broncs. In the second, the Broncs only found the bucket for five points to the Hornets’ 16 to end the first half at a 30-16 Pine Bluffs lead. In the third, the Hornets grew their lead with a 21-12 period, followed by a 13-7 fourth to seal the deal.
As the number two seed from the southeast in the regional tourney, the Hornets will face number three seed from the north east Tongue River at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. The game will be played at Tongue River High School in Dayton.
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