HEM takes down Longhorns

The Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow (HEM) Miners and Lady Miners basketball teams went to Rock River for a conference game on Saturday and both came away with wins.

Lady Miners vs. Lady Longhorns

Lady Miners Head Coach Jackie Jones said that the team came out ready to play after losing a week ago to a strong Kaycee team.

The Lady Miners were still without Amy Campbell, who is recovering from a sprain she incurred at the Farson-Eden game on January 28.

"There is a possibility that I might keep Amy out the entire week," J. Jones said. "We will play it day-by-day because the girls are stepping up in new roles."

J. Jones makes it clear that A. Campbell being hurt is not a good thing, but it is making other players raise their game.

"In the long run, it might be a good thing that the girls have learned to play without her as the season progresses," J. Jones said. "Her teammates are definitely stepping up."

She said Taylar Scott had another excellent game driving to the basket and earning trips to the free throw line with her aggressive play.

"She was 8 of 11 at the free throw line," J. Jones said. "When she scores like that, good things happen for us."

J. Jones said Rainey Wilson also did well.

"She had a big game, especially rebounding," J. Jones said. "Rainey has a nose for the ball when she gets down by the basket and does a good job rebounding."

J. Jones was happy with Madison Campbell in her role as a defensive player in the middle of the zone defense, which is usually the job of A. Campbell.

"She is almost always outsized but determination, and as hard as she works, she makes good things happen," J. Jones said.

The Lady Miners coach also had praise for Rock River.

"Hats off to Rock River. They have had so many games canceled," J. Jones said. "I believe their coach said that this was their first game in 16 days. So for them to step out there and do what they did, especially with so many freshmen on their team, you have to give them a lot of credit."

She said there is a decent rivalry between the teams, but it always ends in good sportsmanship.

"The boys from Rock River come over to Cliff (Miner's coach) and shake his hand and tell him what a good game it was," J. Jones said. "The girls from Rock River did the same. No matter what the score is, it is nice the teams show how to exude real sportsmanship."

The girls won 45-33.

Miners vs. Longhorns

"We needed to get one under our belts," Miners Head Coach Cliff Jones said about the win the team had against Rock River.

"We played them on January 15 and that was the last time we had won a game," C. Jones said. "They led that game until halfway through the 4th quarter. We trailed them the entire game until that point and we hung on to beat them by 5 points."

He said, this week, the team practiced to focus on keeping the Longhorns big 6-foot-6 player Johnny Moore in check.

"He is a pretty good basketball player," C. Jones said. "He has a lot of good post skills."

C. Jones said the game didn't start off well for the Miners.

"We were down 2-9 in the 1st quarter," C. Jones said. "We were doing a good job on Johnny Moore but other players snuck away with getting points. Then we were able to get organized and I think the kids did an excellent job of executing our game plan."

C. Jones said the Miners attacked the basket well.

"We stopped settling for 3-point shots and shooting a lot of 12 footers, 10 footers, which was nice," C. Jones said.

Devon Grosstick had an excellent day shooting. He scored 50 points and set a school record. C. Jones said the player attacked the basket well.

"I thought Taylor Widdison and Ura Schmidt kept Moore under control," C. Jones said. "Last game he had 28 points, this game 15 and nine of those points were 3-pointers he got in the 2nd half. So he scored 6 points on us inside and last game he scored pretty much at will."

Widdison and Schmidt were not the only defensive players C.Jones praised.

"Rayce Ward subbed in and had to control this big kid and he did," C. Jones said. "I think those three did a great job on him and it was key to our success in this game."

C. Jones said by taking Moore out of the game, Rock River had trouble making adjustments. Still Rock River kept their press on and, although C. Jones said the Miners subbed in different players to give them time on court, he kept Grosstick as the primary ball handler.

"It is a little odd to have the tallest player to be the ball handler to break the press," C. Jones said. "Him doing that allowed us to break the press and he became more of a facilitator towards the end trying to get other kids involved in the shots which is nice."

C. Jones was glad that Grosstick gave the other players the opportunity to try and shoot instead of running up the points himself.

"I am proud of the team because we executed a game plan that we practiced," C. Jones said.

The Miners won 65-38.

The Miners play Little Snake River away on February 12 and Lingle/Ft. Laramie on February 13 at HEM.