Wolves show promise against Star Valley

Things could not have started better last Friday night for the Green River High School boy’s basketball team.

In their first game of the season, the Wolves jumped out to an early 18-9 lead in the first half, before Star Valley went on a 17 point run on their way to a 57-42 victory.

Green River head coach Dan LaRose said he told his team all week that if they came out and played they way they been practicing, they’d be in good shape, and they did at the start.

LaRose said the Wolves were hurt by the new emphasis on hand checking on defense and Star Valley was able to get into the double bonus midway through the second quarter and hit 11 out of 12 free throw attempts.

“That’s where we lost our lead,” he said.

At the conclusion of the game, LaRose said his team is still young and learning how to play in a closer game, something they did not have last season.

“We have to learn how to withstand the run and make another one of our own. That’s just something we will have to learn,” he said. But we’re going to be a lot more competitive by just the way we play.

As opposed to last season, LaRose said the team never hung their heads or let little things let them down.

“I told them don’t let the last play hold the next play hostage. “We’re going to learn, fix fit and forget it, he said. “We’re going to play with our heads up the whole time, even when there is adversity, and I think we did that,” he said.

Green River will have a tough test this week at the 20th annual Flaming Gorge Classic basketball tournament with three difficult games.

The Wolves will open the tournament Thursday at 6 p.m. against second-ranked Gillette. Green River will play North Summit (Utah) Friday at 4:20 p.m. and Cheyenne East Saturday at 3:10 p.m.