Green River notches comeback win

The Green River High School girl’s basketball team had a flair for the dramatic when they opened up last week’s Flaming Gorge Classic.

In a back-and-fourth affair the Lady Wolves were able to get their first win of the season when junior Averee Cobb hit a game winning jumper with just seven seconds left to give them a 43-42 win over Kemmerer.

Cobb said that she really wanted to pick up the victory and was open, so decided to take the shot. When she released the ball, Cobb said she was so in the moment that she wasn’t quite sure if it was going to go in.

She nailed the clutch shot after Green River head coach Aric Hanusa took a timeout with 15 seconds left after the Lady Wolves regained possession and said he drew up a play. He also told his squad exactly how the game was going to end.

“I told them we were going to score and this is how we were going to do it,” Hanusa said. “They know I believe in them and they should believe in each other.”

After a tough loss to Star Valley in the opening game of the season, Green River started strong against Kemmerer and took a 9-5 lead after Payton Bartlett stole the ball and took it in for a layup.

Kemmerer would quickly respond and took a 15-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Lady Rangers continued the momentum in the second quarter and stretched the lead to 27-19 at half.

The third quarter was all Lady Wolves as they outscored Kemmerer 15-5 in the third quarter to lead 34-32 at the end of three.

The fourth quarter was a back and forth affair and the Lady Rangers appeared to be near the victory when they took a 43-39 lead with a minute left.

Sophomore point guard Taylor Stoeger quickly got Green River back in the game when she nailed a three pointer to cut the lead to one with under a minute left.

On Green River’s next possession Cobb sealed the deal with the jump shot.

Stoeger led the Lady Wolves with 14 points.

Senior Kasey Turnbull was also in double figures with 12 points. Mariah Morin added eight, Bartlett had five, Cobb pitched in four and Hattie Hix had two points for the Green River squad.

“It felt awesome. The girls showed heart and we kept after it and played like a team,” Hanusa said after the game.