Green River opens 4A West tomorrow

Over their past six games, the Green River High School boy’s basketball team has traveled more than 1,400 round-trip miles.

Tomorrow night the Wolves will have a much easier trip with a 86 mile trip to Evanston to take on the 7-4 Red Devils. It will be first game of 4A West Conference play for both teams.

Afterward, the squad will get to play their first home game since before Christmas Saturday at 2:30 p.m. against Riverton (5-5).

Green River head coach Dan LaRose said there is a lot of learning that comes from the pre-conference schedule and they will be meeting individually with players this week to talk about the first ten games of the season and to look at their individual performances.

LaRose said they are going to talk about what both the coaches and players can do to help the team as a whole as they approach the conference season.

Last week, Green River fell to Cheyenne South on Friday 67-51 and Laramie Saturday 74-38.

LaRose said he the teams intensity level was up at the beginning of those game and that has been a bonus.

“We’ve come out and played a little bit better in the games coming out of the gate. The desired outcome isn’t perfect, but were getting better prepared physically and mentally.” LaRose said.

Looking at the Thursday matchup in Evanston, LaRose said the Red Devils not only have good individual athletes, but have a team concept that is solid.

“Those kids know each other and how to play with each other,” he said. “They have some great athletes. We’re going to have to work hard to contain them defensively,” he said.

The game Saturday will be the first home game after seven straight on the road and the second-year coach said it will be a nice opportunity to play at home after some very hard road trips.He said the team had a lot of support when they played at the Flaming Gorge Classic, and while none of the conference home games will be easy, it gives the kids a chance to play at home and sleep in their own beds.