Caleb Lake attempts to work his way around a defender from Fruita Monument High School Thursday night during the Wolves' first game in the Flaming Gorge Classic. The Wolves won all three of the games they played at the event.
Overcoming a disappointing opening in Casper, the Green River High School boys basketball team notched three wins throughout the Flaming Gorge Classic.
"We had some glimpses of really good offense and defense throughout that (Casper) tournament, but we were inconsistent and I don't feel like we played four solid quarters in any of the games during the Oil City Tip Off," head coach Laurie Ivie said.
During the Flaming Gorge Classic, Ivie believes the Wolves showed a better representation of what the team is capable of.
"I was proud of how the boys performed during the FGC," she said. "We cleaned up a lot of things from our previous weekend, and had consistent stretches all throughout the tournament."
The Wolves scored wins against teams from Fruita Monument, Colorado, Torrington and Rawlins. The first game of the tournament against Fruita went into overtime after the two teams ended the fourth period tied at 56. Ivie said Dylan Taylor's free throws were clutch for the Wolves during the forth quarter, describing him as the team's rock.
"When he is poised under pressure, so is everyone else," she said.
Before going into overtime, Ivie said the Wolves had the momentum. During the brief break before the overtime period started, she told the team if they strung some stops together while focusing on hitting the boards, they would win the game. The Wolves dug deep and finished the game 63-62.
The games against Torrington and Rawlins ended with much more comfortable leads for the Wolves, with the Torrington game ending 63-38 and Rawlins ending 50-37.
"In all three games, we had several players score in double-digits," Ivie said.
She said the team's biggest focus has been on its defense, rebounding and turnovers, believing their defense leads to their best offense. She said rebounding will be a major emphasis all season long as well, saying if the team wins a "battle of the boards," they will usually win the game.
The team finished its last practice Tuesday night and will take the next six days off for the Christmas break. Following that, they will have seven practices until they compete at the Taco Johns invite in Cheyenne Jan. 6-8.
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