Boys Basketball Bounces Through the Season
March 14, 2017
The EHS varsity boys’ basketball team has had a lot of setbacks throughout their 2016-17 season, but with state this weekend, the boys are looking for redemption. With a 12-13 record and not much respect in the state rankings, the Thunderbirds have a lot of work to do if they want to see big wins at state. Looking back at their season, it’s easy to see some of the struggles that the boys have endured through their season.
In the pre-season, the Thunderbirds competed in the RE/Max Invite and earned wins over both Legacy, 48-44, and Rapid City, 75-64, but fell short against Century with a final score of 33-55. During the Rocky Mountain Winter Showcase the Thunderbirds only managed a single win against Windsor, 64-59. At the Taco John’s Invite, the boys won three out of four games, beating Kelly Walsh, 70-58, Natrona, 56-37, and Evanston, 46-23, teams currently ranked above them.
With some big wins under their belt, the Thunderbirds entered the regular season feeling confident, but fell short to their crosstown rivals, the Central Indians. Despite putting up a hard fight and keeping a close game, the Thunderbirds lost both regular season games against the Indians with scores of 39-48 and 46-52 respectively. The Thunderbirds also suffered major losses to Scottsbluff, 86-57, and Gillette, 72-50, with a minor loss to South, 51-46. They did take a nice win against Sheridan, 63-37. After beating Sheridan for the first time East came back to beat the Broncs a second time, 55-50, and pulled off a 63-61 win against Laramie. In the final two weeks of February, the Thunderbirds suffered losses to both Gillette, 42-56, and Laramie, 52-55, but managed to gain redemption against South with a 66-53 win.
In the Regional Tournament the Thunderbirds came back strong with another win against South, 58-47, and their first win of the season against Central, 45-38. Though the boys fell short to Gillette again with a final score of 52-48, they still earned their spot in the Wyoming State Basketball 4A Tournament to be held March 9-11 in Casper, WY.
