Buffs and Lady Buffs ready to hit the court

GREYBULL - The Greybull High School boys and girls basketball teams travel to Glenrock and Wright, respectively, to tip off their 2016-2017 season.

Lady Buffs

GHS girls basketball graduated five seniors from last year's team which included all-state selection Madi Edeler. Also gone, most of the Lady Buffs size but coach Jeff Hunt still likes his young returning team that put in a lot of work over the summer.

"We're quick and have quite a bit of talent this year. We're also young but our young players are pretty talented. We'll give up some size but we'll make up for it with our speed," said coach Hunt. "Our young girls have put a ton of time in the gym with camps and a lot of that stuff over the years. Over the summer we ended up having at least 12 girls at open gyms, tournaments or camps. This whole group put some time in and they want to win. It's quite exciting to see how well this group is doing and what's ahead for them."

Looking at the conference competition and competition across the entire 2A class coach Hunt noted how many of the last year's state qualifiers lost talent due to graduation, which has created some uncertainty in 2A and put the conference and state titles up for grabs.

"For our conference Rocky didn't have a senior last season and returns everyone, bringing Lovell back into the conference changes things because they dominated before they left, but the conference will be up for grabs. I expect everyone to be pretty solid. Looking at 2A as a whole it's a little down, in the sense that a lot of the teams that were at state last year lost a lot of players. Wyoming Indian will be one of the tougher teams but it's one of those seasons that no one will know what to expect until after Christmas," said coach Hunt.

In the early part of the season coach Hunt is looking for his team to pick up some early wins while relying on their defense that ranked tops in the state last season. For the season the Lady Buffs want to add another winning record to the books as well as qualify for state.

"We're looking for early success. We also want to finish around the basket, like I said we give up some size but we want to keep attacking. Last season we were No. 1 and No. 2 in defense and rebounds and being a defensive minded coach that's something we want to keep going.

"One of our biggest goals this season is to have another winning season," said coach Hunt, "We want to get ourselves back to state because it's been awhile since the program went to state two years in a row. Also if we get to state we don't want to get there and come back after two games, which was a goal the girls set on their own. So that's what we're really trying to do this season is to see Greybull girls basketball win some state competition."

Buffs

As an assistant for the past 17 years for coach Jim Prather, who retired as the GHS boys basketball in the spring, coach Nolan Tracy is taking over the reins of the GHS boys basketball program.

Gone for the Buffs are a talented senior class that included three-time all-state selection Treston Tracy, son of coach Tracy, but returning is all-conference selection Dustin Fox, Dawson Forcella and Cade Dooley. Greybull does not have the height advantage they've enjoyed over the recent years, yet coach Tracy plans on using an athletic roster to offset their lack of height.

"Our goal is to use our speed and athletic ability to minimize our disadvantage at height. We're not going to have the 6-foot-5 or 6-foot-6 player out there, so we'll use our speed and athletes to give us the advantage," said coach Tracy. "Defensively, we'll play zone and maybe at times go to man with our speed but for the most part I'm not looking to change what's been successful for us over these past seasons."

Being coach Prather's assistant for the past 17 years gives coach Tracy an advantage in that he's familiar with the players and the program. With that familiarity he plans on running similar offensive and defensive schemes and as the season moves on will add new wrinkles here and there.

"I told the kids we're going to start with the familiar and go from there. Especially with the opening tournament, instead of having a bunch of new stuff to learn we'll use a lot of what we've done before then add new things later on," said coach Tracy.

Looking at his rotation, coach Tracy plans on the using the first weeks of the season to tinker with his lineup to find the five that work together the best.

"We have three guys that are locked in at starters and after that we have four other guys depending on play and team chemistry that can fill those two remaining spots. What I plan on doing in this first tournament and possibly the next, is having different starting lineups until we find the five who play the best together," said coach Tracy.

As for season goals, Tracy wants his team to work hard and work together as a team.

"My goal for the team is to play with great effort on every possession, have a positive team-first attitude and if we have those two things we're going to be happy with the results. As the season goes on we'll add goals here and there as I see how the team and individual players play. My whole deal right now is it has to start with the effort we're willing and able to give," said coach Tracy.

Class 2A boys basketball looks to have another competitive season with defending champions Pine Bluffs returning most of their roster that includes forward Hunter Thompson, who committed to play at the University of Wyoming over the summer. In the Northwest conference Greybull will be battling it out with Rocky Mountain, Lovell and Shoshoni for the conference title.

"It will be a tough conference, we'll have Lovell coming back in and they always have size and kids that can shoot," said Tracy. "Us and Rocky Mountain are similar teams with the athletes on the floor, players that can shoot and players that can attack the rim. Shoshoni returns three good players, they may not be deep but those three players will be a challenge to stop. With all things considered, we should be right there in the mix and if we accomplish the things I expect, we should be among the top two in the conference."