Warriors take down Panthers 68-56

WORLAND - After a tough 62-59 loss to the Rocky Mountain Grizzlies Friday night the Worland Warriors matched up against 3A rival, the Powell Panthers, to close out the 2018 Big Horn Basin Shootout boys basketball tournament.

Worland's game Saturday afternoon against Powell played out a lot like their game against Rocky Mountain. The Warriors jumped out to a nice lead only to see that lead shrink and eventually lose it.

Unlike Friday night the Warriors recaptured the lead from Powell and finished it off from the charity stripe to beat the Panthers 68-56.

"One of the main differences was we made free throws," said WHS boys basketball coach Aaron Abel about the difference between Friday's loss to Rocky and Saturday's win vs. Powell. "The biggest thing we got to the foul line 12 times against Rocky and 35 times against Powell. That makes a huge difference when we're more aggressive getting to the free-throw line. It makes offense a heck of a lot easier when you're scoring with nobody guarding you at the free-throw line."

Trailing the Panthers 48-44 early in the fourth quarter, the Warriors cranked up the defensive pressure to force Powell into turnovers, to which they turned into points either from the free throw line or the field. Worland went on an 8-0 run to grab the lead once again at 52-48 and never looked back from there.

Going 2-1 during the Shootout was a great way for the Warriors to begin 2018 and while they were among the smallest teams in the tournament. Their hustle and grit allowed them to out-physical bigger teams like Rocky and Powell.

"We get complimented a lot on how hard our guys play and how hard-nosed they are. The boys take pride in trying to win the physical battle of the game, coach Villa [assistant coach David Villa] is our guru as far as that goes. He gets kids into difficult positions physically and tries to get them to fight through those things and that will hopefully strength us mentally and physically as the season goes on," said Abel.

As the 3A East conference play nears, the Warriors showed improvement from their outings in December but they're still far from a finished product as this week's practice will continue to focus on defense.

"Our defense is still not very good. You could feel the tempo of the game change when Jadon [Swalstad], about midway through the fourth quarter, got a few deflections. We had allowed Powell to dictate pace of play but when we decided that we were going to be more aggressive and dictate defensively, things worked out much better for us," said Abel.

This week the Warriors have two games on schedule, first will be a home game against 3A defending champions Riverton at 7 p.m. Friday. Worland will then close out the week in Lovell against the Bulldogs at 7 p.m. Saturday.

"They're a lot like Cody with big kids that are real dominant. We're going to have to increase the pace with our deflection totals if we're going to have a chance against them," said Abel about Riverton.

JADON SWALSTAD

Senior guard Jadon Swalstad is the only returning starter from last season's state runner-up team and as a senior leader has put an emphasis on defense. Whether in their half-court defense, traps or press Swalstad hands are active and pestering opponents' guards.

"I really do, defense is our motto with creating chaos and being relentless on the defensive end. Since we're not an offensively talented team we have to work harder on the defensive end to get our points," said Swalstad about taking pride in his defense.

As one of the more experienced Warriors among a youthful group, Swalstad has told his younger teammates that mistakes are going to happen but rather than beating yourself up about it, go make something happen on the next play.

"It's about teaching them to play the next play. If you turn the ball over, hustle back on D and get the ball back either with a steal or board. Everyone is going to make mistakes. We put a lot of pressure on them in practice that way come game time it's easy," said Swalstad.

While the improvements on defense are there, Swalstad, like his coach, knows there is much more work to be done if this team wants to be among the best in 3A.

"We've done a lot of work on our press and we need to keep working on it because that's how we're going to get our point," said Swalstad.