Pioneers pick up huge upset over Meeteetse

WORLAND - The Ten Sleep Pioneers notched their ninth win of the season last week, and it was their biggest win yet.

Coming off a 76-51 loss to Burlington on Feb. 4 in Burlington, the Pioneers hosted 1A Northwest foe, the Meeteetse Longhorns, on Feb. 5.

Meeteetse had beaten Ten Sleep, 52-34, on Jan. 24 in Meeteetse. Ten Sleep was also shorthanded for Saturday's game. They had no subs for the team as only five players dressed.

But past results and only having five players wouldn't matter for the Pioneers as they went on to defeat the Longhorns 50-47.

"It was a huge win for us. It was definitely the best game we've played all year," said TSHS boys basketball coach Jimmy Phelps. "The team has progressively gotten better throughout the season, and hopefully, it will improve through the regional tournament."

Phelps continued, "There was a tremendous amount of hustle. The boys played extremely hard. We only had five players, so there was no rest for them. It was a very fast game, a very physical game, but I never saw anyone let up. A lot of it had to do with our crowd. Our crowd was a big part of our win. Talking with the boys, they agreed that the crowd helped keep them going when they were exhausted."

Ian Turgeon led the Pioneers in scoring vs. Meeteetse with 21 points, Calvin Baker chipped in 15, Canyon Egger added eight, Asher Lyman four and Jacob Holiday two.

For all 32 minutes, the Pioneers out hustled the Longhorns, who had a full bench, as the Ten Sleep faithful was right there cheering them on.

Along with their heart, the Pioneers played their best complementary game of basketball this season. For most of the first half, the Pioneers held the lead, but Meeteetse made a game of it in the second. Each time it looked as if the Longhorns were pulling away, the Pioneers got a big 3 from Turgeon.

Helping free things up on the perimeter for the Pioneers was their play in the paint. Baker played a dominating game inside for Ten Sleep, pulling down 13 rebounds. Whether it was pulling down rebounds, converting looks around the rim or challenging Meeteetse's drives at the basket, the junior was a force on both ends of the court.

"We've had some really good games where we've shot well from outside, but this game we had a really good game on the inside. Calvin Baker just dominated the middle on both ends of the floor. Meeteetse is a really good ball team with outstanding players, and Calvin dominated the middle. That's something we've needed. Most of our scoring has come from the outside and had streaks of strong rebounding," said Phelps. "Calvin wasn't the only one, but he really upped his game and just dominated the inside."

Baker's play also helped offset down shooting nights from the Pioneers' scoring leaders Canyon Egger and Asher Lyman.

"That made a huge difference because we had some guys not shoot as well as they usually do. Ian Turgeon had a great night. Canyon Egger played a great ball game, but it wasn't his best shooting night. Same thing with Asher Lyman. Jacob Holiday was solid, and I can always count on him to be consistent from game to game," said Phelps.

The fouls piled up quickly for the Pioneers in the first half with the game's physicality. But out of the halftime break, the Pioneers did an impressive job adjusting to that physicality and were still able to defend aggressively but without fouling. Because of that, the Pioneers didn't have one player foul out.

That adjustment was exactly what Phelps wanted from his team.

"We made a point of telling them how many fouls they had, but at the same time, we couldn't let up our intensity. If we'd let up our intensity because of fear of fouling, we'd have lost the game. It was an extremely physical ball game. If you get timid, you're going to lose anyway. Part of my thinking was, we're going to play hard, and hopefully, we end up with five guys, but we can't let up," said Phelps.

Two games remain in the Pioneers regular-season schedule, both home games. On Friday, at 6:30 p.m., they host the Dubois Rams, the 1A Northwest division leaders and WyoPreps No. 2-ranked 1A team. Then closing out the regular season, they host the Burlington Huskies on Feb. 19 at 6:30 p.m.

Both games offer their challenges, but the Pioneers want to keep building off Saturday's win and head into regionals with momentum.

"We've got two games left, home games against Dubois and Burlington. They're both outstanding teams. If we're going to beat them, we'll have to play at the level we did the other night. We'll have to play the best we possibly can just to be in the game with them. The boys are excited and are anxious to start that challenge," said Phelps.