Warriors go 0-2 at 3A State Tournament

After a pair of tough losses, the Worland Warriors had a sudden end to their time at the 3A State Boys Basketball Tournament in Casper on March 7-9.

In the quarterfinals, the Warriors faced Buffalo, the 2-seed out of the East, at the Ford Wyoming Center. The Warriors held a 25-21 lead at the break, shooting 50% from the field.

Worland lost 10-9 to Buffalo in the third quarter but still had a 34-31 advantage.

With a spot in the semifinals up for grabs, the Warriors played great defensively by forcing Buffalo into tough shots.

However, on the offensive end, Worland struggled, scoring one point in the quarter. Buffalo took a 36-35 lead around the five-minute mark. From then until under a minute left, the score stayed at 36-35.

Buffalo hit two free throws to go up 38-35 with 47 seconds left. Worland's possession came up empty, and Buffalo hit one more free throw with 12 seconds left to go up 39-35. Buffalo went on to win by that score.

Chase Harris led Worland in scoring vs. Buffalo with 12 points. Brody Thiel chipped in 10 points while Bryan Caballero added six points, Owen Page five points and Grant Page two points.

In the consolation semifinals, loser-out game, the Warriors faced the Rawlins Outlaws at the Casper College T-Bird gym.

The Warriors were playing well. Up 26-16 at the half, a spot in the consolation finals was within reach.

Rawlins did make a run in the third quarter, but Worland was still up 34-33.

In the fourth quarter, the Warriors were up 45-37 halfway through the quarter, but Rawlins wouldn't go away and eventually took a 48-47 lead with 2:04 remaining.

The Warriors did regain the lead at 49-48 on an Owen Page bucket with under two minutes to go. Getting a defensive stop on the next possession, Thiel scored in transition to up Worland 51-48 with 56 seconds left.

Trading free throws, Bryan Caballero put Worland up 53-50 at the 40-second mark.

Rawlins went 1 for 2 from the free-throw line to cut it to 53-51 and got a big offensive rebound with 17 seconds remaining.

On the next play, Rawlins knocked down a four-point play, putting them up 55-53. After the Warriors missed a shot on the other end to tie the game, Rawlins hit two more free throws to ice the game and advance, winning 57-53 and ending Worland's season.

Owen Page led the Warriors with 12 points in the loss to Rawlins. Thiel scored 11 points, Caballero 10 points, Tyshon Swalstad seven points, Harris seven points, Grant Page three points and Michael William three points.

Look to next week's edition of the Northern Wyoming News for a recap on the Worland Warriors season.