The best Bolts teams use the preseason tournament to find out | Local

Thunder Basin High School’s boys and girls basketball teams entered the REMAX / Gillette Invite preseason tournament in anticipation of using the tournament to identify an identity for the remainder of the season.



Bolt’s college student Bodie Williams steals the ball from an Evanston athlete at Thunder Basin High School Thursday night.


Both teams started the season in the top 2 of the WyoPrep.com coach and media basketball rankings. The girls took second place, while the boys were unanimously number 1 in class 4A.

Each team played three games over the weekend, including matches with Evanston, Scottsbluff from Nebraska, and St. Thomas More from South Dakota.

Boys start season 2-1

Unlike most of the teams, the Bolt boys didn’t have to come up with a lot before the season started. Thunder Basin returned five seniors from last year’s runner-up team, including All-State Guards Deegan Williams and McKale Holte.

Holte started his senior year losing 32 points in a 76-33 win over Evanston on Thursday. Holte set a new school record with nine three-pointers in the game, said coach Rory Williams.

Deegan led the Bolts by 24 points in a 67-39 win over Scottsbluff on Friday. Thunder Basin ended the tournament on Saturday with a 66-56 loss to St. Thomas More.



TBHS boys basketball

Thunder Basin’s second Darius Felton attacks the edge in the paint as the Bolts face Evanston during the Gillette Early Bird basketball tournament Thursday night.


The 2-1 start to the season wasn’t perfect, but Coach Williams paid tribute to the Cavaliers during Saturday’s defeat. St. Thomas More started the game on a 9-2 run, but Thunder Basin came back to seven points by the end of the fourth quarter.

But the South Dakota powerhouse managed to finish the game at the free throw line to give Thunder Basin its first loss of the season.

“I don’t think we played very well tonight,” said coach Williams after Saturday’s defeat. “We played really well against a really good Scottsbluff team last night so it was just one of those nights. And unfortunately these nights will sometimes happen when we don’t shoot the ball well and our defense didn’t save us tonight. “

Deegan led the Bolts against St. Thomas More with 28 points before committing a foul late in the fourth quarter.

The whole point of playing in preseason tournaments is figuring out the best strategy to play into the conference for the next month.

“I really like the way we share the ball and make the game easy for us,” said coach Williams. “We just have to think about what we can do to get better and reach our potential.



TBHS boys basketball

Ryan Baker, Senior of Thunder Basin, battles an Evanston athlete for control of the ball during the Gillette Early Bird Basketball Tournament Thursday night.


“In terms of personnel, we are who we are. We just have to find our strengths and our weaknesses and work on both. “

Girls fight for 1-2 start

The Thunder Basin girls’ team returned only one starter from last year after graduating from seven senior women in the spring. This weekend was the first college action that a large part of the team had seen in their career.

Manager LeeAnn Cox, who is entering her sophomore year at TBHS, said the lack of experience was evident in the first three games of Bolts of the year. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.



TBHS girls' basketball

Senior Gabby Mendoza drives the ball across the pitch as she takes on Evanston at Thunder Basin High School on Thursday night.


“We have a lot of girls who played JV last year and the pace of the game is faster at that level,” said Cox. “I don’t think I had them ready offensively and that’s up to me. But we’ll go back to work and they’ll get better because they’ll grow. “

The Bolts started the weekend with a 42:18 win over Evanston on Thursday, but dropped their last two games of the tournament. Thunder Basin lost 61-44 to Scottsbluff on Friday and 46-28 to St. Thomas More on Saturday.

The Bolts will continue to work in the field this week to shoot contested shots, Cox said. Losing twice during the opening weekend will be a great motivational tool for Cox and her staff.

Losing the losses aside, Cox is excited to see where the Bolts can go this year after the season has started.



TBHS girls' basketball

Bolt’s junior Laney McCarty dribbles around Evanston defenders as she searches for an open teammate at Thunder Basin High School Thursday night.


“One positive point was that we started to find a rotation,” said Cox. “I feel like I have a better understanding of who I want with whom and I think they are very competitive kids and get a feel for how fast the game is.

“The experience is what we need. That’s why you have a preseason. From here we will simply grow. “



TBHS girls' basketball

Junior Peityn Williams drove the ball across the pitch against Evanston last weekend.


Both the boys and girls of Thunder Basin will return to the field for the Flaming Gorge Tournament in Rock Springs and Green River. The Bolts start the tournament on Thursday evening.

For TBHS basketball scores, visit gillettenewsrecord.com or follow sports editor Alex Taylor on Twitter @ alex_m_taylor22.

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