BURNS – The Torrington High School Boys’ basketball team won their first two games in the Burns Winter Classics but stayed behind in the tournament finals.
Torrington won both games on Friday against Thermopolis and Arvada, Colorado, but the Blazers fell against Pine Bluffs in Saturday’s final of the tournament.
The season opener for the Blazers came to an end when Torrington defeated the Thermopolis Bobcats with 54:53 in double overtime.
“Kudos to Thermopolis. They are a very well trained team, ”said first year coach Logan Barker.
One area that Barker emphasized was on free throws.
Torrington was 10 of 30 from the charity flick.
“If we had made our free throws it wouldn’t have been such a big problem,” said Barker.
“We’re still growing, and it was a great way to deal with adversity from the start of the year. We will learn from it. “
Torrington was 27:20 behind at halftime, but the Blazers limited the Bobcats to just two points in the third quarter to get the game at 29 apiece going into the final quarter.
Both teams added 14 points after a further eight minutes of play and ultimately forced extra time.
The Blazers and Bobcats could still not decide on a winner after four more minutes, as they went into a second overtime tied with 48 points each.
Eventually, Torrington broke the second overtime tie to escape with a points win.
Junior striker Ben Firminhac led the Blazers by 20 points and 13 rebounds, while Senior Kieser Wolfe added 13 points and 14 rebounds. Junior Skyler Sargent had eight points and a team-high 12 boards.
Later that night, Torrington pulled away late in a 56-39 win over Arvada, Colorado.
“It was a good game. I felt like we haven’t reached our full potential, but again, it’s still a work in progress, ”said Barker. “The first basketball weekend is always a bit tough, but we will continue to work on ironing out a few things.”
Towards the end of the first quarter at 17:14, Wolfe hit a shot eight seconds before the end of the quarter and triggered a 14-0 run.
Wolfe gave Torrington an 18:17 lead early in the second quarter, and the Blazers limited Arvada to just two points in the second quarter.
The run gave Torrington a 29-19 lead which went to the locker room at halftime.
Arvada got no closer than eight points in the middle of the fourth quarter but Torrington pulled away late, extending his lead to 17 in the last moments of the game.
Wolfe led Team Blazers with 17 points while Sargent and Senior Deagan Keith added 10 points each. Keith also grabbed seven team high rebounds and dealt four assists.
In the last game of the weekend, Torrington scored the first five points, but the Blazers fell 64:54 in the first street game of the season.
Pine Bluffs led 5-0 behind a 3-pointer from Sargent and two points from Wolfe and heated up quickly after three minutes.
The Hornets used a 19-2 run and went into the second quarter with 22-10.
“They are a good basketball team and there are a lot of things that we need to improve,” said Barker.
After the first quarter, the two teams played most of the rest of the way with the Blazers, who beat Pine Bluffs 44-42.
Torrington outperformed the Hornets 43.2% to 40%.
Wolfe led the Blazers with 18 points while Sargent added 14, including a trio of 3-pointers.
“It looks really good,” Barker said of Sargent. “It was a bit of a change in college basketball, but we’ll continue to work with him. The more self-confidence he gets on the pitch remains to be seen. “
Torrington is going to the Flaming Gorge Classic Basketball Tournament this weekend. You’ll meet Green River at 4:20 p.m. on Friday and Mountain View at 8:00 a.m. and Grace, Idaho at 2:40 p.m. on Saturday.
“We welcome any competition,” said Barker. “The only thing that makes us stronger is dealing with adversity and dealing with good teams. If we want to have a chance in 3A, we have to accept that and take one on our chin every now and then, and soon we will deal it out ourselves. “
Comments are closed.