Cowboys Win Some Lose Some

Last week the North Gem boys and girls basketball teams paired up for two double header games.  The Cowboys started the week early on Tuesday night hosting the Alturas Prep Pumas.  For the Cowboy’s boys team the game marked their season opener while the Lady Cowboys were coming off of a thrilling one point victory over Watersprings Christian.  The girls teams took the floor first.  It was very quickly evident that the Lady Pumas were severely outmatched by the Lady Cowboys.  At the conclusion of the first period of play the Lady Cowboys led by six but the game did not even feel that close.  This game got ugly quick as the Lady Pumas failed to score the rest of the game going three full quarters without a basket.  The blowout win gave the North Gem coaches a chance to get as many girls on the court as possible and by the end of the game eleven Lady Cowboys had contributed to the final score.

When the boys teams got their turn on the court the crowd was shown a much more competitive game.  The Cowboys began solid enough but missed a golden opportunity to take control of the game early.  North Gem put up eleven first quarter points but only went one for six from the charity stripe.  The five missed foul shots allowed the Pumas to match the Cowboys first quarter score as the teams were all tied up.  The Cowboys were able to spread the ball around in the first half as seven different players added to the score.  North Gem grabbed a lead in the second period and took a four point advantage into the locker room.  The Cowboys were able to add to that lead in the third but still left plenty of points off the scoreboard by way of missed foul shots.  The Cowboy’s lead was now seven entering the final period.  North Gem seemed to catch a second wind in the quarter and exploded for seventeen points and pulled away to an eighteen point victory. 

Craig Yost drives past two defenders on his way to scoring two of his team high sixteen points.

Next up for the two North Gem squads was a short trip to Pocatello on Saturday to take on the Grace Lutheran Royals.  This time it was the girls’ turn to have the close competitive game while the boys would play in a blowout.  Unfortunately for the Cowboys both teams would end up on the losing  side of the stick.  The Lady Cowboys came out a little slow and quickly found themselves trailing by seven points.  In the second period of play the Lady Cowboys began to turn things around and started to cut into the lead.  At the halftime break the Lady Cowboys now only trailed by four.  In the third quarter of the play North Gem continued to battle and got to within a single basket.  The game stayed tight in the fourth quarter and the Lady Cowboys began to collect fouls hoping to gain an advantage on the foul line.  Unfortunately the Lady Royals made just enough of their foul shots to hold the lead and edge out the Lady Cowboys by six points.

In the boy’s game the Cowboys were outmatched by the Royals.  North Gem was only able to manage two field goals in the entire first half of play.  Fortunately the Cowboys did get to the foul line eleven times making nine of those shots to salvage something out of the first half of play.  Conversely the Royals went on a roll and rattled off thirty-four first half points.  Things did not improve for the Cowboys in the second half as the Royals ran away with this one.  The Cowboys will take what they can from this game and then put it behind them.

There will be plenty of chances this week to see the Cowboys in action.  Both the boys and girls will take part in double headers at home on Tuesday and Friday.  In addition to those scheduled events the boys team only will also play at home on Thursday.

Lady Cowboys 10 17 17 13 57

Lady Pumas 4 0 0 0 4

G. Christensen 14, M. Rindlisbaker 14, O. Rindlisbaker 4, I. Hatch 2, C. O’Brien 2, M. O’Brien 4, S. Thompson 2, D. Frandsen 4, M. Barnes 2, K. Olenslager 4, C. Hatch 5

Cowboys 11 11 10 17 49

Pumas 11 7 7 6 31

C. Johnson 4, W. Wakely 8, J. Perry 6, P. Hill 5, H. Frandsen 8, C. Yost 16, H. Barnes 2

Lady Cowboys 5 11 7 9 32

Lady Royals 12 8 5 13 38

M. Rindlisbaker 4, S. Daniels 3, O. Rindlisbaker 9, I. Hatch 2, M. O’Brien 7, D. Frandsen 2, C. Hatch 5

Cowboys 5 9 2 5 21

Royals 19 15 25 4 63

W. Wakely 4, J. Perry 7, P. Hill 6, C. Yost 4