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| Sophomore Joseph Howell split Greybull defenders Travis Sylvester and Kason Clutter and scored two for Wyoming Indian High School Thursday in first-round regional action in Wolverine Gym. Photo by Randy Tucker |
WIHS looks toward huge Lovell game
Feb 24, 2012 – By Randy Tucker, The Ranger
Senior night was a week ago in Ethete, but the celebration continued in the fourth quarter of Wyoming Indian’s white-knuckle 68-63 win over Greybull in opening round Class 2-A regional tournament action.
Wyoming Indian has just a pair of seniors, Ron Mitchell and John Soundingsides, and both stepped up in a big way in the final period to put away a pesky Greybull Buffalo squad that just refused to quit.
Mitchell took a pair of charging fouls in the final five minutes of the game. Each one negated a Greybull basket. Soundingsides hit the final four free throws of the game in a row, putting a little brighter luster on an overall poor shooting performance by the Chiefs at the line.
Wyoming Indian was just 9 of 22 from the stripe, with Soundingsides hitting five of his nine attempts over the course of the contest.
The Chiefs beat the Buffs by nearly 20 points just two weeks ago but Greybull has good size, excellent quickness and solid outside shooting.
Wyoming Indian opened the game with an 11-2 lead behind layups from Mitchell, Alvin Spoonhunter and Joey Aragon along with an Aragon 3-pointer, but Greybull hung around.
The Buffs closed the gap to five, but Spoonhunter hit a trey and Soundingsides drained a mid-range jumper with just seconds to go to give the Chiefs a nine-point lead after one.
Soundingsides hit his first 3-pointer In the second quarter, but Greybull took the ball inside on drives by Neil Getzfreid and Austin Frazier. Good post play by Hayden Goton kept the game within reach.
Greybull opened the third period going to the short-range jump shot and quickly tied the game at 32 on a jumper from Kason Clutter. The Buffs took their first lead on a Frazier 3-pointer with 5:08 left in the third, but Spoonhunter answered with a three of his own just three seconds later and the score was tied again at 35.
In all there were 11 ties or lead changes in the final 12 minutes of the game.
Greybull’s defensive strategy was effective in controlling the high-scoring Soundingsides. Travis Sylvester took Soundingsides one-on-one for most of the game, and each time Soundingsides turned to make a move to shoot the Buffs double-teamed him.
Soundingsides is as adept at passing as he is at shooting, and the senior guard quickly adapted, passing the ball inside to Joseph Howell and Trevor Williamson in the paint or passing laterally to Spoonhunter.
Greybull took a three-point lead with 3:32 left in the game, but the Chiefs clawed back on a pair of Soundingsides free throws. He followed with a 25-foot bomb that gave Wyoming Indian the lead for good at 62-60.
The charges by Mitchell and Soundingsides final free throws sealed the win for the Chiefs and sent them to their third meeting of the season with Lovell at 7:30 Friday night in Wolverine Gym in the tournament semifinals.
WYOMING INDIAN 23 9 19 17 — 68
GREYBULL 14 11 23 15 — 63
Wyoming Indian — Joey Aragon 1 (1) 0-0 5, Wilson Clifford 1 0-2 2, Joseph Howell 4 1-2 9, Ron Mitchell 1 -0-0 2, Alvin Spoonhunter 5 (3) 0-3 19, John Soundingsides 4 (3) 5-9 23, Trevor Williamson 3 2-6 8. Totals 19 (7) 9-22 6
Greybull — Austin Frazier 5 (3) 4-5 23, Wyatt Good 1 0-0 2, Kason Clutter 6 (1) 2-2 17, Travis Sylvester 1 0-0 2, Neil Getzfreid 4 5-8 13, Hayden Goton 3 0-0 6. Totals 20 (4) 11-27 63
Story @ http://www.dailyranger.com/story.php?story_id=363&headline=WIHS-looks-toward-huge-Lovell-game
