The Chiefs rolled to a 4-0 start on the season at the Glenrock Classic last weekend. Wyoming handled Lusk 64-44, outlasted Glenrock 49-43, and rolled over Kaycee 70-34 before taking a nail-biting overtime win over a solid Wright Panther team 80-79 late Saturday night.
In the overtime, the Chiefs tallied 14 points in the four-minute extra period, one more than the Panthers could muster. The play of the game came down to a give-and-go between sophomores Heeyeniniitou Black-Monroe and Parlayne Ferris. Ferris took the pass and beat the buzzer on a game-winning layup to keep Wyoming Indian unbeaten.
The Wright game was a testament to staying the course. The Chiefs fell behind the Panthers early 18-1.
“The boys kept grinding on the defensive side and ball sharing on O,” Wyoming Indian head coach Craig Ferris said. “It got us back in it.”
Wyoming Indian chipped away at Wright’s big early lead and trailed by seven at the half. In the third period, they rolled to an eight-point lead behind 24 3-pointers from Ferris and Cordell Spoonhunter and nine points in the paint or at the line from Darwin Gambler.
The game was a long one with the overtime period and a combined total of 74 free throw attempts. The Panthers took 41 shots from the line and the Chiefs 33.
Gambler and his brother Kelynn Mount transferred from North Dakota during the summer and provide the Chiefs with size to go with their mix of outstanding guards.
“All 10 guys gutted out the win for us in one way or another,” Ferris said.
Gambler scored 33 points to lead the Chiefs and was hammered repeatedly, sending him to the line 21 times in the game.
Wright’s Jaxson Neely had 25 with 13 of 14 from the free throw line. The Panthers hit 34 of their 41 free throw opportunities.
The Chiefs are on the road again this weekend at the Foothills Classic in Big Horn and Tongue River.
Wyoming Indian opens play on Thursday against Tongue River then has a rematch with Wright and then a game with Big Horn Friday before finishing the tournament Saturday morning against Greybull.
WYOMING INDIAN 14 23 17 10 – 64
LUSK 14 18 6 6 – 44
Wyoming Indian – Darwin Gambler 3 (1) 2-4 11, Kelynn Mount 1 0-0 2, Kenneth Addison 1 1-2 3, Parlayne Ferris 2 (1) 2-3 9, Heeyeniniitou Black-Monre 3 (1) 1-2 10, Tyson Soundingsides 3 (1)1-1 10, Ladainian Brown (1) 0-2 3, Cordell Spoonhunter 4 0-0 8, Adriano Brown 1 (1) 0-1 3, Noah Redwillow (1) 0-0 3. Totals 18 (7) 5-12 64
Lusk – Bruegger 3 10-13 16, Matthes 2 0-2 4, Jassman 1-4 1, Brott 1 0-0 2, Matthews 1 (1) 2-2 7, Kupke 1-1, Miller 6 1-2 13. Totals 13 (1) 15-23 44
WYOMING INDIAN 13 14 11 11 – 49
GLENROCK 15 10 10 8 – 43
Wyoming Indian – Gambler 5 (1) 1-4 14, Mount 2 2-3 6, Ryan Martel 1 1-2 1, Addison 1 1-1 3, Ferris (2) 1-2 7, Black-Monroe 2 0-0 4, Soundingsides 1 0-3 2, Spoonhunter 4 2-4 10. Totals 16 (3) 8-18
Glenrock – Ayden Moulton 2 (1) 14-17 21, Garvin Zeiger 1 2-5 4, Casey Sarvey 3 2-5 8, Jaxon Cornella 1-2 1, Charlie Schowergeratt 1 5-8 7, Mason O’Brien 1-2 1. Totals 7 (1) 26-41 43
WYOMING INDIAN 23 14 17 16 – 70
KAYCEE 14 3 11 6 – 34
Wyoming Indian – Gambler 7 (2) 2-4 22, Mount 2 0-0 2 4, Martel 1 0-2 2, Addison 1 (1) 2-2 7, Ferris (1) 2-2 5, Soundingsides 3 0-2 6, L. Brown 2 (2) 0-0 10, Spoonhunter 4 1-2 9, A. Brown 2 0-0 4. Totals 22 (6) 8-14 70
Kaycee – Charlie Ramirez 3-4 3, Adrian Brubaker 1 0-0 2, Curtis Taylor 6 1-4 13, Nick Devlin (3) 1-2 10. Totals 20 (3) 5-10 34
WYOMING INDIAN 8 19 24 15 14 – 80
WRIGHT 24 10 9 23 13 – 79
Wyoming Indian – Gambler 6 (1) 12-21 33, Mount 3 2-4 8, Ferris 1 (4) 0-0 14, Monroe-Black 5 0-0 10, Soundingsides 1 2-4 4, L. Brown (1), Spoonhunter 1 (3) 3-4 14. Totals 17 (9) 19-33 80
Wright – Jaxson Neely 6 13-14 25, Layne Strohschein 2 (1) 0-0 7, Briddger Worman 3 0-0 6, Truatt Strohschein 2 1-3 5, Dolan Glasser 2 9-10 13, Jacob Vasquez 2 6-8 10, Mitch Strohschein 2 5-6 9, Phoenix Bostock 2 0-0 4. Totals 21 (1) 34-41 79