Wyoming Indian was able to avenge a three-point loss to Wright a week again with a 68-65 win Friday night, but Big Horn and Tongue River were too much for the Chiefs with the Rams winning 70-56 Saturday afternoon and the Eagles flying away for an 84-54 blowout win in the final game of the East-West Classic in Ethete.
The Chiefs trailed big in all three contests in the opening period. The Class 2-A East region is tough this season and these three teams represent the top three squads in the Northeast Conference and the second through fourth place teams after Pine Bluffs in the region.
Against Wright, the Chiefs trailed by a dozen points early in the final period but rallied on an 11-0 run to tie the game. A 3-pointer, one of a pair on the game was the shot that erased the Panther lead for good in tying the game.
The Chiefs were able to build a small lead and hold it for the win.
Jerrell Tillman paced the Chiefs with 20 points, and Coffee added 17.
Against Big Horn, the Chiefs faced the tallest, and perhaps most physical team they’re likely to encounter all season. The Class 2-A state football champs looked the part with strong, tall, physical players, including 6-8 post Toby Schons.
The Chiefs fell behind 7-0 to open the game, eventually trailing by 11 points at the half.
Big Horns hustling defense kept Wyoming Indian from penetrating and most of their opening half offense came in kicking the ball to the baseline for long 3-point shots.
In the second half Coffee heated up in the third period with a pair of treys and a short drive. The Chiefs eventually cut the Big Horn lead to single digits, but the Rams switched to a box-and-one defense on Coffee in the final period, limiting him to just a single basket.
Coffee’s 17 points paced the Chiefs with Tyson SoundingSides adding 10.
The Chiefs host Wind River on Tuesday in the only regular-season meeting this year between the two longtime rivals.
Wyoming Indian 9 12 19 16 – 56
Big Horn 16 16 24 14 – 70
Wyoming Indian – Jerrell Tillman (1) 2-2 5, Ryan Martel 2 0-0 4, Adriano Brown 1 1-2 3, Teryn Martel 2 0-0 4, Brandon Coffee 2 (4) 1-4 17, Cordell Spoonhunter 2 (1) 0-0 7, Jayquin Jones 1 (1) 0-2 5, Tyson SoundingSides 3 (1) 1-1 10, Allen Redman 1-2 1. Totals 13 (8) 6-13 56
Big Horn – Wyatt Brown (1) 0-0 3, Caleb Gibson 4 7-9 15, Cade Baker 3 (1) 3-3 12, Dawson Richards 4 0-0 8, Drew Heerman 2 1-2 5, Cooper Garber 2 (1) 0-0 7, Toby Schons 7 3-7 17. Totals 22 (3) 15-19 70
Wyoming Indian 14 19 12 23 – 68
Wright 22 20 14 9 – 65
Wyoming Indian – Tillman 7 6-7 20, Martel 2-2, Slowbear 1 0-0 2, Brown 1 1-2 3, Martel 3 2-4 8, Coffee 4 (2) 3-4 17, Spoonhunter 3 0-0 6, Jones 2 0-0 4, SoundingSides 1 2-2 4, Redman 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 (2) 16-21 68
Wright – Neely (2) 2-2 8, Reyes 2 0-0 4, Hernandez 1 3-4 5, Worman 6 5-8 17, Martinez 1 0-0 2, Vasquez (1) 1-2 4, Reyes 3 (1) 1-2 10, Morgan 6 2-3 14. Totals 19 (4) 15-20 65