Wyoming Indian and Rocky Mountain have played many times in the 27-year history of 2-A West Regional Tournament action in Riverton, but never in a one/four matchup before Thursday.
The Chiefs and Grizzlies entered the game as Southwest 2-A champs for the Chiefs and the fourth seed from the Northwest for Rocky.
Wyoming Indian pulled away in the middle period to take a 64-44 win, but Rocky Mountain had flashes of excellence in the opening period, leading 14-12 at the first break.
Wyoming Indian head coach Craig Ferris had to go to the bench early with leading scorer Darwin Gambler picking up three quick fouls, Gambler eventually fouled out of the game.
Ferris has plenty of options with a solid bench along with two more inside players along with Gambler in Kelyn Mount and Heeyeniniitou Monroe-Black.
Monroe-Black displayed his versatility with three post ups and three 3-pointers on the game to lead the Chiefs with 16.
Fellow sophomore Cordell Spoonhunter had an outstanding game tallying 14 on high-flying pull-up jumpers and a pair of 3-point shots.
The Chiefs face St. Stephen’s in what is expected to be a standing-room-only semi-final matchup in the late game at Riverton High School with tip off scheduled for 7:30 pm.
Rocky Mountain – 14 8 8 14 – 44
Wyoming Indian –12 19 18 15 – 64
Rocky Mountain – Haslem 2 (1) 4-7 11, Minchow 1 5-8 7, Jackson 2 2-2 6, Johnson 1 0-1 2, Cooley 1 3-6 5, Bischoff 2-3 2, Files 3 1-2 7. Totals 12 (1) 17-28 44
Wyoming Indian – Darwin Gambler 1 (2) 0-0 8, Kelynn Mount 4 0- 8, Ryan Martel 1-2 1, Heeyeniniitou Monroe-Black 3 (3) 1-2 16, Tyson Soundingsides 1 1-2 3, Teryn Martel 1 1-2 3, LaDanian Brown (1) 1-2 4, Cordell Spoonhunter 4 (2) 0-0 14, Adriano Brown 3 1-1 7. Totals 17 (8) 6-11 64