Press Release from Central Wyoming College Athletics
Men’s Basketball Starts Second Semester With Home Sweep
(Riverton, WY) – The start of the new year could not have gone better for the CWC men’s basketball team. After almost a month off from their previous contest, the men took the court this past weekend against Region 9 south opponents Otero and Lamar. “Heading into Christmas break we were on a three game skid. Add a three week break, losing our starting point guard (Tedeschi), and starting another new lineup, I really didn’t know what type of team I would have.” quoted Coach Schmit on the start of the second semester of competition.
GAME 1: CWC 87- OTERO 79
After narrowly escaping with a win in La Junta, the Rustlers faced off against Otero for the second time in the past month. Playing an athletic team with a long history of success was a tough opening game after winter break. For the entire 40 minute contest the game was closely contested. Neither team could ever pull away with both teams holding small leads throughout the game. “I knew this was going to be a battle. At their place we had to overcome a double digit deficit to come back and win. Tonight we held the lead for a majority of the game, but could never pull away. Our guys have been tested all year and this was another game that will make us better for Region 9 North play.” Coach Schmit commented on his team’s performance.
CWC was led in scoring by a career high from Sam Marbury totaling 31 points on 11-17 FG’s. King Solomon totaled 21 and Julian Roberts chipped in 11 to cap off the double-digit scorers.
GAME 2: CWC 94 – LAMAR 65
Playing for the second time in two days, CWC faced off against the Runnin Lopes of Lamar. When these two teams played in Lamar a month ago; the game went down to the wire with CWC making some timely plays late to come away with the road win. This time around the game was dominated by the Rustlers. Scoring on their opening possession and never looking back, racing out to a 30 point lead at halftime, 55-25. The second half was more competitive but Lamar could never get the lead below 20. When the final buzzer sounded the scoreboard leaned heavily in CWC’s favor, 94-65. “Being able to play all 10 guys on our roster the same amount of minutes, have everyone score, and another player have a career high, was the perfect way to start our second semester.” explained Coach Schmit.
CWC had three players score in double figures with King Solmon leading the way with 19, Sam Marbury 15, and a career high from Taye Hollins off the bench putting in 13 points.
The Rustlers will be back in their home gym on Friday, January 12th at 6:00PM to play the Jump Start Snow Foxes.
Rustlers Women Drop Two in New Year, Time to Prepare for Conference Play
The women’s basketball program now sits 7-11 on the season as they prepare for upcoming conference competition. This past weekend, the Rustlers faced two historically dominant programs in Salt Lake Community College as well as #24 Western Nebraska Community College, dropping one at home and one on the road, struggling with injuries in the New Year competing right now with only 8 healthy players.
Salt Lake came into the night 11-4, having won 7 straight games, with a previous 93-34 victory over the Rustlers in early December. Coach West said that the scouting report made the difference in round two. “Our scouting report was extensive. Who their hitters were, sets and actions, keys to success, we really put ourselves in a better position to be successful.” Coach West was right, as the Rustlers came out shooting hot from the jump, with the game being tied 5 times and having 9 different lead changes throughout the contest. The Rustlers were within 9 in the final 4 minutes before the Bruins pulled ahead for a 93-74 victory.
The Rustlers hit 15 free throws to tie with SLCC from the charity stripe and hit 11 3’s to SLCC’s 4 makes on the night, but the battle was won in in the paint as Salt Lake outrebounded the Rustlers 49-20 and hit 20 more points in the paint than the Rustlers.
The Rustlers were led by 4 in double-figures, with two new scoring career highs:
Esperanza Vergara led the Rustlers with 24 points, a new career high for the freshman from Blackfoot, ID. Another career night by Tiffany Tervort of Spanish Fork, UT as she put in 14 points of her own.
Ariana Rodriguez from San Antonio, TX poured in 15 points as well on the night, followed by 11 points from Natalia Ballin of Provo, UT.
Game two was a game of preservation according to Coach West. “Every coach wants to win, all the time. There’s no grey area in that statement. However, after giving up a 6-point lead early due to their aggressive style of play and the lack of consistency in officiating, we just had to get out of that game without any further injuries.”
Ability to handle pressure and defensive stops continue to be the Rustlers’ woes this season against the best of the best, but Coach West is not discouraged. “In our 11 losses, we have played against 7 Top 25 opponents, with two losses to Salt Lake as the best team in Region 18 who has multiple Top 25 contenders in the Scenic West. Show me anyone else who has played that schedule and won. That’s right, you can’t. This is making us better in the long run, this roster is resilient, the freshmen bounce back, we just have to make some tweaks going into conference play and we will be fine.”
The Rustlers fell 81-47 and were again led by Esperanza Vergarawith 12 points, followed by Katie Walker of Orem, UT and Ariana Rodriguez with 11 apiece.
The Rustlers have a much-needed break from competition to rest and recover to head into Region play strong as they hit the road to open conference versus Casper College, reigning Region 9 Champion, on January 18th.