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Trappers Drop Two Games
Casper College won a rock ‘em, sock ‘em scorefest Saturday night at Northwest College, 110-90. More remarkable than 200 combined points, however, was the stunning fact Trapper Kyle Brown netted more than 25% of that total himself.
Meanwhile, in the Trappers’ Jan. 22 game at Central Wyoming in Riverton it was the host Rustlers on top of a 91-79 final score.
Of Brown’s 52-point explosion against the Thunderbirds, his coach, Jay Collins, chuckled when he said, in gross understatement, “Obviously he was feeling good.”
Collins was as amazed by his quiet, calm sophomore from New York City as everybody else. “I’ve never coached anyone who scored 52. We were struggling offensively early and he stepped up” to keep the Trappers from seeing Casper run away and hide,” the coach said.
“He just kind of did what Kyle [Brown] does,” Collins said of how all those points came about. In large part, Brown employed his transition game where he scored in that midrange.
“Kyle was relentless” and “didn’t ever give up.” the coach said.
Brown was 5-7 from 3-point range, 19-of-32 from the floor overall and “got to the line” with his attacking skills off the dribble, said the coach. Brown converted nine of 10 free throw attempts, too.
“That’s a really good team,” Collins said of the Thunderbirds. “In my mind I thought maybe Gillette was the most talented team in the league,” but after seeing Casper he is rethinking that opinion.
The T-Birds’ “length and size really bothered us,” the coach said. It doesn’t help that his Trappers are “the smallest team in this league and maybe most of junior college basketball” across the country.
Collins would not be inclined to use it an excuse, but the fact is as many as four Trappers were greatly hampered or, as in the case of super-sub Rambo Badyal, not even in the gym because of illness.
In the flow of the game the Trappers dug a deep hole and trailed 61-29 at halftime. It was a different matter in a second half: Northwest put up 61 points to 49 for the Thunderbirds in what was a terrific game for spectators.
David Walker led Casper with 18 points. It required six T-Birds cracking double figures to rack up Casper’s 110 points, but just one Trapper to account for nearly half that many by himself.
Last week against Central Wyoming — perhaps as a prelude of what was to come Saturday against Casper — Brown scored 34 to lead Northwest. Max Dehon with 14 and Jerome Mabry with 12 also cracked double figures.
James Woods with 19 had the best of it for the Rustlers.
Central Wyoming enjoyed a seven-board advantage with 36 rebounds to Northwest’s 29. Dehon and Alan Swenson were credited with four assists apiece.
The Trappers were up by one, 45-44, at halftime but, after intermission the Rustlers scored 47 to Northwest’s 34.
NWC (9-12 overall, 1-5 in Region IX) visited Laramie County in Cheyenne on Wednesday and is at Eastern Wyoming this Saturday.
“This week is a huge week,” Collins said Monday. “If we can get these two on the road we’ll be right back in the [conference] mix” — with a chance to perhaps host come tournament time.
Northwest College — Brown 52, Petteno 17, Swenson 8, Goss 7, Dehon 4, Hohenstein 2.
Central Wyoming — Woods 19, Briscoe 16, Francois 16, Dahir 12, Guinn 11, Smith 8, Gentry 8, Mensah 1.