Lady Rebels stumble, drop 2 of 3

The Lady Rebels had a tough week, losing two of their three games. They faced off against and lost to Greybull 42-28, topped Shoshoni 42-36, and fell to Big Horn 50-33 across three consecutive days during a break from conference play.
“The opportunity to play multiple, quality 2A opponents acts as a mirror to allow [us] to reevaluate where we’re at and in what areas we need more work,” said Coach Jason Mitchell. “Our defensive discipline and attention to detail on both ends of the court will have to improve over where we’ve been the last couple of weeks.
“The encouraging thing is that I’ve seen every one of our girls play exceptionally well for different portions of the season.”
The Lady Rebels started slow, but held their own against the Lady Buffs for the first three quarters, even narrowly outscoring them in the third, but fell apart in the fourth, netting just four points to Greybull’s 11. Johnna Clifford led the girls in scoring with eight points with Brooklyn Paxton lending six points, Ada Pratt with five, and Vinaya Vanderploeg with four.
Following their loss on Thursday night, the Lady Rebels rallied in Friday’s match up against Shoshoni. They started slow again, but found their groove. Paxton led the way with 15 points with Clifford, Pratt, and Vanderploeg following again. Clifford landed 5-of-6 free throws, giving her an impressive 83% accuracy that night. Varissa Olsen and Paxton, meanwhile, were key on the rebound front with both securing eight apiece.
On Saturday, they were on the road to Big Horn, who dominated in the first quarter with 15 points to the Lady Rebels’ 2. The girls shook their fatigue and were able to rally briefly in the second quarter, but they couldn’t quite bring it all together and come from behind. Paxton led the way again with 10 points, accounting for almost one-third of the team’s total scoring, while Vanderploeg was key on defense, securing 10 rebounds.  
Looking ahead, the Lady Rebels have two key conference games. They face Dubois at home on Friday night (Feb. 9) before playing an away game against Meeteetse on the following morning (Feb. 10). Mitchell remains optimistic about his team’s potential, but also clearsighted. “This weekend is another where we need [to focus] more specifically on ourselves rather than our opponents. We played well when we hosted Meeteetse, but Dubois played us very well on our trip to their place several weeks ago.
“We absolutely have the talent to compete at the end of the season, we just have to figure out how to put it all together at the same time and for extended periods of time.”

Greybull 13 10 8 11 42
Riverside 7 8 9 4 28
RIVERSIDE — Kennedy Bassett 1-5 0-0 3; Anna Stone 0-1 0-0 0; Brooklynn Paxton 2-7 2-4 6; Johnna Clifford 3-11 1-6 8; Vinaya Vanderploeg 1-4 2-2 4; Teagan Kozisek 0-1 0-0 0; Varissa Olsen 1-4 0-3 2; Ada Pratt 2-5 1-4. Totals: 10-of-38 6-of-19 28. 3-POINTERS — Bassett, Clifford 1. REBOUNDS — Riverside 35 (Paxton 8). STEALS — Riverside 8 (Vanderploeg 6). ASSISTS — Riverside 6 (Bassett 2). TURNOVERS — Riverside 24.

Shoshoni 10 7 10 9 36
Riverside 7 11 11 13 42
RIVERSIDE — Kennedy Bassett 0-4 0-0 0; Brooklynn Paxton 5-8 4-9 15; Johnna Clifford 2-16 5-6 10; Vinaya Vanderploeg 4-7 0-0 8; Teagan Kozisek 0-2 0-0 0; Varissa Olsen 4-6 1-3 9; Ada Pratt 0-4 0-0 0. Totals: 15-of-47 10-of-18 42. 3-POINTERS — Paxton, Clifford 1. REBOUNDS — Riverside 32 (Paxton, Olsen 8). STEALS — Riverside 19 (Clifford 6). ASSISTS — Riverside 10 (Clifford 4). TURNOVERS — Riverside 24.

Big Horn 15 8 18 9 50
Riverside 2 12 11 8 33
RIVERSIDE — Kennedy Bassett 2-4 0-0 5; Anna Stone 0-1 0-0 0; Brooklynn Paxton 5-15 0-0 10; Johnna Clifford 1-17 2-4 4; Vinaya Vanderploeg 1-3 0-0 2; Teagan Kozisek 1-3 0-0 2; Varissa Olsen 3-7 0-0 2; Ada Pratt 2-6 0-0 4. Totals: 15-of-56 2-of-4 33. 3-POINTERS — Bassett 1. REBOUNDS — Riverside 39 (Vanderploeg 10). STEALS — Riverside 10 (Clifford 4). ASSISTS — Riverside 7 (Bassett 3). TURNOVERS — Riverside 24.

Burlington 23 12 16 9 60
Riverside 7 4 12 6 29
RIVERSIDE —  Kennedy Bassett 1-2 0-0 2; Anna Stone: 0-0 0-2 0; Brooklynn Paxton 1-10 5-6 7; Johnna Clifford 1-12 2-8 4; Vinaya Vanderploeg 1-5 0-1 2; Varissa Olsen 4-7 0-1 8; Ada Pratt 2-5 2-2 6. Totals 10-of-41 9-of-20 29. REBOUNDS — Riverside 35 (Vanderploeg 10). STEALS — Riverside 10 (Clifford, Paxton 3). ASSISTS — Riverside 7 (Clifford 3). TURNOVERS — Riverside 32.

Ten Sleep  1 5 4 5 15
Riverside 21 18 16 4 59
RIVERSIDE — Julie Earl 1-1 0-0 2; Kennedy Bassett 0-3 0-0 0; Anna Stone 1-5 1-2 3; Brooklynn Paxton 6-13 0-0 12; Johnna Clifford 7-18 0-0 14; Vinaya Vanderploeg 3-7 0-0 6; Teagan Kozisek 1-1 0-0 2; Varissa Olsen 7-10 0-2 14; Ada Pratt 3-8 0-0 6. 29-of-66 1-of-4 59. REBOUNDS — Riverside 48 (Clifford 13). STEALS — Riverside 14 (Paxton 5). ASSISTS — Riverside 11 (Clifford 3). TURNOVERS — Riverside 15.