Women vs Chadron
Going into the season expectations of Western Basketball were probably mixed at best. On the women’s side of things the Lady Mountaineers coming off one of their most successful seasons of the decade, a 15-11 record and a payoff birth was a far cry from two seasons ago finishing under .500. They entered the weekend on a two game win streak in conference play picking up dominant road wins at both Colorado Mines and UCCS, the competition they would face for the first time in Paul Wright Gym was subpar at best in the MSU Denver Roadrunners and the Chadron State College Eagles. Friday night began slowly on the offensive sides for both teams the Mountaineers only shot 34% from the field and after having a huge offensive game the week before the score at the end of the first quarter was just 18-11 in favor of Western and closer than myself and fellow broadcaster Jacob Sawatsky expected and were comfortable with.
Things shifted drastically in the second quarter as the Mountaineers not only found their shot but began to smother the Eagles defensively as well posting a measly 1-10 mark from the field and a big 0 in the free throw shooting column. Point guard Hannah Cooper was making it extremely difficult for the Eagles to move the ball from the point and Gabbi Doud played huge from the paint on defense rebounding 4 misses off the glass. The offense of Western came away before halftime with a 27-point lead 33-16 and shooting nearly 50% from the field in that quarter.
Halftime is where things could have got interesting, it had been a running theme throughout Western’s basketball programs that either they play amazing in the first half and fall off in the second or vice versa. It was a pleasant surprise when the Mountaineers were able to keep their lead through the 3rd quarter though the Eagles did do what they could to cut the lead by as much as possible. Coach Lora Westling did a great job calling timeouts to stop runs. By the opposition and make sure her girls stayed focused enough to maintain the lead. Western also increased their shooting percentage once again to 58.3% scoring 19 in the quarter to make the score 52-27, hardly a contest.
The Mountaineers essentially through it in cruise control during the final frame as it would have taken a miracle to lose the game, Chadron continued to play hard but physically were outmatched the entire night by Western’s size in the paint. 6’3 Jayden Kanzler and 6’2 Katie Dalton rubbed out any Eagle who tried to stop them on offense or score on them on defense and as a team Chadron only shot 40% in the final quarter, scoring 11, while Western shot 66.7% and added another 17 to their total to make the final score of the game 69-38.
The Mountaineers dominated in their home opener against Chadron only losing at most by 4 two minutes into the game and at one point leading by 31, bolstered by a 10-point scoring run and out of a 40 minute game Western led for a total of 32:21 utter domination by anyone they put on the court as 34 of their 69 points came off the bench. Western opened up Paul Wright in huge fashion and kept their momentum rolling on into the following night.
Women vs MSU Denver
The following night was even more dominant than the previous game. The Roadrunners of MSU Denver entered a buzz saw and payed dearly for it even though the score was significantly closer.
The offense started slow once again falling behind early but roared back with their biggest run of the game scoring 8 points un answered to take the lead that they would not give back for the entire rest of the game. The first quarter ended in wild fashion as Western built a 9-point lead on the strength of a couple big three point shots and a perfect 5of5 from the charity stripe, while MSU Denver had a goose egg in that column at the end of one making the score 15-6 in favor of the Lady Mountaineers.
Western’s defense built some good momentum moving forward as they continued to force turnovers making it more and more difficult for MSU to mount any kind of a comeback. Western finished the game with 19 forced turnovers with most of them coming in the second quarter and a key one by Sophomore Phylicia Bacon to end a scoring run, Hannah Cooper also finished with three steals of her own. Free throws continued to fall for Western only missing one in the whole first half and that made the score 25-18 at the break.
Having broke the second half cure that plagued the team for the years prior to this season the night before Western exploded for their largest point total in any quarter of the game scoring 20 points as a team coming off tough layups and shots made by Western newcomer Gabbi Doud who finished as the leading scorer with 19-points on the night, including 12 from beyond the arc. MSU stayed consistent and scored 12 in the third but couldn’t keep up with the pace of the Mountaineers going into the final ten minutes of the game the Roadrunners trailed 45-32.
The final quarter became a little more interesting as at times the Mountaineers would lose concentration and allow for a small run to occur midway through the quarter as MSU scored 6 unanswered before Western was able to get back on track and hold their lead despite being outscored for their first quarter of the entire weekend as MSU totaled 13 to Western’s 11 in the fourth quarter.
Overall questions of whether this team was as focused or as talented as last year were answered with two emphatic wins that were true team efforts. If coach Westling can keep the girls on track there is a good chance we will have playoff basketball in Gunnison for the first time in a very long time.
Men vs Chadron
Of the two games Men’s basketball would be playing to open their regular season in Paul Wright Chadron seemed like the team that would be most likely to give up an upset to a squad coming off a season in which they lost 26 games in a row under head coach Brad Schafer. The Mountaineers seemed to have the same feeling as what was a slow start for the Women’s team was the exact opposite for the Men’s team.
In a first half that saw the Mountaineers score 43, the most I have seen them score in a half as a broadcaster, Paul Wright Gym was rocking and with good reason to be. Senior leaders James Willis and Monroe Porter controlled the scoring as Willis would go on to shoot 5 for 6 from the three point line on his way to being the leading scorer of the entire game. The other main story was the debut of Junior transfer Connor Shaw, who saw 13:14 coming off the bench and running point guard while Willis got a breather. Shaw showed an amazing handle and an ability to move the ball that is somewhat new for the Mountaineers offense. The main story of the first half came at the buzzer as Chadron point guard Colby Jackson sucked all the air out of the gym with a near 60ft buzzer beater that he swished to make the score 43-32 in favor of the home team Mountaineers.
Like I mentioned with the Women’s team they normally struggle in the second half especially when they play well in the first. That was true to a new degree in this game Chadron began the half on a 10-point run swiftly cutting the lead Western spent the entire first half building down to one, my thoughts in the booth were here we go again. But something was different in this game, a timeout by coach Schafer allowed for the Mountaineers to calm down once again and start playing the way that had given them the lead and we got to see a throwback to the days of Collin Smith and Ben Beaschaump shooting the lights out from the three point line which ended up being the difference in the game. For as dominant the Women won against Chadron the Men provided the crowd in Paul Wright a heart stopper, but it was a heart stopper in which the home fans left happy. It would also pale in comparison to the following night’s game.
Men vs MSU Denver
Historically Western doesn’t just struggle with the Roadrunners in Men’s basketball, its damn near impossible for the Mountaineers to beat them. The last time it had happened going into the game on Saturday night was 2011 and you can bet MSU wanted to complete the decade of dominance they held over the boys from Gunnison.
Once again, the Mountaineers sprinted out to a lead this time led by huge three pointers from Sophomore shooter Cole Sienknecht who was perfect from downtown in the first half. That coupled with a lot of fouls on MSU’s side that Western capitalized on heavily posting a 4 for 4 mark in the half. MSU was rattled and it showed in their performance from the line only shooting 62.5% and the un-comfortability showed in their body language as well. Western once again went into halftime with a lead, 35-25 this time, and no amazing buzzer beaters would take the momentum away.
The second half continued to be dicey but this time it came halfway through the period instead of right away. Guard Christian Wilson-Poole put up 17-points against the mountaineers and led the Roadrunners all the way back from ten down to take the lead very late in the game. Western continued to battle back and would reclaim the lead for short amounts of time but couldn’t hold it anymore, this one was going to be close. Once again free throw troubles kept the door open for Western who now with 10 seconds remaining, trailing 62-63, would be inbounding from their own bench, the crowd was on their feel, the broadcasters were on their feet. James Willis got the inbound pass went to the top of the arc then found a lane, drove to the hoop and put up a shot that was no good. The crowd collectively cried out and no one saw James’ younger brother Will, the Junior who had 8 points to keep the Mountaineers in the game at this point, jumped at the rim grabbed the rebound and put the ball back up with .2 seconds on the clock. The crowd and buzzer then exploded as the ball fell through the net, it was good and Will Willis had broken a nine-year losing streak against a very talented and tough MSU Denver team winning 63-62.
The win has sparked a lot of momentum for the Mountaineers as they finish out the rest of the semester this coming weekend in Grand Junction against Western Slope rival Colorado Mesa. However the Mountaineers finish the semester, they have set a precedent of exciting basketball for the remainder of the season.
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