Jackson Broncs fall short in Regionals
Opening round win over Cody followed by 2 tough losses
JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — The 2021-22 basketball season wrapped up over the weekend as the Jackson girls and boys traveled to Riverton for 4A West Regionals.
In a shot heard round the state, Carson Harland’s buzzer beater triple Thursday night sent Cody packing to the loser’s bracket as Jackson advanced to round 2.
Jackson trailed most of the game against the ‘other’ Broncs, struggling to contain Grady McCarten (11 pts.) and Luke Talich (10 pts.). A Robby Porter jam in the game’s early moments elicited the biggest roar of the night from the capacity crowd. But it was lucky 13 Harland who had the last say when he launched a 3 at the buzzer for the 36-35 win.
For Jackson, Andrew Hanna led all scorers with 15 along with 9 boards. Harland finished with 9, AJ Fowler added 6.
Jackson’s luck appeared to leave them the following night when they could not get the offense on track against Riverton. The top-seeded Wolverines don’t do anything spectacular but they specialize in frustrating style of defense that makes good teams look bad. The 40-25 defeat moved Jackson to the consolation round and a chance for 3rd overall with a bid to state.
But that’s where the magic carpet ride stalled. The Broncs came out firing with a 10-0 run to start the early-morning contest with Natrona. But the Mustangs didn’t panic and managed to claw their way back to a 23-23 tie at the half.
Natrona’s Wyatt Powell (15 pts.) and Brett Gifford (14 pts.) took over the game from there as the Mustangs slowly marched toward a 51-44 win over the Jackson Broncs.
Gavin Keelin’s 13 points with 4 rebounds and 4 blocks paced the Broncs. Andrew Hanna (9 pts, 7 rebounds), Carson Harland (8 pts, 4 rebounds), and Henry Berezay (5 pts, 2 rebounds) also contributed in the loss.
Jackson ends its season with a 9-11 record overall, 5-8 in conference.
