Mountain View looks to finish regular season strong

Buffalos roll past Rangers

Josh Hall
Posted 2/1/18

Mountain View got off to a good start on Wednesday when the Buffalos placed three players in double figures to claim a 59-21 win over Class 2A Kemmerer in a non-conference matchup.

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Mountain View looks to finish regular season strong

Buffalos roll past Rangers

Posted

By Josh Hall

Herald Sports Editor

MOUNTAIN VIEW — With the graduation of eight seniors from last year, the Mountain View High School boys’ basketball team knew the 2017-18 season would be a building process.

Now, with seven games remaining before regional play, the Buffalos are looking to peak at the right time.

Mountain View got off to a good start on Wednesday when the Buffalos placed three players in double figures to claim a 59-21 win over Class 2A Kemmerer in a non-conference matchup. 

“We’ve really talked a lot about these last seven games as we go into the regional tournament,” Mountain View coach Dustin Rees said. “Our goal is to win five or six of the next seven. We feel like all the games we have left on the schedule are winnable games. We just have to be able to play well and play strong.”

Mountain View (8-6) jumped out to a 25-3 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. The Buffalos outscored the Rangers 20-6 in the second quarter to go into the break with a 45-9 advantage. 

They were able to cruise from there.

“We put in some new defensive schemes these last few weeks that we really wanted to work against Kemmerer and Big Piney and see how effective we are going back into conference play next week,” Rees said. “I think we did some things differently that Kemmerer wasn’t prepared for. We looked pretty good defensively, and then off that defense we got a lot of transition points and we shot the ball well.”

Briggen Bluemel scored a game-high 15 points, while Colby Rees and Braeden Walk both scored 11. 

“What we talked about as coaches is we were really happy with our balanced scoring, and the fact that we have other kids that are leading us in scoring besides Braeden,” Dustin Rees said. “We got a great game from Briggen Bluemel inside. He dominated the boards and dominated the paint. 

“Colby Rees shot the ball really well and Brandon Vitt continues to score when we need him to. If we get other kids scoring the ball to help Braeden, that makes us tougher to defend and gives our kids a little more confidence.”

Mountain View was playing its fourth game without senior Jason Stoddard, the team’s second leading scorer behind Walk and the only player who saw significant minutes at the varsity level last year.

Stoddard suffered an ankle injury, but Dustin Rees is hopeful he will be able to play on Saturday when the Buffalos host Big Piney at 2:30 p.m.

“Having Jason out these last four games is actually, I think, going to help us in the long run,” Rees said. “I’ve had to play other kids, so they’re getting more experience, which makes us a little bit deeper. Hopefully that makes us that much better when we get Jason back. 

“I want to get him back as early as we can, just so we can get him back in a rhythm. We can’t expect him to be what he was with his abilities in the first few games. If we can get him back on Saturday against Big Piney, hopefully that will prepare him for that road trip up to Powell and Cody.”