Photofest: Thunder Basin Splits With Natrona in 4A Hoops
The 4A basketball season has been rolling along with the regional tournaments set for next week. On Friday, Thunder Basin paid a visit to Casper to take on Natrona with the boys and girls squads looking for momentum heading into postseason play.
In the boy's game, each team made some big plays down the stretch but Thunder Basin prevailed thanks to a 3-point play from Josh Klaassen with less than 3 seconds to go. It was a super competitive game and Colton Rogers gave his Natrona team a chance with a late 3-pointer and finished the game with 14 points. He's been the Mustangs leading scorer this year throwing in 15 points per contest. Thunder Basin got 15 points from Gibson Williams and he had led the Bolts in scoring this season averaging 19 points a game.
Thunder Basin after a loss to Sheridan over the weekend in 10-11 but have won 4 of their last 5. Natrona after a great start had lost 5 of their last but have secured their first winning season since 2015, when they won the 4A state championship. The Mustangs are 14-5 on the season.
In the girl's game, both NC and TB have endured their struggles this season but NC prevailed on senior night 51-43 to improve to 5-14. Lexi Ransom paced Natrona with 20 points and she had been the Fillies leading scorer this season, averaging 10 a game. The Fillies also got Brynn Sybrant back in the line-up and she has appeared in just a handful of games this season. She contributed 9 points to the NC cause.
Thunder Basin was led in scoring in this game by Attie Westbrook with 13 points with Kambel Cox throwing in 12. Cox has led the Bolts in scoring this season averaging 11 points a game. Thunder Basin is 9-12 on the year and will host Campbell County on Thursday in Gillette. Natrona will play cross-town rival Kelly Walsh on Thursday in the Peach Basket Classic.
We have some frames to pass along from those NC-TB games at the Dalton Gym on Friday from Shannon Dutcher and they can be discovered in our gallery below. Enjoy!
Thunder Basin-Natrona Basketball
Gallery Credit: Shannon Dutcher