raw bball loss

By Kirk Hanna
Times staff writer
Casey Tulley came up only one turn-around jumper away from winning the game for Rawlins Friday night.
Mountain View escaped with a thrilling 56-53 win.
The Outlaws came out poised to start the game, moving the ball around on offense, which enabled open shots for their shooters. But something happened. “We started getting away from what was helping us win,” head coach Linzie Green said.
After the first quarter the game was knotted at nine thanks to plenty of defensive pressure from both teams. And then the second quarter came around. Green would have liked to have skipped the second quarter entirely.
“We gave up 20 points in the second quarter alone,” he said. “Then in the second half we gave up 27 points altogether. That means we weren’t working hard.”
What Green does hope his team builds on is the final few minutes of the game.
With three minutes remaining in the game, it was all but over for the Outlaws. Down by eight, Green took a timeout to tell his team to turn up the intensity.
Tulley made a free throw and Trey Jebens stole the inbounds pass. His pass went to Willcox under the basket and Rawlins was within five in only a matter of seconds.
With one minute to play, Rawlins had climbed to within three and Tulley was at the free throw line. He made both. Then the game got crazy.
Mountain View had a turnover in their own zone, Willcox made a layup, then stole the ensuing inbounds and found fellow captain Kody Mann for a layup and suddenly the outlaws led 51-48 with 56 seconds left.
Then with six seconds left the Outlaws were again down by one. The inbounds went to Tulley under the basket, but a triple team forced an off-balance shot and the Buffalos escaped with the win.
Green said he’s not taking anything from his team because “they played with heart.”
Next up is a trip to Torrington at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.