TORRINGTON – Staff and students at Torrington High School sent the boys’ basketball team to Casper with a rousing cheer on Thursday, while also celebrating the basketball seniors whose Senior Night was cancelled due to weather.
The Torrington boys are advancing to the state tournament for the first time since the 2011-2012 season, when they brought back a state title. The Blazers snuck their way into the state tournament this year as the fourth seed from the east.
At the 3A East Regional tournament, Torrington suffered an opening round loss to Buffalo, but then dismantled Newcastle. In a game where a win punched their ticket to the state tournament, but a loss sent them home, the Blazers beat Wheatland in a 48-46 thriller. In the third-place game, Torrington lost a two-point game to Rawlins.
Torrington’s road to its third state title in program history started against Lyman on Thursday after press deadline. The Blazers beat Lyman in the semi-finals of the 2012 tournament, 57-42. With a win this year against Lyman, Torrington will take on the winner between Worland and Pinedale and if they lose, the Blazers will face the loser.
According to the final WyoPreps basketball rankings, Torrington is ranked fifth in 3A. The Blazers’ first-round match up is against fourth-ranked Lyman. No. 1 Riverton and No. 3 Douglas are on the other side of the bracket and Worland comes in at second in the rankings. To make it to the championship game, Torrington may have to go through the second and fourth-ranked teams in the classification.
Also at the pep rally, Torrington celebrated its seniors, who did not get a sendoff during their final home game. The Blazers’ Senior Night, scheduled for Feb. 24 against Buffalo, was cancelled because of the weather conditions around the state.
There are three basketball Blazers this winter. Tyler Ring was the lone senior for the boys and Sydney Hill and Shelbey Prusia led the Lady Blazers.
In his final campaign with the Blazers, Ring racked up the stats. He averaged 11.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2 steals. He shot 49 percent from inside the arc and knocked down six three-pointers. His 15 blocks throughout the season was highest among the Blazers.
As a junior last season, Ring paced the Blazers in scoring (8.9 PPG), rebounding (4 RPG), steals (1.3 SPG) and blocks (0.6 BPG). Ring racked up 7.6 points, 4.6 boards, 1.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game as a sophomore. He led Torrington in rebounding two seasons ago. As a freshman, Ring stepped onto the court for three varsity match ups.
This season is by far the most successful Blazer basketball team that Ring has been on. When Ring was a freshman, the Blazers went 0-24. The team upped that to 1-21 during the 2014-15 campaign. Last season, Torrington put together a 4-18 year. This winter, Torrington sits at 14-9 heading into the state tournament.
Although the Lady Blazers, led by Hill and Prusia, did not make the state tournament, they still put together a solid season. They went 10-12 this winter and posted a 3-3 record in the quadrant. Torrington was one win away from reaching the state tournament.
“The two of them brought good work ethic for us,” coach Jeff Halley said. “They led by example instead of verbally.”
As a senior, Hill averaged 8.6 points, 5.7 boards and 1 steal per game. She shot 50 percent from the field and had more made two-pointers (73) than any Lady Blazer. She paced Torrington in offensive rebounds per game (3.2) and total blocks (19). Her 19 blocks were more than the rest of the Lady Blazers combined.
“She did a great job,” Halley said of Hill, “She got comfortable being the big kid whether she was the big kid or not. Just in the last few months, she decided she can be a force. If she wanted the ball, she would go get it.”
Prusia took the floor in all of Torrington’s 22 games this winter. She racked up 4.2 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1 assist and 1.3 steals per contest. She nailed two of her four three-point attempts and shot 43-of-82 at the charity stripe.
“Shelbey brought a lot of hustle and she is just a great athlete,” Halley said. “By the end of the year, she shot the ball pretty well and could handle the ball for us. At some point, you just knew she was going to do something good on defense.”
Hill spent most of her junior season as a flex player between JV and varsity. Most of her time on the court came in relief. Prusia did not suit up for the Lady Blazers last winter. As sophomores, Hill and Prusia each took the court for 11 games. The two combined for 0.6 points per game and 0.9 boards per game. Hill also had 2 blocks to her credit two seasons ago.
