CASPER – The Torrington Trailblazers boys’ basketball team suffered a loss in the opening round of the 3A State Tournament to Lyman, but battled back to win the consolation championship in Casper over the weekend.

Lyman 51, Torrington 47
The Blazers built an early lead against Lyman, growing a 21-13 advantage after the first frame. The Eagles outscored Torrington 15-8 in the second to trim the lead to one point by halftime. The Blazers built a four-point lead in the third and went into the fourth up 40-38.
With just over six minutes to go, Jordan Malm nailed a three to put Torrington up 43-40. Lyman came back to tie the game at 43. Nathan Stitt dished a pass to Malm for the back door lay up to put Torrington up 47-46 with less than two minutes remaining. Lyman drained two free throws to take a one-point lead with one minute remaining.
The Eagles put in another point and the Blazers trailed by two with 35 seconds left. Torrington committed the turnover on their next possession and fouled Lyman, sending the Eagles to the line for two free throws. Lyman missed both the free throws and Torrington had the ball with 7.2 seconds left down two. The Blazers turned the ball over again and Lyman knocked down its next two free throws to take the win, 51-47.
Tyler Ring was the top scorer for the Blazers, racking up 17 points on 8-of-17 shooting. The lone senior came down with five boards and added a block on the night.
Malm joined Ring in double-figures, pouring in 12 points. His three converted shots from the floor all came from behind the arc. He added three points from the charity stripe. Malm paced Torrington in boards, coming down with seven on the night to go along with an assist and a steal.
Bryan Lemmon, with seven points, Bo Moorehouse, with five and Nathan Stitt, with four, rounded out the top scorers for Torrington. The three combined for 12 boards, two assists and two steals.

The Blazers shot 50 percent from the field in the first half, but only 24 percent in the second to finish the game at 37 percent. They nailed 29 percent of their shots from deep and left four points at the line, shooting 5-of-9. Lyman shot 36 percent from the floor, 29 percent from behind the arc and 56 percent from the charity stripe. The Blazers and Eagles both had 34 rebounds on the night.

Torrington 57, Pinedale 41
The loss to Lyman dropped the fourth-seeded Blazers to the consolation bracket. Their first game in the lower bracket came against Pinedale.
After Torrington fell behind 10-9 after the first quarter, the second quarter proved to be the difference between the Blazers and Wranglers. The Blazers poured in 12 points in the second frame to Pinedale’s two to hold a 21-12 lead at the break. In the third, Torrington added 18 points compared to the Wranglers’ 10. The Blazers were outscored in the fourth quarter, 19-18, but it was not enough to make up the difference.
Ring again paced Torrington in scoring, with 18 points on the afternoon. He was third on the team in boards, with six, and added an assist and three steals to his stat line. Malm topped the stat sheet in rebounds, with eight, and chipped in 14 points and a steal. Breyden Bivens was between Malm and Ring on the boards, hauling in seven rebounds.
Lemmon was the final Blazer in double-figures, contributing 12 points. He also had three boards, an assist and two steals.
Torrington shot 50 percent from the field (20-of-40) and 50 percent from behind the arc (4-of-8). The Blazers upped their percentage at the line to 62 percent in the win over the Wranglers. Torrington held Pinedale to 22 percent from the field and 17 percent from behind the arc. The Wranglers did shoot 12-of-16 from the free-throw line.

THS 62, Mountain View 52
The Blazers jumped out to an early 13-3 lead over the Buffalos in less than five minutes of action. Torrington closed out the quarter to take an 18-5 lead after the first. Mountain View upped their quarter output to 12 in the second, while Torrington added 15 of their own to hold a 33-17 lead heading into intermission.
Coming out of the break, Mountain View outscored Torrington in the third quarter, 17-12, to bring the score to 45-34 with a quarter to go. The Buffalos continued to whittle down Torrington’s lead and with 1:37 to go, the Blazers only held a five-point lead, 56-51. Torrington managed to hit enough free throws down the stretch to snag the win, 62-52.
Five Blazers scored in double-figures, with Stitt leading the way. He racked up 16 points against the Buffalos, shooting 4-of-5 from the floor and 8-of-10 from the charity stripe. He added a rebound and an assist to his stat line.
Ring finished second in the scoring column for Torrington, amassing 11 points on the afternoon, including seven from the free-throw line. Ring completed the double-double in his final game as a Blazers, racking up 10 boards along with a block and a team-high three steals.
Malm and Lemmon each had 10 points and Moorehouse came off the bench to add another 10. The three combined to shoot 7-of-12 from the field and 10-of-15 at the free-throw line. Malm, Lemmon and Moorehouse also combined for 13 boards, an assist and two steals.
In the win, Torrington shot 50 percent from the field and 46 percent from behind the arc. Twenty-six of the Blazers’ points came from the free-throw line, where the team shot 62 percent. Mountain View knocked down 28 percent from the field, six percent from deep and 58 percent from the line.
The 2-1 record at Torrington’s first state tournament appearance since 2012 puts the Blazers at 16-10 at the end of the season.