The Kemmerer High School boys’ basketball team opened its 2023-24 campaign on the road over the weekend, posting a 1-2 record at the Bridgerland Classic, held at Mountain View and Lyman.

The Rangers opened the tournament Thursday night with a 67-46 loss to host Mountain View, followed by a close 64-60 loss to Cokeville Friday morning. The Rangers closed out the tournament Friday afternoon on a winning note, riding the hot hand of Chase Bowen to a 62-44 win over Uintah.

“It was a pretty good first tournament for us,” said KHS head coach Matt Stewart. “We saw a lot of improvement over the course of the weekend. Turnovers were a big issue for us, as was defense, especially the first two games. We got into foul trouble against Cokeville, and that hurt us right at the end of the game. But we came back and had a really good game against Uintah. It was good to see improvement from all the kids that had an opportunity to play this weekend. It was a good weekend for us; we learned a lot.”

The Rangers hope to add to the win column this weekend at the Shoshoni Invitational. As for what the team needs to work on this week in practice, Stewart said defense will be the name of the game, as well as taking care of the ball.

“We’ll focus a lot on defense this week,” he said. “The thing about the Shoshoni tournament, it’s a varsity only tournament, so getting some of these younger kids some more playing time will be key for us. We’ve been relying on Chase Bowen quite a bit for our scoring — we need a few more kids to get involved in the offense, so we’ll focus on that, as well.”

Mountain View 67, Rangers 46

The Rangers opened the Bridgerland Classic Thursday against host Mountain View, losing to their former 3A rivals 67-46.

The Buffs jumped out to a 19-11 lead in the first quarter, and pushed that lead to 37-20 by the break. The Rangers kept it close in the second half, but were unable to gain ground in the 67-46 loss.

“We struggled against Mountain View — we just didn’t take care of the ball very well,” Stewart said. “We had 30 turnovers in that game, and it’s hard to win when you don’t take care of the ball. Mountain View shot well, and we didn’t, and that was a big difference for us.”

Senior Chase Bowen led the charge with his first double-double of the season, netting 21 points and pulling down 14 rebounds. Skyler Rogers finished with nine points, to go along with 11 rebounds, four blocks and two steals; Gabe Wiswell chipped in six points. Kaden Witbeck and Cage Bowen added three points apiece.

“Our defense wasn’t where we wanted it to be,” Stewart said. “Finishing around the rim — we didn’t shoot really well at the rim, or from the free throw line. Those are some things we can work on and easily fix going forward.”

Cokeville 64, Rangers 60

The Rangers opened play Friday morning at the Bridgerland Classic against 1A powerhouse Cokeville, ranked No. 2 in the WyoPreps Preseason Rankings.

The Rangers controlled the action in the first half, though Cokeville kept it close, with Kemmerer taking a 39-33 lead into the break. The Panthers came out fired up to start the second half, outscoring the Rangers 18-10 in the fourth quarter to pull out the 64-60 win.

“We had the lead most of the game, until about four minutes left in the fourth quarter,” Stewart said. “Cokeville went on a bit of a run, and we were in foul trouble. We weren’t as aggressive in the second half as we had been in the first — we scored 29 points in the second quarter, and only 22 points in the second half, so that hurt us.”

Chase Bowen led the Rangers once again with a double-double, pouring in 24 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Ethyn Perkins followed with 16 points, while Skyler Rogers added seven points, to go along with six rebounds. Kaden Witbeck and Gabe Wiswell chipped in five points apiece, with Witbeck dishing off three assists and leading the team with three steals; Wiswell finished with five rebounds and three assists.

“We still struggled with turnovers — we had 17 against Cokeville, and a lot of those were in the fourth quarter,” Stewart said. “We