Bolts boys cruise past Scottsbluff 67-39, girls fall 61-44 | Local

The Thunder Basin High School basketball team won their second straight game earlier this season, beating Scottsbluff of Nebraska 67-39 Friday night at TBHS.

The Bolts took a big lead early on and went into the second quarter with 24: 8. Senior Ethan Cox scored all 11 of his points in the first quarter, including three 3-point points to top Thunder Basin in the first half.

Scottsbluff started the second quarter on an 11-0 run to make it a five-point game, but the Bolts managed to find their way in the second half to improve to 2-0 for the season.

Senior Guard Deegan Williams led the Bolts with 24 points, followed by Cox and the second Bodie Williams with 11 points each.

The Bolts started the season at # 1 on the WyoPrep.com Coach and Media Boy basketball rankings, beating their first two opponents by a combined 71 points.

The Thunder Basin Girls, who started the season No. 1 in Class 4A, played their first game of the 61-44 season on Friday at Scottsbluff.

The Bolts trailed 17-12 after the first quarter and struggled to stop Scottsbluff’s offensive attack. Thunder Basin also struggled offensively and was only held to 15 points in the second half.

Junior Laney McCarty led the Bolts with 11 points, followed by Junior Joelie Spelts and Senior Gabby Mendoza with seven points each.

Both the boys and girls from Thunder Basin will finish the REMAX / Gillette Invite preseason tournament against St. Thomas More of South Dakota on Saturday.

The girls play against the Cavaliers at 4:30 p.m. and the boys follow at 6 p.m.

For TBHS basketball scores, visit gillettenewsrecord.com or follow sports editor Alex Taylor on Twitter @ alex_m_taylor22.