Alter seniors RJ Greer and Brady Conner each scored 12 points and sophomore Peyton Bakos added 10 for the Knights, which finished the season 20-7.
The Knights, last year’s D-II state champions, struggled on the offensive end of the floor, shooting 34.1 percent (15-of-44) and 34.8 percent (8-of-23) from the 3-point line. Wyoming shot 45.7 percent (16-of-35) from the field and hit 15 of 21 free throws to seal the game in the fourth quarter.
“That’s how the tournament is, you go home when you don’t play well,” said Knights coach Eric Coulter. “We did not play our best game. We had some really good looks in the first half that just didn’t go down. That’s pretty much the name of the game in basketball. You’ve got to hit shots and they did. They did a good job closing us out and getting to the free throw line.”
After three quarters, the score was tied at 28. Greer scored four straight points to make it 32-28, but Wyoming junior Devin Evans hit back-to-back 3 pointers and junior Kellen Wiley converted an old-fashioned 3-point play to give the Cowboys the lead for good at 37-32.
The Knights cut the lead to two points with three minutes to go, but couldn’t get any closer.
“Down the stretch, they hit shots,” Coulter said. “The one (Evans 3-pointer) was from the logo. For me, I just thought they did what you had to do to win and we didn’t.”
Evans had 18 points and Gray added 14 for Wyoming, which advanced to a state semifinal for the first time since 1942.
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