The Sheridan boys basketball team has seen presses this year, but it hasn't seen anything like the one Natrona Country presented Tuesday night in Casper.

The top-ranked Mustangs got 11 steals, most of them as a result of their full-court press, to get a 60-46 victory against the Broncs.

"They cover ground and they have very long arms. You have to try to throw up over the top of them, and it's very difficult to see," said Sheridan coach Mike Ibach. "…They locked up on us and left one man open on us on a diagonal cut and we couldn't throw over the top of it."

Natrona (9-0) jumped out to an early 10-2 lead, but the Broncs (0-9) got within three points at 17-14 on a deep two-pointer by junior Justin Will with 4:05 left in the first half. But that was as close as Sheridan would get.

Mustang junior Tom Earl made a 3, then senior Joelon Jackson had a steal in the press, which eventually led to a basket by Max Gustafson. Natrona junior Mario Harris stole the ball on the next possession, but stepped out of bounds. After a Broncs missed shot, junior Michael Dietz scored after getting an offensive rebound to give the Mustangs a 24-10 lead. Natrona then forced a jump ball in the press and got possession, but didn't score.

"Natrona's pressure really bothered us at times," Ibach said. "We'd get (the lead) down to six or eight, then they would make a 5, 6-0 run on us because we didn't handle the pressure. We throw it in bounds and give them a layup. We played the best team in the state tonight. They are ranked No. 1, and they are ranked No. 1 for a reason."

Natrona led 27-19 at halftime, and came out strong in the second half. The Broncs scored first, but the Mustangs used two early second-half steals from Harris and one from Dietz to jump out to a 13-point lead. Both Harris and Dietz had steals they turned into layups.

"We want to create some tempo and get the game going quickly," Dietz said. "That is going to be one of our advantages, getting the game going quick. We are a pretty athletic team when we want to be."

Dietz's steal and basket ended up being a three-point play after he made a free throw. His steal came when he was guarding the player inbounding the ball.

"Hopefully it scares them," the 6-foot-6 Dietz said of playing low in the press.

The Mustangs went on to lead by as many as 18 points in the fourth quarter.

Earl led all scorers with 20 points. Dietz had 15, and Harris added nine for the Mustangs.

TJ Stender led the Broncs with 13 points, while Will had 12.

Natrona coach Randy Roden said the full-court press is something the Mustangs will do depending on the opposing team's style of play.

"When we feel like we have our opponents out-matched we want to make sure the tempo is in our favor," Roden said. "If we are playing someone that likes that tempo, we obviously don't want to enhance it."

Despite the win, Roden said he still sees room for improvement in the Mustangs' press.

"We got some runs off of it, but we are also still giving up too much off it," he said. "I'm greedy. I don't like that."

Contact sports reporter David Buck at (307) 266-0596 or david.buck@trib.com

Natrona County 60, Sheridan 46

She 5 14 9 18-46

NC 13 14 16 17-60

Sheridan: TJ Stender 13; Justin Will 12; Dusty Daniels 6; Dustin McCalla 5; Austin Woodward 4; Josh Dunkelberger 4; Alex Cremer 2. Natrona County: Tom Earl 20; Michael Dietz 15; Mario Harris 9; Max Gustafson 6; AD Boatright 5; Cam Loe 3; Ryan Murphy 2.