A dominant season on the court was capped off with a Yellowstone Conference title in December for the seventh grade Powell Middle School girls’ basketball team, ending with a 14-2 record.

Throughout the season the Cubs featured a small squad, said Jaci Hitz, after an early injury to Ireland Hancock forced the team to have six players on the ‘A’ team.

Despite that setback the Cubs produced a strong season, capped off with a conference title that completed the double for the middle school girls as the eighth grade team also won its title that same weekend.

“It was such an exciting weekend for Cub girls’ basketball. We had been practicing with the eighth graders the week before conference trying to help one another get better and coach [Dale] Estes and myself kept telling both squads that we were the best two teams in seventh and eighth grade so it was rewarding for both teams to go prove it to themselves,” Hitz said.

Leading the way in scoring for every game except one for the Cubs was Lilly Bertagnole, as she served as the primary ball handler for the team.

“She was our point guard and our floor general. Lilly made everyone alongside her better,” Hitz said.

Another player who served as one of the top options was Kalia Wizniewski, who came up with key plays for the Cubs in their championship game.

“Kalia had a great season for us. She picked up her scoring as well as her confidence in being a point guard for us. She also really propelled us in the championship game with several steals against Cody,” Hitz said.

Jade Miller also served as a strong defensive option, as Hitz said she became the team’s defensive “Dawg” and “worked so hard all year long to stop the other team’s best player.”

Inside for the Cubs were Gaige Tharp and Timber Eastman, who Hitz said dominated inside to help the seventh grade squad inside the paint.

“Timber got better at rebounding and using her strength skills to out rebound everyone. Gaige worked so hard on both ends of the floor and found herself making trips to the free throw line a lot throughout the season due to her attacking the basket,” Hitz said.

Another player who Hitz said worked to get better was Malina Anderson who played both ‘A’ and ‘B’ for the Cubs. 

The final player that Hitz described as the most improved was Tenley Shorb, who played both guard and post while becoming a huge key in the team’s championship run.

“She had to learn both positions for us and did an incredible job of fighting through some frustrations early in the season to become a huge key in helping us win the championship game,” Hitz said. “She doesn’t take plays off and works hard to be in the right place at the right time.”

Hitz said that the team was primarily strong in pushing the ball up the floor in the early offense and getting easy baskets, while also improving defensively to become confident in their press and zone defense. A weakness of the team she added was turning the ball over too many times.

She said one of her favorite moments of the season came at conference when the team was sick and didn’t allow that to be an excuse.

“This was a fun group to coach. They allowed me to coach them hard. They are a very silly group, but knew when to bring their tenacity and seriousness,” Hitz said.

She said Aubrie Stenerson did a good job leading the ‘B’ team, helping develop a good group of players that did not have a ton of prior basketball experience.

Overall, she said this group needs to continue working individually, but sees them continuing on that path moving forward.

“They are a driven group, so I only see them getting better,” Hitz said. “I’m excited to see what they do in the future.”