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The Casper youth basketball tournament is one of the biggest youth events in the state, and the sixth-grade Powell Punishers girls’ basketball team emerged at the top. The Powell squad — …
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The Casper youth basketball tournament is one of the biggest youth events in the state, and the sixth-grade Powell Punishers girls’ basketball team emerged at the top. The Powell squad — whose roster included Kindyle Floy, Jesi Agee, Veronica Kovach, Stella Shoopman, Autumn Kidd, Addy Ratcliff, Sam Edgell and Reese Hancock — went undefeated in the tournament the weekend of March 19-20.
Heading into the tournament, the girls did not have much experience outside of a Powell tournament in January. They were scheduled to participate in Billings, Laurel, Gillette and Cody but were unable to attend after landing on a waiting list or not having enough teams in their division.
Coach Amanda Haney did not let that stop her team, however. The girls picked up games in Cody and Lovell, and played against the seventh-grade Punisher team to sharpen their skills.
Heading into Casper, the team received a first round bye, and then matched up with the Torrington Trailblazers in the quarterfinals.
The Punishers moved past Torrington by a 21-7 score, setting up a difficult matchup against the WYBA-Storm from Gillette in the semifinal.
Haney said this was the first tournament that allowed sixth-grade to use a full-court press. Powell broke the press well in the first game, but needed to practice more before their semifinal matchup.
“Going into the second game we knew we were going to need to be more prepared,” Haney said. “I gathered all the girls into the hotel parking lot and added a few things to our press breaker. Thankfully the parents were able to play defense on us as we practiced.”
The extra practice paid off for the Punishers, as they handled the Gillette press and squeezed by 15-11 to advance to the championship game.
In the title contest, the Punishers came up against the Breeze. The Powell girls handily defeated the competition, winning 27-9 to walk away with the championship.
“I could not be more proud of these girls,” Haney said. “They have worked all so hard all season, wanting more and more basketball. I was especially impressed with all of their tenacity, teamwork, hustle and attitude.”
