The wrestling team will be back in the Beehive State this Friday and Saturday for the Richardson Memorial while the basketball teams will host Rawlins on Saturday. The Indoor Track & Field team began their 2018 season on Monday.

• Braves look to bounce back versus #2 Rawlins

The Braves basketball team will have had plenty of time to dwell on the program’s 55-47 loss to visiting Jackson on December 21 when they finally return to action on January 7 against the Rawlins Outlaws.
The Braves (2-5) will continue to work on putting things together as they face off against the Outlaws (4-3) who lost to a trio of team outside of the Wyoming 3A classification.

Games against the Outlaws begin at 12 noon with boys and girls freshman games in both the main and auxiliary gyms at Star Valley High School. Junior varsity games for both the boys and girls will take place at 1:30 p.m. The varsity boys game is scheduled for a 4:30 p.m. tip-off. WATCH THE GAME HERE AT THE SVI LIVESTREAM PAGE.

• Bringing Them Up
The game against the Outlaws will give the SVHS coaching staff another opportunity to try out their lineup which consists of several seniors. But it was the underclassmen who made noise in the second half of the game against Jackson with Taylor Horsley and Dean Shaw combining for 24 points off the bench. It’s a situation worth watching as a very talented sophomore class may be pushing for more and more minutes as the season progresses. It is not anticipated that the Braves will be at full strength until mid-January when Kambel Jenkins returns from a pre-season injury.
• Wide Open Southwest
While the Braves have expectedly struggled in the win/loss column, they are not alone in the 3A Southwest. Mountain View (2-4), Pinedale (2-4) and Lyman (1-6) have all had their share of issues in non-conference play, setting up for an even more important league season. Star Valley will begin 3A Southwest play on January 19 on the road against the Lyman Eagles, a team that embarrassed Star Valley there on the Eagle court a year ago. The Braves will return home on Saturday, January 20 to host Mountain View.
Previous to conference play, Star Valley will host Evanston (5-1) on Friday, January 12.

Recapping the Rivalry vs Rawlins (Since 1951)
Overall: S.V. leads 29-8
In Afton: S.V. leads 12-1
Game Notes: Rawlins has won three straight and four of the last five in the series.

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• Wrestling team rides into Richardson Memorial this weekend

The Braves wrestling team got a well-deserved break during the holiday season as they last competed in the Jody Warren Duels on December 16 where they wrapped up a perfect 7-0 record.

The wins over that weekend kept intact a 42-duel streak for the program dating back just over two calendar years.

This week the team will be in bracketed action at Box Elder High School as they travel to Brigham City, Utah.

There will be 19 teams in attendance but Star Valley will be the only one not from the Beehive State.
Some of the competition will be familiar with teams like Bear River, Copper Hills, Fremont and Sky View scheduled to compete. Other huge Utah schools such as Payson, Olympus and Ridgeline will present their share of challenges.

Coach Eddie Clark told SVI that with that fast start to the season that the holiday break offers the coaching staff a chance to refine techniques that will be vital moving forward into 2018.

The team will be in tournament action on January 12-13 in Casper at Kelly Walsh High School before seeing the entire Wyoming 3A classification at the Lander Invite on January 19-20.
The Ron Thon all-class tournament will be on January 26-27 where Star Valley won for the first time a year ago.

The lone home event left on the schedule is February 1 as the Braves host Green River High School.
Varsity Wrestling
Jan. 5-6 @ Box Elder
Jan. 12-13 @ Kelly Walsh
Jan. 19-20 @ Lander Valley
Jan. 26-27 @ Ron Thon
Feb. 1 Vs Green River (Duel)
Feb. 8 @ Evanston (Duel)
Feb. 16-17 3A West (@ Lyman)
Feb. 23-24 3A State (@ Casper)

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• Lady Braves eyeing 4th straight win as they host Rawlins

After starting their season 0-4, the Lady Braves have won three straight games as they are coming off their Christmas break to host the Rawlins Outlaws on Saturday afternoon.

Star Valley won their 15th consecutive game against Jackson Hole in a 55-32 outing on December 21. This win came on the heels of two wins at the 2nd Annual Star Valley Shootout against Sugar-Salem ‘B’ and Hillcrest.

The Outlaws come into town heading a different direction, at least short term, having lost three straight games to Rock Springs (81-55), Bear Lake (51-47) and Green River (71-51).

Despite the losses, the Outlaws bring one of the 3A’s top offenses into Afton on Saturday, averaging 50.3 points per game, good enough for fourth overall. The Lady Braves will try and counter with the 6th ranked defense, allowing 44.6 per game.

Individually, Rawlins is led in scoring by Olyvia Pacheco who is scoring 11.3 points per game. The Lady Braves are led by junior Olivia Muir, scoring 8.8 per game

There are freshman and JV games scheduled for 12 noon and 1:30 p.m. respectively at SVHS prior to the varsity tip-off at 3 p.m. WATCH THE GAME HERE ON THE SVI LIVESTREAM PAGE.

Recapping the Rivalry vs Rawlins
First Game: 1992-93
Overall: S.V. leads 5-1
In Afton: S.V. leads 1-0
Game Notes: First ever game in Afton between the two schools took place in 2015-16.

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• Indoor track season underway

SVHS Track & Field had their most successful stretch ever during the 2016-17 school year with double team titles in the outdoor season and a state runner-up for the boys in the all-class Indoor season.

The Indoor season starts up again with the first day of 2018 serving as the first official day of practice for the programs.

Those athletes who have not yet competed in any sporting events will need to have a current physical in order to practice.

Returning all-staters from the boys runner-up squad include Asefa Wetzel who won the 3200 meter event and placed third in the 1600 meter race. Wetzel will also combine with Wesley Kallgren and Wyatt Peck who helped win the 4 x 800 meter relay event as well.

The Braves scored a program-best 81.0 points. Campbell County won the boys title with 95.0. Laramie was third with 77.

The Lady Braves did not have any all-state performances during the indoor season, which includes all Wyoming classifications. Janice Hall placed fourth last season in both the long jump and the 55-meter dash. Hall also scored points in the 200-meter dash.

The Lady Braves scored 12.2 team points during the Indoor season. Campbell County won the girls title with 133.6 and Laramie was a distant second with 72.0. Sheridan rounded out the top three with 55.0.

Indoor Track Schedule
Jan. 12 @ Snake River Games
Jan. 19 @ Weber State
Jan. 26-27 @ Olympic Oval
Feb. 2 @ Mtn. State Games
Feb. 9 @ Olympic Oval
Feb. 15-17 @ Simplot Games
Mar. 2-3 @ Wyoming State