Rewind back to the end of 2019 and the Star Valley Braves sat with a record of (2-6) having lost a last-second game to Ridgeline (UT) in tournament play. The team still had not play a home game and had not been fully healthy. Since then, the team has won 14 of their last 15 games including a current stretch of 11 straight to claim the 4A West Regional championship on the floor of the team’s last loss.
The Braves opened up the tournament at Evanston High School on Thursday afternoon with a 58-23 rout over the Riverton Wolverines to advance to the Friday night semifinals. Four different players reached double figures for Star Valley led by Chase Merrell’s 15.
Friday night was an exercise in deja vu as a double-digit lad in the first half over Rock Springs evaporated and turned into a nip-and-tuck roller coaster in the fourth quarter due to just two Star Valley points in the third.
The Braves were able to survive with a 42-40 victory, earning a spot in next weekend’s state tournament and a chance to play for the 4A championship.
The championship tilt set up a rematch of SVHS and Kelly Walsh High School who mowed through the 4A Northwest. In an extremely entertaining contest the Braves were able to build a small cushion in the final minutes and then seal the game with a late steal and a layup as they took the game 48-43.
The win will now pit the Braves against the Campbell County Camels in the quarterfinals of the Wyoming 4A State Tournament. The Camels went (9-12) during the regular season and then went (2-2) at the 4A East Regionals to finish fourth with wins over Cheyenne East and Natrona County.
The game is scheduled to tip off at 9 p.m. at Casper College with audio being carried by SVI and Swift 98.
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• Lady Braves advance to the state tournament
In a season of ups and downs, the Lady Braves Basketball team took another ride over the weekend as they picked up a pair of wins to earn a berth to the 4A State Tournament this next weekend.
The ladies opened up the tournament with a 43-32 victory over Riverton to step into the semifinals where they had an epic low-scoring battle with Kelly Walsh where the Trojans claimed the day 29-28.
This forced Star Valley into an 8:30 a.m. game against the Cody Fillies with the loser going home. The Lady Braves led for the majority of the contest but a late spurt by Cody had the Park County squad leading 25-22 with just under two minutes to play. The Lady Braves were able to get some huge free throws from Lacy Coles and Otessa Olsen to win the game 30-26.
This then put the squad into a third/fourth place game at Davis Middle School where the team came up short against Green River 52-36. The Lady Braves will face off against the top-seeded Cheyenne East Thunderbirds on Thursday March 12 at 6 p.m. Audio will be carried by SVI and Swift 98.
