Lady Braves: 45
Wolves: 37

The Star Valley squads traveled to Green River on Thursday, February 22, as the final game of the regular season came and went in Sweetwater County. At the end of the night, the Lady Braves and Braves had both picked up wins to build momentum for the 4A West Regional tournament which is scheduled at the same venue starting on Thursday, February 29.

First off, the Lady Braves fell behind in the opening minutes of their contest as Addison Demaret drained her first two three-point attempts to make the score 6-0. From there, the Star Valley girls controlled the rest of the opening quarter behind a fast start from Sheridan Coles who scored six of her 11 points in the opening frame. The ladies lead 15-9.

The Wolves changed up their tactics as they threw a half-court trap that caused multiple turnover and transition opportunities for the home team. At the half Star Valley’s lead had been cut to one, 22-21. 

Emily Dana and MaKayla Christiansen started taking over the paint near the end of the third quarter where Star Valley led 33-30 as the two combined for 18 points and 17 rebounds in the game. Dana had a double-double of 10 and 10. Coles also hit some clutch free throws down the stretch, seven of eight in all, to help put the game away. Sophomore Ambree Nelson started her third straight game and finished with seven rebounds and a team high five steals to go with her five points. 

Demaret finished with 11 for the Wolves and Madison Moffat scored nine. It is the first season sweep of Green River for Coach Kade Erickson. 

The Lady Braves had also sewn up the #1Southwest seed for the tournament next week where they will face Riverton at 4:30 p.m. at GRHS. In one previous meeting on February 3, in Riverton, Star Valley won 54-38. 

SVI Media will be on location to stream the Star Valley games and also facilitate in streaming nearly all of the other teams in attendance with the exception of Evanston. 

Braves 63
Wolves 50

In the boys game the Braves came out nearly perfect in the opening four minutes of the game and outscoring the Wolves 21-6 by the end of the first quarter. Green River refused to let the game turn into a rout and cut the lead to 28-21 by halftime. 

The team was without the services of senior starting guard, Kash Lancaster, who did not dress for the game due to injury. In his stead, four of the five starters finished in double-figures with Max Jensen (14), Simon Gaskell (12), Dylan Shumway (11) and Zane Hedges (10) putting together good performances. Gaskell owned the glass on the night with a career-high 16 rebounds and also blocked three shots. 

As a team, the Braves shot 37% from the three-point line as PJ Horsley, Jensen and Shumway all hit a pair of triples. 

The Braves’ defense was much improved from the 85-82 meeting between the two teams in Afton. Theran Archibald, the leading scorer in the 4A Class at 20.5 points per game, finished with 14. Hunter Lake also finished in double-figures for the Wolves, scoring 11. 

With the win, the Braves improved to (17-4)(5-1) overall. They had already locked in the #1Southwest seed as well and will face Kelly Walsh at GRHS next Thursday in the final game of the day scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The Braves and Trojans played in Afton on February 9, in what turned out to be a close finish as Star Valley won 54-49.