With the 2023-24 regular season entering its final week, the Kemmerer High School girls’ hoops team will head into Friday’s home finale with some much-needed momentum, shaking off a tough loss Friday at Wyoming Indian to earn the season sweep at St. Stephens the following day.

Friday’s contest against Wyoming Indian found the Lady Rangers on the wrong side of a 50-11 rout, though Kemmerer was able to overcome that lack of offense Saturday against the Eagles, finding the bottom of the net early and often in a 63-27 win.

“It was one of those weekends where you had a game you just didn’t want to go through, but you did it — then you had a game where you felt pretty good, and were able to do some stuff,” said KHS head coach Phil Thatcher. “And ending the weekend with a win always makes that three-hour drive home better.”

The Lady Rangers (7-12, 2-3 in 2A SW Quadrant) host quadrant rival Big Piney (8-11, 3-2 in 2A SW Quadrant) Friday in the regular-season finale, with regional seeding still up for grabs.

“The Big Piney game Friday is going to be a huge one for us,” Thatcher said. “If we can beat Big Piney, we’ll be tied for the 2nd-3rd spot. We’re hoping we can come home and make a good defensive stand. Big Piney’s a tough team — they played Wyoming Indian really tough, and beat us by one point up at their place a couple of weeks ago. If we’re focused, I think we can get the job done. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”

When the Lady Rangers and Big Piney met in late January, the Lady Rangers were able to squeak out a 50-49 win. Thatcher said his team must be confident in their shooting — and play solid defense — in order to be successful.

“We need to keep our confidence in shooting, and just keep that attack attitude,” Thatcher said. “I think when we’re aggressive — our defense fuels just about everything we do, so when we get put on our heels on defense, it’s not good. Wyoming Indian was able to get to the basket pretty easily this weekend, so I think that triggered it, as well. We really rely on our defense, so when it starts breaking down, we struggle. If we can lock things down defensively, get some turnovers and turn them into quick buckets, that’s when our confidence starts rolling. I think we sit in a pretty good spot at that point.”

Wyoming Indian 50, Lady Rangers 11

The Lady Rangers started Friday’s game at Wyoming Indian (18-2, 6-0 in 2A SW Quadrant) ice-cold on offense, and never really warmed up, falling to the the No. 2 team in 2A, 50-11.

“The Wyoming Indian game wasn’t very good — we did not play well,” Thatcher said. “The first quarter was OK — we were down 

11-0, we just could not get a basket to fall — even our free throws. In the game of basketball, you need to make a couple of baskets, just to get your confidence going. We could not do it.”

Janae Skidmore led the Lady Rangers with six points, followed by two points each from Natasha Martinez and Ella Thatcher. Tyler Thatcher rounded out the scoring with a free throw.

“We were down 20-21 points at half, and our goal coming out of halftime was to knock that lead down to about 10 points by the end of the third quarter,” Thatcher said. “They came out and hit a couple of quick buckets — I think one was a 3-pointer — and we had three quick turnovers. It just seemed like that was that. Wyoming Indian — they’re playing so well right now, and we just got rattled a bit. But I was really proud of my girls, because we talked about it, then moved along to the next day.”

Lady Rangers 63, St. Stephens 27

With the sting from Friday’s loss to Wyoming Indian still fresh, the Lady Rangers took out their frustrations on St. Stephens the following day, though the Lady Eagles played tougher than the score might indicate in a 63-27 loss.

“St. Stephens is playing their best basketball of the season — they have a new girl, and she came out and hit three 3-pointers in the first half,” Thatcher said. “My girls never got rattled, stayed steady and we ended up pulling away.”

Unlike the day before, shots started falling for the Lady Rangers early and often; by halftime, the score was 33-10, and Kemmerer’s defense was also playing lights-out.

“Scoring 63 points — the buckets started going, and it was just good to see them enjoy that game, feel that confidence,” Thatcher said. “We played better defense — it was just better, all the way around.”

Lady Ranger Janae Skidmore had a monster game offensively, netting 29 points, to go along with seven rebounds. Ella Thatcher finished with nine points and four steals, while Hadlee Wood and Natasha Martinez added seven points apiece; Martinez also dished off a team-high five assists. Sophie Archibald chipped in six points, and led the team in rebounds, with nine; Tyler Thatcher and Cambree Tolhurst added two points each. Addison Krall rounded out the scoring with a free throw.

“Our shot selection against St. Stephens was very similar to what it was against Wyoming Indian,” Thatcher said. “Wyoming Indian was a little more aggressive on defense, but we still had open looks — I don’t know if the girls were a little more relaxed, a little more confident going into St. Stephens. But once they hit a couple of shots, they started rolling.”