The 2022-23 incarnation of the Kemmerer High School girls’ basketball team defied expectations, overcoming youth, inexperience and the loss of the team’s top scorer to injury to finish 17-10 and advance to the 2A State Tournament, courtesy of a third-place finish at regionals.

The Lady Rangers went 0-2 at state — dropping games to Sundance and Rocky Mountain — but the foundation was set for the 2023-24 season to be one for the books. With new head coach Phil Thatcher taking over for the recently retired Wade Fiscus and a team full of players returning with state tournament experience, Kemmerer should be a tough out for any team hoping to make a run in 2A this season.

“Things are looking pretty good — we had more girls come out than we expected,” Thatcher said. “We were thinking we’d only get 10 or 11, but we’re sitting at 15 right now. Lots of freshmen came out — we have seven total, so that’s nice to have. We had another senior come out that wasn’t expected, so that was a nice surprise. The girls have been working hard, and there’s a lot of positive energy.”

The Lady Rangers graduated just one senior off last year’s roster, though Sydney Neria’s leadership was vital to the team’s success. Looking to fill those shoes will be seniors Tyler Thatcher, Micalyn Carlson, Sophie Archibald and newcomer Arianne Dearden, who returns to the hardwood after a two-year break.

“Arianne hasn’t played since her freshman year, so she’ll be trying to get back into the groove of things, get her feet back under her,” Thatcher explained.”Micalyn, Sophie and Tyler, it will be huge for us, what they provide in terms of leadership for this team.”

Thatcher also has a solid core of juniors returning, including Ella Thatcher, Natasha Martinez and Janae Skidmore. All three were starters last season, and Skidmore led the team in scoring with 13.5 points per game, despite missing the final 10 games of the season due to injury.

“Those three seniors and those three juniors are probably going to be the meat of our varsity program, right there,” Thatcher said. “We won 17 games last year — that’s pretty good, that’s as solid a season as Kemmerer’s had in a long, long time. But I think the girls felt they underachieved a little bit — they wanted to pick up a win at state, and they had their chance with Sundance. Even at Regionals, they wanted to be in the championship game. To do that, we have to improve our offense a little bit. Our defense is pretty solid — the girls really hustle and play hard there. If we can get our offense going, that’s going to be the key for us.”

As for the younger players, Thatcher said he believes a few will be able to work their way into the regular rotation.

“We probably have seven girls right now that can handle the varsity game,” Thatcher said. “Those freshmen and Arianne, it’s going to take them a few weeks. But we have some good athletes. If we focus on getting better, I really think we can go about 8-10 deep. That’s been something we haven’t had for a while. These girls have been working hard, so I think it’s going to happen.”

This is Thatcher’s second time coaching girls’ basketball at KHS, and he is looking forward to the challenge.

“I coached girls’ basketball here in Kemmerer back in the start of my career — probably 2005 to 2008,” he said. “My growing family had gotten to be too much for me to be head coach. Now, 18 years later, Coach Fiscus retired from teaching and resigned from coaching, so there was an opening. I have two daughters on the team — and one more in seventh grade — and this group of girls, I’ve coached them for a long time. I like this group, so I thought maybe I could do some good.”

Asked what has changed since his last time at the helm of the program, Thatcher said his growth as a coach tops the list.

“I think I’ve grown as a coach, a little bit,” Thatcher said. “I hope I have. In the past, I think I did an OK job. This time around, I’m actually enjoying the experience, rather than worrying about winning and losing. Watching the girls work hard, get better each and every day has been gratifying. We haven’t played a game yet, so of course that will change the approach to