Three members of the Kemmerer High School girls’ basketball team recently received postseason honors for their efforts on the hardwood during the 2023-24 season.
Lady Ranger senior Tyler …
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Three members of the Kemmerer High School girls’ basketball team recently received postseason honors for their efforts on the hardwood during the 2023-24 season.
Lady Ranger senior Tyler Thatcher and juniors Ella Thatcher and Janae Skidmore were named to the 2A Southwest All-Conference team last week; Skidmore was also named to the 2A All-State Team.
“When your team has success towards the end of the year, you tend to get more individual recognition,” said KHS head coach Phil Thatcher. “I felt that we had one more player that was very deserving of All-Conference in Natasha Martinez, but it was good to get those three recognized, and for people to see the good that these girls were doing.”
The good news for the Lady Rangers is two of the three All-Conference selections will be returning next season, as will Martinez, who was an All-Conference pick last season.
“We’re pretty excited about the three girls who will be seniors next year,” Thatcher said. “They’re a talented, hard-working, competitive bunch, so hopefully what we do is continue to set the bar of having success — expecting to do things at the Regional Tournament, and also the State Tournament. When you have the nucleus of these three girls that are coming back, the younger girls have confidence in them, and believe that they can go out and be successful. When you have a team that believes in your leadership — that’s when you’re gonna start being successful.”
Janae Skidmore
Skidmore led the 2A West in scoring, with 13.5 points per game; she led the Lady Rangers in rebounding (six per
game), total rebounds (156) and blocks (28).
Skidmore was also tops on the team in 3-pointers made (16), attempted (53) and percentage (30%); a 35% shooter from the floor, Skidmore scored a team-high 351 points.
Defensively, Skidmore averaged 2.8 steals and 1.1 blocks per game; she shot 67% from the charity stripe to lead the team (129-for-192).
“Coming off a major injury, it was really good to see Janae’s confidence grow throughout the year,” Thatcher said. “At the start of the year, she found ways to score, and the biggest way was to get to the free throw line. As the year progressed — and her confidence grew — she really became more diversified in her shots. She started taking better shots, and was able to create a few more shots for herself. Her energy levels went up, and it was good to see her play hard, and get back to where she was, before that knee injury. Her defense also came along, especially on the perimeter — to shoot over her is tough, she has some good length to her. She became more and more vital to our defensive scheme as the season went on, as well as a facilitator on offense, all the way around.”
Tyler Thatcher
Thatcher averaged 4.2 points and 2.3 rebounds per game, and led the team with 1.3 assists per game; the senior averaged 2.6 steals per game. Thatcher was fourth on the team in overall points (76) and finished with 24 assists and 46 steals. A 51% free-throw shooter (20-for-39), Thatcher finished with 42 total rebounds.
“The one thing Tyler brings to the table is her defensive pressure,” coach Thatcher said. “When she’s in the game, no one else has to worry about the ball — whoever is bringing the ball up, they’re trying to get rid of it. They don’t want to be bringing it up when she’s guarding them, and that often takes the ball away from their best ball handler, which is a bonus for us. She caused a lot of disruption — teams would have to change their offense to account for her.”
Tyler was also adept at breaking down defense off the dribble, causing defenses to collapse.
“Tyler was one of our few guards that was actually pretty good at seeing the floor, and hitting somebody when they came in,” Thatcher said. “And she hit some big shots the last couple of weeks — some lay-ins and little floaters — that would keep us in the game, or keep our lead extended. I was really proud of how she finished out, especially overcoming an injury that kept her out for five weeks. It was a great honor for her to be recognized as one of our top players.”
Ella Thatcher
The younger Thatcher averaged 5.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, and was first on the team in steals, with 3.3 per game. A 53% free-throw shooter (42-for-80), Thatcher was third on the team in overall points, with 137, and led the team in total assists (32) and steals (86).
“Ella’s game is one of activity — she’s all over the place, usually doing good things,” Thatcher said. “The biggest thing for her is, there was a period — about 40% of the season — where she was a little hesitant to shoot. Starting with St. Stephens and Big Piney towards the end of the year, she decided she was going to start taking shots, and I told her we needed to have a scoring threat besides Janae out there. She bought into that, and started really taking good shots, and putting pressure on defenses.”
Ella had a standout game in a 45-44 win over Wind River in the 2A West Regional Tournament, dropping 20 points on the Lady Cougars in the upset win.
“Aside from that game, she was putting up 7-10 points, and getting 8-10 rebounds those last few games,” Thatcher said. “She was really doing work. She might be our best rebounder, and like Janae, her length causes problems, especially for smaller guards. She was huge for us down the stretch, and for us to accomplish what we wanted to as a team.”
