Where they left off

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
A young and inexperienced squad took the court last December and week by week got the hang of 3A varsity basketball until they took third place at the regional tournament and earned a spot at the state tournament where they opened up play in the first, and ultimately only, game of the culminating event. Immediately following their contest, the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19, so that was it for the season.
Head coach Chad Ostenson is returning all but three players from that squad to the roster this season, and is hoping to take off right from where they left off.
“I’m pretty excited about what we have coming back this year,” Ostenson smiled. “We’re bringing 80% of our scoring and rebounding back so that’s awesome.” 
Key returning players include senior Mercedes Voelker who fine-tuned her outside game last season, draining 83 attempts from beyond the arc, accumulating 306 points and finishing as the team’s second leading scorer. She was also second overall in rebounding with 164 on the season.
The team’s leading scorer also returns for the Lady Dogies. Sophomore Jaylen Ostenson is back and will be adding to her 314 points from last season, and she also finished as the squad’s leading rebounder with 184 so her presence under the basket should continue to benefit the team.
The squad’s fourth leading scorer (148 points) and third leading rebounder (81), Shelby Tidyman is returning for the Lady Dogies as well, and her speed and athleticism is a mainstay of the team’s upbeat tempo system while her defensive prowess gives opposing guards fits.
“Having those three back gives us a bit of a leg up and we’d love to just build on where we left off last year because we were on a pretty good roll,” Ostenson nodded. “We ended the season well getting third at Regionals and got to play at least one game at the state tournament.” 
The squad lost Sara Sweet and Madi Pearson to graduation, and Alli Cass who moved out of the district. Statistically speaking, the loss of Cass will be felt as the freshman finished last season as the third leading scorer with 161 points. Sweet and Pearson also left some big shoes to fill in their leadership of the squad.
“Those seniors were a big part of the team cohesion providing leadership and filling some important roles on the court,” Ostenson admitted. “Alli is also a tough one to lose because she, too, was pretty good at pulling the team together and she could be counted on to score as well.”
Other players to watch this year include Tiernan Stanton, Mackenzie Conzelman and Hunter McFarland. As freshmen last season, the three saw limited minutes on the court, however they contributed whenever they were in the game.
“Mack and Hunter can step up and score, and having Tiernan with her height in the paint is great,” Ostenson grinned. “She stands 6-feet, 2-inches tall and has great blocking ability, which will give us the opportunity to take a few more chances on the defensive side of the game.”
Other returning varsity players include senior Claire Beastrom and juniors Shawnee Miles and Rachel Sweet.
The coronavirus has altered the season somewhat as the Wyoming High School Activities Association has handed down some restrictions in an attempt to mitigate the spread of Covid. Just a few of the new regulations include restrictions on the size of groups practicing together, a limit of just 12 players at any time on a squad, daily contact tracing paperwork, and detailed practice plans limiting time of player contact and implementing cleaning requirements. 
As far as competition goes, a big change this season is that there will be no jump ball at the beginning of the contest. Rather, possession will be determined via coin flip in order to remove the official from close contact with players at the start of the game. In addition, masks will be required at all times excluding only those on the court. 
“The paperwork for contact tracing and the detailed practices have been challenging,” Ostenson sighed. “Five on five work has also been difficult because it is limited to eight minutes at a time, but we are all adjusting and are making the best of it.”
Looking around the conference, Ostenson identified Douglas as the favorite in 3A East, and gave a nod to Rawlins and Torrington as being contenders for a state berth as well. However, he went on to note that Newcastle will be right up in that mix if they can build on how they were playing last year.
The Lady Dogies will tip off their season next Saturday, Dec. 12, when they travel to Burns for a triangular against the Lady Broncs and the Pine Bluffs Lady Hornets. 
“I’m pretty excited about the way we open. Pine Bluffs is 2A, but they are very good and finished in the top at the state tournament last year,” Ostenson nodded. “Burns is also pretty good and they return their best player from last season who tore her ACL during the season so it will be a good way to start the season.”