Editor’s note: The following information was put together by “Stat Rat” Jim Craig, a longtime follower of Wyoming high school sports, as part of his ongoing research into Wyoming high school basketball. Mr. Craig has spent numerous hours researching Wyoming high school basketball, and I’m proud to share his research here. Thanks to the “Stat Rat” for putting in the time to expand the knowledge base of Wyoming high school basketball!
1971-1972 Girls Basketball Results
It’s difficult to find results for many schools, more likely a sign of the times than anything nefarious. Several scribes referred to the results as Girls Athletic Association events rather than interscholastic competitions between high schools. The GAA had existed since WWII and had minimal newspaper coverage, along the likes of Future Homemakers of America, debate and forensics, music and drama presentations, and Future Farmers of America. That the games between schools had been sanctioned by the WHSAA was lost on publishers, sports editors and columnists. Some coaches were excellent at writing up and sending in results; others less so. It is through their efforts that any results exist at all.
The Rat has found evidence of girls’ games played by 30 schools, 33 if you count Arvada-Clearmont, Dubois and Meeteetse, which were scheduled with various schools but apparently didn’t field enough girls to have five starters and some bench help. (There were 73 boys teams throughout Wyoming.) Casper Natrona was the best of the large school teams, as the Fillies completed their third consecutive undefeated season. (The yearbook titled their page: “Fillies Take State in Track and Basketball,” which was true for the outdoor sport, not so for the hardcourt one. There was no state hoops tourney until 1976.) Sundance was again a powerhouse of the NE schools, and finished with a perfect mark, unblemished for the second year in a row. Powell had a very popular program as Coach Jean Mills had over 30 girls out for the sport. Big Horn Basin opponents fielded much smaller teams, usually totaling less than a dozen, and high school reporters were awestruck at the Panthers’ turnout and depth of their bench.
Unreported, too, are the struggles within each school. Finding gym time for practice sometimes presented problems as coaches of the established boys’ program were reluctant to share the space, particularly the prime time directly after school. Games for girls were mostly held early Saturday morning, a time when gyms were not in use. Financing trips, uniforms and equipment were also part of the struggle, as funding for the girls was a pittance compared to their male counterparts. Road trips for those early Saturday tipoffs meant teams departing their home school well before sunrise. It’s understandable, given the circumstances, that most girls’ seasons of this era never reached double digits for total games played.
Of course, this is an incomplete work in progress. The research comes mostly from the newspapers within the State Archives and a few yearbooks accessed through ancestry.com. Folks having information to add can contact me via my email statrat@q.com
Southeast Wyoming
Casper Kelly Walsh Lady Trojans***Sandy Ward
1/7? 23 at Casper Natrona 35 L CST
1/8 40 Buffalo 37 W BB
1/15 27 Douglas 24 W CST
1/22 45 at Riverton 31 W RR
1/29 30 at Rawlins 27 W CST
2/15 35 Casper Natrona 47 L CST
2/19 Powell
Record: 4-2 Pct: .667
Casper Natrona Fillies***Deanna D’Abbraccio
1/7? 35 Kelly Walsh 23 W CST
1/22 56 at Douglas 23 W CST G Johnson 24
2/5 48 at Buffalo 33 W CST
2/12 45 Riverton 33 W CST
2/15 47 at Kelly Walsh 35 W CST
2/19 59 Rawlins 21 W CST
2/25 65 Powell 21 W CST G Johnson 20
Record: 7-0 Pct: 1.000
Burns Lady Broncs***Lil Joslin
2/5 35 Douglas 41 L DB
Record: 0-1 Pct: .000
Northeast Wyoming
Buffalo Lady Bison***Ina Hubbell
?/? 43 ?Kaycee 28 W BfflYbk
1/8 37 at Kelly Walsh 40 L BB
1/15 29 at Gillette 16 W BfflYbk
1/18 48 Newcastle 15 W BfflYbk
?/? 44 Gillette 24 W BfflYbk
2/5 33 Casper Natrona 48 L CST
2/12 28 Sundance 45 L ST
?/? 55 ?Kaycee 24 W BfflYbk
Record: 5-3 Pct: .625
Campbell County Lady Camels***Judy Leggett
1/15 16 Buffalo 29 L BfflYbk
1/24 23 at Sundance 48 L ST
?/? 24 at Buffalo 44 L BfflYbk
2/19 at Douglas L DB
Record: 0-4 Pct: 1.000
Douglas Lady Bearcats***
1/15 24 at Kelly Walsh 27 L CST
1/22 23 Casper Natrona 56 L CST
2/5 41 at Burns 35 W DB L Nachtman 20
2/19 Gillette W DB
Record: 2-2 Pct: .500
Newcastle Lady Dogies***Joanne Owens
12/9 15 at Upton 14 W NLJ
12/21 22 at Moorcroft 37 L ML
1/13 Custer, SD
1/18 15 at Buffalo 48 L BfflYbk
1/20 13 Upton 19 L WCG
1/25 14 Moorcroft 20 L ML
2/3 16 Sundance 54 L ST
2/10 at Hot Springs, SD
Record: 1-5 Pct: .167
Hulett Lady Red Devils***
12/? 8 Moorcroft 55 L ML
1/15? 29 ?Upton 32 L WCG
1/18 18 at Moorcroft 55 L ML
2/15 15 Sundance 37 L ST
1/31 24 ?Upton 42 L WCG
Record: 0-5 Pct: .000
Kaycee Lady Buckaroos***
?/? 28 ?Buffalo 43 L BfflYbk
?/? 24 ?Buffalo 55 L BfflYbk
Record: 0-2 Pct: .000
Moorcroft Lady Wolves***Sharon Shuck
12/? 55 at Hulett 8 W ML
12/21 37 Newcastle 22 W ML
1/4 41 at Upton 29 W WCG
1/13 18 at Sundance 55 L ST
1/18 55 Hulett 18 W ML
1/25 20 at Newcastle 14 W ML
2/3 40 Upton 31 W ML
2/ 44 ?Custer, SD 18 W ML
Record: 7-1 Pct: .875
Rat Droppings***Arvada-Clearmont forfeited a game in December to Moorcroft and the Rat wonders if win No. 9 might be a second forfeit by the same school as the Panthers weren’t able to field a team for the season. The Moorcroft paper mentioned a 9-1 in a season-end article, but there’s no record of any other games being played. I’m going to call this a 7-1 mark, still certainly a stellar campaign.
Sundance Lady Bulldogs***Carolyn Fiscus
1/6 45 at Newell, SD 17 W ST
1/13 55 Moorcroft 18 W ST
1/24 48 Gillette 23 W ST
1/27 60 RCity St. Mrtn’s, SD 34 W ST
2/3 54 at Newcastle 16 W ST
2/10 79 Upton 28 W ST
2/12 45 at Buffalo 28 W ST
2/15 37 at Hulett 15 W ST
2/21 51 at RCity, St Mrtn, SD 34 W ST
Record: 9-0 Pct: 1.000
Upton Lady Bobcats***Norma Popham
12/9 14 Newcastle 15 L NLJ
1/4 29 Moorcroft 41 L WCG
1/15? 32 ?Hulett 29 W WCG
1/20 19 at Newcastle 13 W WCG
1/31 42 ?Hulett 24 W WCG
2/3 31 at Moorcroft 40 L WCG
2/10 28 at Sundance 79 L ST
Record: 3-4 Pct: .429
Northwest Wyoming
Greybull Lady Buffaloes***Sheryl Rohwer
12/6 16 Basin 26 L GS
1/11 18 at Basin 19 L GS
1/22 16 Lovell 34 L GS
1/25 at Meeteetse—don’t believe that Meeteetse fielded a team.
1/27 21 at Worland 36 L GS
2/1 25 Powell 64 L GS
2/12 16 at Lovell 26 L GS
2/17 Worland??
2/26 30 at Ten Sleep 16 W GS*
2/26 23 Byron 19 W GS*
2/29 21 Ten Sleep 14 W GS
*Ten Sleep tourney
Record: 3-6 Pct: .333
Lovell Lady Bulldogs***
12/11 25 Powell 52 L PT
1/22 34 Greybull 16 W GS
1/29 24 at Powell 51 L PT
2/12 26 at Greybull 16 W GS
Record: 2-2 Pct: .500
Powell Lady Panthers***Jean Mills
12/11 52 at Lovell 25 W PT T Gillette 20
12/16 Greybull–cancelled
1/8 Burlington W BRR
1/15 43 Riverton 40 W PT
1/29 51 Lovell 24 W PT
2/1 64 at Greybull 25 W GS
2/5 54 ?Shoshoni 17 W PT D Feusner 20
2/12 Shoshoni tourney—don’t believe that tourney was held
2/25 at Kelly Walsh
2/26 21 at Natrona 65 L CST
Record: 6-1 Pct: .857
Riverton Lady Wolverines***Leora Kennedy
1/8 33 ?Shoshoni 16 W RR
1/15 40 at Powell 43 L RR
1/22 31 Kelly Walsh 45 L RR
1/29 32 Wind River 27 W RR C Brown 22
2/5 51 at Rawlins 32 W RR C Brown 20
2/12 33 at Natrona 48 L RR
2/14 29 ?Shoshoni 10 W RR
2/26 48 Rawlins 38 W RR
Record: 5-3 Pct: .625
Worland Lady Warriors***
1/27 36 Greybull 21 W GS
2/17 at Greybull
Record: 1-0 Pct: 1.000
Basin Lady Bobcats***Everett March
12/6 26 at Greybull 16 W GS
12/13 Burlington W BRR
1/11 19 Greybull 18 W GS
Record: 3-0 Pct: 1.000
Burlington Lady Huskies***Mary McColley
12/13 at Basin L BRR
1/8 at Powell L BRR
1/15 20 Powell B 10 W BRR
Record: 1-2 Pct: .333
Byron Lady Eagles***
2/26 47 Greybull B 24 W GS*
2/26 19 Greybull 23 L GS*
*Ten Sleep tourney
Record: 1-1 Pct: .500
Dubois Lady Rams***don’t believe Dubois fielded a team
1/22 0 at Shoshoni 1 L RR forfeit loss
2/12 Shoshoni tourney—tourney wasn’t held?
Meeteetse Lady Longhorns***
1/25 Greybull—don’t believe Meeteetse fielded a team
Shoshoni Lady Wranglers***Kay Dillon
12/ 7 ?Wind River 26 L RR
1/8 16 at Riverton 33 L RR
1/22 1 Dubois 0 W RR Forfeit win
2/5 17 ?Powell 54 L PT
2/12 Shoshoni tourney w/WRiver, Powell, Dub—tourney wasn’t held?
2/14 10 Riverton 29 L RR
Record: 1-4 Pct: .200
Ten Sleep Lady Pioneers***
2/26 16 Greybull A 30 L GS*
2/26 25 Greybull B 12 W GS*
2/29 15 at Greybull 21 L GS
*Ten Sleep tourney
Record: 1-2 Pct: .333
Wind River Lady Cougars***
12/ 26 ?Shoshoni 7 W RR
1/29 27 at Riverton 32 L RR
2/12 Shoshoni tourney—tourney wasn’t held?
Record: 1-1 Pct: .500
Southwest Wyoming
Evanston Lady Red Devils***Lynn Brown
2/4 26 at Mt. View 16 W UCH
2/16 10 Kemmerer 16 L UCH
Record: 1-1 Pct: .500
Kemmerer Lady Rangers***
2/4 16 at Evanston 10 W UCH
Record: 1-0 Pct: 1.000
Rawlins Lady Outlaws***Eileen Widdison
1/11 36 at Saratoga 14 W RDT
1/22 27 Saratoga 29 L RDT
1/29 27 Kelly Walsh 30 L RDT
2/5 32 Riverton 51 L RDT
2/12 42 at Hanna 24 W RDT
2/15 41 at Encampment 18 W RDT
2/19 21 at Natrona 58 L RDT
2/22 45 Hanna 24 W RDT
2/26 36 at Riverton 48 L RDT
3/1 37 Encampment 11 W SS
Record: 5-5 Pct: .500
Encampment Lady Tigers***Mark Campbell
2/15 18 Rawlins 41 L RDT
3/1 11 at Rawlins 37 L SS
Record: 0-2 Pct: .000
Rat Droppings: The high school scribe that posted school doings in the Saratoga Sun referred to the team as “Campbell’s Soup,” which leads me to believe that the boys’ varsity coach handled sideline duties for the girls as well. The column mentioned preparations for a third game, but possibly the Tiger boys’ state tourney run torpedoed that contest. No mention exists of any game after the 3/1 date.
Hanna-Elk Mountain Lady Miners***
1/25 37 Saratoga 57 L SS
2/1 20 at Saratoga 37 L SS
2/12 24 Rawlins 42 L RDT
2/22 24 at Rawlins 45 L RDT
Record: 0-4 Pct: .000
Mt. View Lady Buffalos***
2/16 16 Evanston 26 L UCH
Record: 0-1 Pct: .000
Saratoga Lady Panthers***Louise Nixon
1/11 14 Rawlins 36 L SS
1/22 29 at Rawlins 27 W SS
1/25 57 at Hanna 37 W SS
2/1 37 Hanna 20 W SS
Record: 3-1 Pct: .750