Blue Sky looks to erase last year's disappointing finish in 9C girls tourney

It's there. A nagging constant reminder from last season. For the Blue Sky girls basketball team, last year's season ended with a win, but it was a bittersweet one at best.

The Eagles came into the District 9C tournament with aspirations of berths at the Northern C Divisional and Class C state tournament. However, an upset loss to Box Elder in the semifinals ended those dreams.

Blue Sky fought back to finish third, but since Box Elder lost in the championship, the Eagles could not challenge the Bears, having already lost to them in the tournament.

Since that final day of the tournament last year, the returning members of the Eagles have worked every day to make sure something like that doesn't happen again this year.

"I haven't had to remind them," said Blue Sky head coach Liz Campbell. "They do a lot of that on their own. They've shown a real determination this year."

"It hurt, it hurt really bad," Campbell added. "The girls started preparing for this week the day after last season ended."

Indeed, Blue Sky comes into the tournament as the regular-season champion and prohibitive favorite, after rolling through the conference season with a 14-2 record. That record is somewhat deceiving since the two conference losses didn't actually come against a 9C team.

Thanks to the wonders of regional scheduling, the Eagles' two losses against District 10C power Chester counted against in them in the league standings.

Blue Sky has perhaps the best scoring duo in the conference in guards Lindsay Anderson and Kaila Warren. Both are capable of scoring big points on any night and when both are hitting shots, they make the Eagles almost unbeatable.

Almost, but not quite. Blue Sky is far from invincible, having played several close games this season. Even Campbell agrees that this year's tournament is the most wide open it's ever been.

"It's a year where anything can happen in the tournament," Campbell said. "And it usually does."

After Blue Sky, a trio of teams fought it out at the end of the season trying to get the best possible seed for the tourney. In the end, the KG KouGars bested Big Sandy and Rocky Boy for the second team and will host Box Elder in the first round.

KG is led by the 9C's leading scorer, Cady Arifin, who is averaging 24 points, nine rebounds and four assists per game.

"What an athlete," said Hays-Lodge Pole head coach Hank Doney of Arifin. "She's just unstoppable and their other girls are solid too."

The KouGars have one of the most experienced teams, starting four seniors and a junior. However, head coach Jen Wendland's bench is a little thin. There is no secret how KG beats teams: It's Arifin, Arifin and more Arifin.

"Cady's seen every kind of defense thrown at her," Wendland said. "They've played man, zone and even box and one. She's our go-to player. If she's not scoring at least 20 points in the game, we're not winning."

But for KG to be effective, seniors Casie Toner, Mandy Rambo and Heidi Donoven must also contribute offensively to take some of the load from Arifin.

The defending champion Big Sandy Pioneers face a similar situation as they rely heavily on the play of Ashley Goodian. The senior point guard has never failed to score in double figures in conference games and is the unquestioned leader of a rebuilding Pioneer team.

Despite heavy losses from last year's team, the Pioneers have made a late-season push to finish third with an 8-8 conference record.

"Big Sandy is playing its best basketball of the season right now," Campbell said.

Although Goodian is Big Sandy's marquee player, sophomore Naomi Williams leads a solid cast of supporting players, who must contribute for the Pioneers to be successful this weekend.

"It could be any of the other girls that step up along with Ashley and Naomi. We are very tough," said Big Sandy head coach Robin Pearson.

The Rocky Boy Morning Stars are definitely the wild card team in the tournament. No team puts up points quicker than the Stars, who boast a potent offense led by junior Marty Rae Stiffarm and the Belcourt twins, Leiloni and Tori.

If Rocky Boy is dangerous, then the Hays-Lodge Pole T-Birds are the team that no contenders want to play, at least according to Doney.

The T-Birds are led by the 9C's tallest player in junior center Colette Hawley and guards Karissa Kirkaldie and Sheena Shambo. Hawley averages 18 points a game and is the key to the T-Birds' success.

"If we have Colette in the game during the last two minutes of the game, we'll be tough," Doney said.

Another team with a solid inside game is the Turner Tornadoes, led by sophomores Ashley Van Voast and Cheryl Cowan. Turner has struggled offensively at times, but has come on of late.

Even though they are winless in conference at 0-16, the Box Elder Bears are still a team that scares coaches. The Bears have a young team and a nothing-to-lose attitude.

With all the parity, every team is a contender this year.

"This is going to be a really good tournament," said Rocky Boy head coach Derek Small. "Any team has a chance to win. It just comes down to who plays the best basketball with the least amount of mistakes."