It wasn’t the season Shoshoni seniors Tania St. Clair and Abigail Jennings had hoped for, but they still received senior recognition in a special way Saturday afternoon in the Lady Blues’ final home game of the season.
St. Clair, Shoshoni’s talented post suffered a compound fracture of her ankle during volleyball season and missed her entire senior year of play. Jennings, a three-year starter at point guard suffered a major concussion earlier in the season and is just now returning to practice.
Shoshoni head coach Max Mills contacted Rocky Mountain head coach Justin Moss to set up a special ceremony for the Lady Blue seniors.
Shoshoni manager Cammie Cornell suited for the game along with Jennings and St. Clair. She lined up for the center jump, batted the ball to Jennings who then passed it to St. Clair for a layup.
The shot was the only one of the season for St. Clair.
Mills had his team step aside as Rocky’s Rylee Winland hit a layup for the Lady Grizz and then called a time out. Cornell, Jennings, and. St. Clair left the floor and the game began tied at 2-2 with Rocky in possession.
The Lady Grizz are a tall, talented team with great balance and a smooth-flowing offense. They drubbed Shoshoni 40-14 in Cowley earlier this year, but this time it was different. The Grizz still won the game 53-28, but Shoshoni showed signs of improvement across the board.
The Lady Blue outscored their talented rivals in the second period and trailed just 24-18 at the half. They closed to 27-23 in the third period but went cold from the perimeter and Rocky rolled in the final quarter for the win.
Shoshoni has a final regular season game at Greybull this weekend and will most likely face Wyoming Indian in Wolverine gym in the opening round of the Class 2-A West regional tournament in two weeks.
The Lady Grizz host Wind River on Friday. If they win a tiebreaker will come into play for the conference championship. A loss and they’re second place, on the same side of the bracket as the Lady Chiefs.
SHOSHONI 7 11 5 5 – 28
ROCKY MOUNTAIN – 17 7 9 20 – 53
Shoshoni – Brenna Metzler 2-2 2, Kaylor McConnaughey 2 1-3 5, Memphis Dolcater (1) 0-0 3, Alexis Bacon 1 0-0 2, Macy Kasper 1 0-0 2, Morgan Donelson 1 5-8 7, Madi Ramage 1 0-0 2, Megan Harris 1 1-2 3, Tania St. Clair 1 0-0 2. Totals 8 (1) 9-15 28
Rocky Mountain – Cooley 1 (2) 0-0 8, Schoening (1) 0-0 3, Cristiansen 1 (1) 0-0 5, Boetcher 1 (2) 0-0 8, Moss 3 1-2 7, Wambeke 2 (1) 0-0 7, Bassett 5 3-6 13, Winland 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 (7) 4-8 53