"We're looking to (hopefully) improve on last year's record," Shoshoni's head coach tells us. It is Ryan Gilbertson's second year as the Lady Wrangler's head coach. Last year, the ladies from Shoshoni finished with a 9-12 record. There is admittedly room for improvement there. Coach Gilbertson hopes that "with eight players returning with experience," his squad will pull a pretty good season out of their collective hat. "We have a young team, but the majority of these ladies played big minutes for us last year."

The Lady Wranglers will follow the very confident lead of skilled senior Sarah Downey, who was All-State, All-Conference, and 1A Northwest Player of the Year last season. "Sarah had an outstanding summer," says Coach Gilbertson, "[she played] on the AAU circuit for the Mile High Magic in Denver. She toured the country playing in places like Atlanta, Washington D.C., Portland, and Memphis." Sarah has some excellent support this year. "Sarah will be huge for us, no doubt," says Gilbertson, "but this year, we have plenty of other options to go to so she isn't trying to carry to load every night." Shoshoni promises to have a deep team to draw on this season; returning starters include Tess Zent, Sarah Downey, Erica Shed, and Katie Ardahl. Letter-winners Courtney Martin, Amber Ackerman, Destynn Jensen, and Oaklee Anderson put an impressive finish on this year's team.

Coach Gilbertson isn't counting chickens before they hatch, however. "Our conference should be very competitive, [and] our region is one of the tougher ones." Lovell is Gilbertson's "obvious" choice for the team to beat again this year. "Everyone else will be pretty evenly matched from the looks of our summer tournaments." And, of course, "Tongue River sounds like the team to beat in the state once again this year. Should make for an exciting season of girls' basketball!" Too true.
Coach Gilbertson is predicting excellent seasons for Sarah Downey and Tess Zent, both from his squad: "[They] will have an impact on a nightly basis," he says.

Shoshoni Lady Wranglers 2006 Basketball Schedule

Home Game Dates in Bold
Date Opponent Location Time
JAN. 2 RIVERTON RIVERTON 4:30
JAN. 6 GREYBULL SHOSHONI 4:30/6:00
JAN. 7 ROCKY MOUNTAIN SHOSHONI 2:30/4:00
JAN. 12 WIND RIVER SHOSHONI 7:00
JAN. 13 LOVELL SHOSHONI 4:00/5:30
JAN. 17 ST. STEPHENS ST. STEPHENS 5:30
JAN. 21 GREYBULL GREYBULL 2:00/3:30
JAN. 26 WIND RIVER WIND RIVER 4:15/5:45
JAN. 28 RIVERSIDE RIVERSIDE 2:00/3:30
FEB. 3 Rocky Mountain Rocky Mountain 3:00/4:30
FEB. 4 BURLINGTON SHOSHONI 2:30/4:00
FEB. 7 ST. STEPHENS SHOSHONI 5:30
FEB. 9 WIND RIVER WIND RIVER 5:30
FEB. 11 LOVELL LOVELL 2:00/3:30
FEB. 17 RIVERSIDE RIVERSIDE 4:30/6:00
FEB. 18 WORLAND WORLAND 12:00
FEB. 23-25 REGIONALS RIVERTON TBA
MAR. 2-5 STATE CASPER TBA