Four Buffs make all-conference

Four Lady Buffs were named to the Class 2A Northwest’s all-conference team. 

Fatima Chavez, Aleksey McColloch, Perla Rodriguez and Wyatt Whaley were joined by Lauren Bassett, Brittly Boettcher, Keylee Christiansen and Shelby Wambeke of Rocky Mountain; Lexi Garrison, Hanna Hill, Davdine King and Jayssie Owsley of Thermopolis, and Morgan Donelson and Sway Fike of Shoshoni.

Brittany Boetcher of Rocky Mountain was honored as the player of the year while Shannon Hill of Thermopolis was honored by fellow coaches as the conference coach of the year.

The Lady Buffs had a stellar regular season took a No. 1 seed into the Class 2A West Regional tournament in Lander. Unfortunately, things at Lander did not go as scripted. The Buffs beat Wind River in the first game of the tournament, but then lost to Thermopolis and Shoshoni.

 Coach Sara Schlattmann expressed her thanks and appreciation to her seniors, Chavez, McColloch and Julie Lopez. “They have all consistently shown up to play in the offseason and summer months and that is truly where your program makes the biggest gains,” said Schlattmann. “These three have  always  made me smile and I appreciate all that they gave on behalf of the team. It is always hard to lose your seniors and I just wish them all the best.”

Schlattmann also appreciated and thanked her two assistant coaches, Christine Armel and Payten Sorensen for the time they gave to the program “and always being willing to jump in wherever they were needed. Christine and Payten are all in. Their feedback to me following practices and matches was so critical and I appreciate their candidness and ability to relate to the athletes and coach them on their fundamentals. 

“Our JV squad are the backbone of our future and I believe they work hard to ensure they are fundamentally sound.”

In closing, Coach Schlattmann gave a big shout out to the parents and the community for their support, for attending and being vocal at matches.  The enthusiasm of students, parents and friends “often gave us the edge in close matches. Having all of that support at our games was truly incredible and is what makes it so fun to compete.”