Lady Eagles confident entering season

Lyman returns two-time All-State selection Bradshaw

Josh Hall
Posted 11/26/17

MicKinley Bradshaw hopes the Lyman High School girls’ basketball team can pick right back up where it left off last season when the Lady Eagles earned a 57-56 win against Buffalo in the consolation championship game of the Class 3A state tournament.

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Lady Eagles confident entering season

Lyman returns two-time All-State selection Bradshaw

Posted

LYMAN – MicKinley Bradshaw hopes the Lyman High School girls’ basketball team can pick right back up where it left off last season when the Lady Eagles earned a 57-56 win against Buffalo in the consolation championship game of the Class 3A state tournament.

“We kind of got our rhythm toward the end,” Bradshaw, a two-time All-State selection said. “It just wasn’t soon enough. I hope we can continue where we left off and keep getting better.”

Bradshaw led Class 3A in scoring at 23.2 points per game during the 2016-17 campaign. She also led the West Conference in rebounding (13.7) blocked shots (2.2) and steals (5.2) while helping the Lady Eagles to a 20-7 record last season.

“To have a player like that, you can almost guarantee you’re going to get 20 points and 15 rebounds a night from her,” sixth-year head coach Jason Hansen said. “She’s a tough person to stop.”

This year, Bradshaw will likely take up a new role as the Lady Eagles’ point guard. But the 5-foot-11 multisport athlete could play a role anywhere on the floor.

“She pretty much plays everywhere,” Hansen said. “She brought the ball up for us sometimes last year. Sometimes we’d put her in the post and throw it in to her. Sometimes we just throw it to her on the wing and let her create. With a player like that, pretty much any play you draw up for her is going to be pretty successful.”

Lyman, which went 5-1 in conference play last season, earned the top seed in the West, but took third at regionals after falling to eventual state champion Star Valley in a semifinal game.

As the No. 3 seed in the West at state, the Lady Eagles suffered a 50-45 loss to Douglas (No. 2 East) in the first round. Lyman bounced back with a 60-40 win against Wheatland (No. 4 East), before edging Buffalo (No. 3 East).

“We’d like to go a little bit farther in regionals and try to win it, just so we can get a better seed going into the state tournament,” Hansen said.

Lyman graduated two all-conference players from last year in Emily Jackson (7.3 ppg) and Lyndee Walker (7.2 ppg), but return three starters in Bradshaw, along with seniors Cedar Eyre (3.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg) and Chesney Walker (3.8 ppg).

Senior Nichole Crook, along with juniors McKailey Bradshaw, Kassidy Nelson, Olivia Smith and Spring Jaggi also return to the mix after seeing varsity minutes last season.

The experience Lyman brings back from last year makes the Lady Eagles optimistic.

“Obviously, the main goal of every team is to win a state championship,” Chesney Walker said. “First, we have to handle regionals pretty well, and then I think the goal this year is to make it to state and win it.”

The Lady Eagles, who were the fifth-leading team in Class 3A in scoring and third-leading rebounding team last year, open up the 2017-18 season at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 8 against Wind River at Lyman High School as part of the Bridger Valley Tournament.

The tournament will also take place Saturday and will include Cokeville, Big Piney, Mountain View, Farson, Kemmerer and Green River. 

“Summer ball was really exciting for us,” McKinley Bradshaw said. “We worked hard, and we played hard. It will be an exciting start to the year.”