She graduated almost her entire roster, 14 seniors, but that doesn’t seem to matter much at Wyoming Indian. Head coach Aleta Moss is like the Energizer Bunny, she just keeps going and going.
Wyoming’s winningest coach and her Lady Chiefs opened the season in Converse County at the Glenrock tournament and didn’t miss a beat, rolling over Class 3-A host Glenrock 54-44, Class 1-A Kaycee 68-12 and fifth ranked Class 2-A Sundance 52-32 before finishing the tournament with a 62-43 win over Wright.
Taya Dixey, the only returning player with extensive varsity experience tallied 13 against Kaycee and 10 against Glenrock but the most prodigious scorer on opening day was freshman Paisley Blackburn who led the Lady Chiefs in both games. Blackburn scored 14 against Glenrock and 26 with a pair of 3-pointers against Kaycee.
Jamie Shoyo-Ferris was also in double figures with 13 against Glenrock.
The Lady Chiefs are a big team this year and while they are young with many freshmen seeing varsity time, they are deep and talented.
“We’re ahead of where I thought we’d be,” Moss said.
The Lady Chiefs are at home this weekend with Fremont County’s turn to host the Foothills Classic.
WYOMING INDIAN 19 31 16 2 – 68
KAYCEE 3 4 4 1 – 12
Wyoming Indian – Temiah Kaulaity 2 0-0 4, Taya Dixey 5 (1) 0-0 13, Paisley Blackburn 10 (2) 0-1 26, Jamie Shoyo-Ferris 4 0-0 8, Ali Hubbard 2 0-0 4, Delaney Gambler 3 1-2 7, Aislyn Gambler 1 0-0 2, Anessa White 2 0-0 4. Totals 29 (3) 1-3 68
Kaycee – Cleveland 2 2-4 6, Davis 1 0-0 2, Ford 0-3 0, Firnekas 1 0-0 2, Alger 1-2 1, Brock 1-3 1. Totals 4 4-10 12
GLENROCK 12 14 6 11 – 44
WYOMING INDIAN 16 13 19 8 – 54
Glenrock – Cornella 1 2-2 4, Sixby 7 (1) 3-3 20, Smith 1 0-0 2, Sorvey 5 (1) 0-0 13, Helmey 1 3-4 5. Totals 15 (2) 8-9 44
Wyoming Indian – Gerilyn Redman 1 0-1 2, Faith Headley (1) 2-2 5, Taya Dixey 4 2-4 10, Dodie Harris 1 0-0 2, Paisley Blackburn 4 (2) 0-0 14, Jamie Shoyo-Ferris 5 (1) 0-0 13, Swin Hiwalker 1 0-0 2, Delaney Gambler 2 0-0 4, Aislynn Gambler 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 (4) 4-7 54