2021 Big Piney Girls Basketball Wrap [VIDEO]
It was a historic season for the Big Piney girls basketball team as they qualified for the state tournament for the first time since 2002. This is a program that was just 2 years removed from a winless season so the improvement has been exponential. The Punchers secured a state tournament slot with a big win over Wind River in the 2A West regional tournament. Big Piney ended up being the 4th seed to come out of that regional which gave them a first-round date with Lusk at the state tourney.
The Punchers struggled from the field in this game shooting just 26% from the floor but did receive 11 points from all-state player Cassidy Espenscheid and 8 rebounds from Ryker Goodman. Big Piney ended up staying an extra day in Casper thanks to a 63-59 victory over Moorcroft in the consolation round. The Punchers outscored the Wolves 22-10 in the 4th quarter and were paced by Espenscheid with 21 as she was 10-18 from the free-throw line. Hanna Hansen had 12 and 10 of those points came from the charity stripe.
In the 5th/6th place contest, Big Piney lost to Pine Bluffs 43-42 as they rallied from 13 down to make a game of it. Espenscheid was solid again with 16 points and Hansen contributed 12 as the Punchers wrapped up the season 9-14. Big Piney has come a long way after years of futility but will lose 3 important players to graduation. Espenscheid was a senior and two all-conference selections, Ryker Goodman and Jakobi Hibbert were seniors as well. The team will have to rebuild around all-conference pick Hanna Hansen, one of 6 seniors to be for the 2021-22 season. We have a short video for you about the Punchers basketball team. Enjoy!