Thunder Basin Girls Basketball Team Grabs 5th Place at State

The Thunder Basin girls basketball program has been productive since day 1 and that was back in 2018 when the school opened. This past season. the Bolts went 21-3 and took 5th place at the 4A State Tournament in Casper.  This squad had 2 all-state selections; Gabby Drube who averaged 15 points a game and Joelie Speltz who threw in 11 per contest. Sydney Solem was named all-conference, averaging 9 a game.

Despite an outstanding regular season. the Bolts lost their first-round state tournament game to Cody 59-56. Thunder Basin was the 2nd seed from the East and Cody was the 3rd seed from the West. It was an entertaining 4th quarter, to say the least with a combined 44 points. But the Bolts got off to a slow start and a late rally fell short. Sydney Solem was sensational with 23 points on 8-15 from the field and 7-10 from the free-throw line. Gabby Drube was in double figures as well.

But the Bolts re-grouped and defeated Natrona 72-70 in another entertaining game. Thunder Basin outscored Natrona 21-10 in the 4th quarter and was paced by Joelie Speltz with 21 points, with Drube adding 14, Kate Hladky had 12 and Kinsley Larsen chipped in 10.

In the 5th and 6th place game, Thunder Basin shut-down Star Valley 41-23. The Bolts held the Braves scoreless in the first quarter and led by as many as 20 in this contest. Drube once again was in double-figures with 12 and Solem had 10.

Looking ahead, the team does lose Drube and Solem to graduation; two of the seven seniors on the team. But Speltz was just a sophomore and has a tremendous upside. So there will be some re-tooling in 2021-22 for this team. Take a peek at our video of Thunder Basin in the state tournament. Enjoy!

Get our free mobile app