Players to Watch:
Audrey Castaneda, Burley
Sydney Sheets, Burley
Emma Allen, Jerome
Jensen Cook, Jerome
Emily Lloyd, Jerome
Jaycee Stroud, Minico
Lexie Hitt, Minico
Juli Donez, Mountain Home
Ava Johnson, Mountain Home
Lexi Longhurst, Mountain Home
Ava Martin, Twin Falls
Jasmine Morris, Twin Falls
Written by: Dallin Fryar
For the last two seasons, the Great Basin Conference has been run by the Minico Spartans. The Spartans went 11-1 in conference play in back-to-back seasons, and they were littered with upperclassmen. Now, after losing seven seniors, a new wave of Lady Spartans will look to build their legacy in Rupert.
Coach Anna Bateman is returning for her ninth year at the helm, and she says, “I’m excited to see how the team grows into the roles that they have. The defense will keep us in games and sneak a few extra wins away.” The Spartans return senior guard Jaycee Stroud, who was an all-conference selection last season and will lead this young group in 2024-25.
Across the river, the Burley Bobcats enter the 2024-25 campaign with someone they missed last season, Sydney Sheets. The 2022-23 all-conference senior guard returns after an injury forced her to miss last season. She will look to provide a spark to the Bobcats who went 4-8 in conference play last season.
Another coach within the conference noted that Burley is a team to watch for. They said, “They’re extremely scrappy and really get after it defensively. They’re still pretty young but play really hard.”
The Mountain Home Tigers have two things that Minico, Burley, and all the other teams in the conference would love to have, depth and experience. Not only do they return 8 players, all with varsity experience, but they return pretty much everyone from last year's squad that went 7-5 in the conference.
Longtime head coach Brent Keener runs a fast and up-tempo offense that is more of a conceptual offense than running set plays or offenses. He said, “Our length and athleticism make us pretty tough defensively. The x-factor to our team will be if we can be balanced in scoring with the ability to score inside and outside, as well as the free throw line.”
New head coach of the Twin Falls Bruins Kevin Cato will look to build on a competitive last couple of seasons for the Lady Bruins. Like several other teams in the conference, Twin Falls graduated a slew of contributing players from last season. Seniors Ava Martin, Jasmine Morris, and Skylar Westburg will look to take on the leadership role left by last year’s graduating class.
Coach Cato called this current group “a talented group, but also a group of really good kids. I think our chemistry will be very important. If we are working together and for each other, I think this group could be pretty special.” Size and speed will be strengths of this year’s squad.
Last but certainly not least, the Jerome Tigers are one of the favorites for the GBC coming into the 2024-25 season. Despite finishing second last season in the conference behind the Minico Spartans, they avenged the district title in the state tournament, defeating Minico on the consolation side of the bracket.
Emma Allen and Emily Lloyd lead a Tiger squad that finished with a +13 point differential last season and led the conference in scoring.