Seventh grade wins final tournament

After finishing the season 9-4, the Broncs went from the fourth seed of the bracket to win the title.

“I cannot say enough about this group of boys,” coach Pat Nieters said. “Each one of these guys played a significant role in the success of winning the conference championship.”

In the first game of the conference tournament, the Broncs took down Riverton, a team Cody had narrowly defeated twice during the regular season.

After trailing at halftime, the Broncs came out strong in the third quarter and put together a strong second half to get the 35-28 victory.

Cache McFadden led the way for Cody with 15 points. Jesse Hatch added 10 points in the win.

“In game two, we matched up with Powell who defeated us fairly easy two times in the regular season,” Nieters said. “That didn’t seem to bother the kids because we were ready for them.”

Cody jumped out to a 26-14 lead at halftime, but Powell battled back in the second half to make it a game.

“In a shocking upset, Cody knocked off undefeated Powell in a nailbiting game, 45-40,” Nieters said.

McFadden dropped 24 on Powell to lead the way for Cody. Ethan Caldwell finished with 12 in the win.

Cody faced a Lander team in the championship game that they had beaten twice during the regular season, pulling off the 44-39 win in another tight contest to take the title.

McFadden capped a solid conference tournament with 18 points in the championship game. Eli Dallman added eight for the Broncs.

“Whether they had a lot of court time or spent the majority of their time cheering their teammates on, they all had a huge impact,” Nieters said. “It’s not just the games that made us better each week, but the countless practices and unselfishness in learning what team effort is all about and that pushed us into becoming the best we could be.”

The seventh grade B team also pulled off a successful season, winning half of their regular season games and learning to play well together.

“The kids worked hard and improved in many ways,” Nieters said. “We finished our season ending jamboree with three wins, defeating Worland, Riverton and Powell who beat us both times in the regular season.”