At 5-foot-8, Wray junior Stacy Post backs down from no one under the basket. But that doesn’t mean she enjoys mixing it up with the bigger post players in Class 2A girls basketball.
“Under the basket, it’s more of a game of not letting them catch the ball than anything else,” Post said about the way she defends players such as Simla’s RaeLynn Snyder or Sangre de Cristo’s Brittany Brown.
Keepaway — as well as takeaway — is the name of the Wray Eagles’ game.
With two point guards on the floor, led by Christa Loyd, Wray applies heavy pressure on defense and tries to break its opponents down with a transition offense that never slows.
“If they try to stop one of our point guards, we can go to the other,” said David Reed, Wray’s head coach and a medical doctor. “We bring the ball up in a hurry, and the two guards can open up the inside for Stacy.”
Reed described Post as a fighter, someone who does not stop working no matter the challenge. A forward who is often forced to play in the middle, Post averaged 15 points per game last season thanks in large part to the Eagles’ high-energy offense.
“We depend on being in better shape than everybody else,” Post said.
Wray lost to Limon in the 2A championship game last season, and the Eagles’ returning experience and nonstop attack make them the early favorite this season. There is, however, no shortage of competition.
Simla’s Snyder is tough to handle down low. She will use the same move until a defender proves it can be stopped, and once it is, Snyder will switch to something else.
“She can go with either hand,” Reed said. “And if they get in foul trouble, she can handle the ball, too.”
Sangre de Cristo’s Brown, standing 5-11 and strong, considers the paint to be her territory.
“Brown has her size and she knows how to use it,” Post said.
When it comes to scorers, Vanessa Leeper of Colorado Springs School leads the pack. The senior averaged more than 19 points per game over the past two seasons.
Said Leeper: “But I’m more focused on getting the team where it needs to be. If that happens, the scoring will come.”
Colorado Springs School is made up largely of sophomores, but coach Vicki Vaughan said that perfectly suits Leeper, who recently signed to play for the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
The Denver Post/9News poll
1. Wray
2. Simla
3. Sangre de Cristo
4. Holyoke
5. Limon
6. Colorado Springs School
7. Hoehne
8. Plateau Valley
9. Burlington
10. Rocky Ford
2A players to watch
Brittany Brown, Sangre de Cristo, Sr., 5-11
Dara Dillon, Rocky Ford, Sr., 5-4
Lindsey Grasmick, Fowler, Sr., 5-8
Camille Grimes, Limon, Sr., 5-9
Krysta Grimm, Pikes Peak Christian, Jr., 5-6
Laura Harris, Alexander Dawson, Sr., 6-0
Audree Johnson, Sedgwick County, Sr., 5-8
Hannah Jones, Jefferson Academy, Sr., 5-8
Vanessa Leeper, Colorado Springs School, Sr., 5-9
Christa Loyd, Wray, Jr., 5-7
Jessica Naylor, Limon, Sr., 5-9
Amanda Paradisa, Hoehne, Sr., 5-10
Stacy Post, Wray, Jr., 5-9
RaeLynn Snyder, Simla, Sr., 5-11
Victoria Timm, Holyoke, Sr., 5-8
