Basketball honors continue to come the way of Lovell High School standout cager Kristen Scheffler.


The University of Wyoming-bound senior heads the 2008 Wyoming All-Star Team that will compete in June against the Montana and South Dakota All-Stars, and her Lovell jersey will hang in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tenn.


Coach Bob Geiser was informed in early April that the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame is in the process of collecting jerseys from across the country to display in the hall’s Ring of Honor that recognizes outstanding play from the 2007-08 season.


Scheffler is a four-year letterman, three-year starter and two-year captain for the Lady Bulldogs, was all-conference for her final three years and was the 2A Northwest Conference player of the year as a junior. She was named to the 2A All-State team as a sophomore and junior and to the 3A All-State team as a senior.


She has also won the Wyoming Coaches Association Academic Award and four Wyoming High School Activities Association academic athlete awards, winning the Distinguished Award twice and the Outstanding Award twice.


Scheffler will attend the University of Wyoming this fall on a full-ride scholarship to play basketball for the Cowgirls.
“She is a tremendous shooter with outstanding range,” Geiser said in announcing the award at Monday night’s L Club banquet for winter and spring sports. “She has great height and length, which makes her an outstanding defender.


“Over the course of the last four years she has improved her game by driving to the hoop, creating opportunities for her teammates, has become a better rebounder and is a more physical player.”


Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Archival Assistant Josh Sullivan wrote in a letter to Lovell High School on April 4 that the Ring of Honor “is one of our favorite displays at the Hall of Fame and it has become one of our most popular exhibits, as well. Not only does the Ring of Honor provide a colorful backdrop to the Hall of Fame’s many archives, it is also our way of recognizing some young basketball players for their achievements in the sport.”


There are currently more than 100 jerseys hanging in the Ring of Honor, Sullivan said, from high school and college all-Americans to WNBA all-stars.


“Their mission is to honor the past, celebrate the present and promote the future of women’s basketball,” Geiser said in an interview Monday, noting that the jersey will be on display for one year. “Each year there’s a new crop of high school kids. This is a way to honor some of the best basketball players in the country. It’s kind of a cool idea.”

A 5-11 guard, Scheffler is the lone Division I signee for the Wyoming All-Stars, who will take on the Montana stars on June 20-21 and the South Dakota stars on June 23-24.


Geiser said the Wyoming stars are a little undersized this year and will have to play an up-tempo style of basketball.


“It will be fun for her to play with some of the kids she’s played against through the years,” he said. “They’re kind of undersize, which is good for Kristen because they’ll have to get out and run the floor and create an up-tempo game, which those games tend to be anyway.”


Wyoming stars will take on the Montana stars in Sheridan on Friday, June 20, at 6 p.m. at Sheridan College and in Billings on Saturday, June 21, at 6 p.m. at Billings West, then will host the South Dakota stars in Gillette on Monday, June 23, at 6 p.m. and travel to Spearfish for the rematch on Tuesday, June 24, at 6 p.m.


“That’s a lot of basketball in a short amount of time, which is kind of nice,” Geiser said. “Janis (Beal) was the first one (from Lovell) who got to play in all of those games. She kind of tutored Kristen this year as an assistant coach. I hope this is another chapter in a growing book of Lovell girls basketball.”


Also named to the Wyoming squad were Kendahl Avery of Laramie, Chelsey Lybeck of Cheyenne Central, Laura Quist of Sheridan, Jannel Scheuerman of Worland, Kelsey Scott of Douglas, Erika Stender of Sheridan, Dani White of Lander, Kada Williams of Green River and Amanda Willmore of Rock Springs.