After posting a 14-12 record in 2022-23 — including going 0-2 at the 2A State Tournament in Casper — the Kemmerer High School boys’ basketball team is looking to regroup under second-year head coach Matt Stewart, with an eye toward another postseason run.

“Practices have been going pretty good,” Stewart said. “We’ve been working on getting them into shape for this first weekend, trying to get them where we need to be defensively, and familiar with the gameplans for the first couple of games. We had 16 kids come out this year — a little down from last year, but we’ll take what we can get. You play with what you have.”

The Rangers will have their work cut out for them. Gone are the team’s top two scorers, All-Conference and All-State selections Jake Kampman and Wyatt Peternal, as well as gritty players such as Mason Riding, Eric Wiswell and Ciris Kominsky. That said, Stewart has a solid core of returning seniors, as well as a group of sophomores and freshmen, eager to find their roles on the team. Chase Bowen (11 points, 7 rebounds per game), Skyler Rogers (5.3 points, 4.3 rebounds per game) and Kaden Witbeck (1.9 points, 1.2 rebounds per game) will provide senior leadership for Stewart, as well as points.

“We have three seniors this year — Chase Bowen, Skyler Rogers and Kaden Witbeck,” Stewart said. “We do have some big shoes to fill — our two leading scorers graduated, so we’re looking for these kids to step up. Chase Bowen was our third-leading scorer last year, so we’re looking for some big things from him. He’s got a lot of potential on both ends of the floor — he’s one of our better defenders, so we’ll be looking for him to lead us there. Both Skyler and Kaden are capable of scoring, as well, so we’re looking for them to step in and score some buckets for us.”

“Defense needs to be a priority for us this year — we weren’t a great defen-