Bridgeport's Stevens, Torrington's Brower sign with WNCC women's basketball

                 Western Nebraska Community College’s Dave Harnish is adding some fire power to his team the next two seasons after inking Torrington’s Mikayla Brower and Bridgeport’s Ashley Stevens to letter of intents.

                The two Wyo-Braska standouts were standouts for their local teams the past four years and hope to bring the same kind of championship feel to the Cougars.

                WNCC coach Dave Harnish is excited to have these two all-state performers join the Cougars.

                “I always feel honored when local kids want to come here because they are the hardest kids to recruit because they always want to get away,” Harnish said. “I feel fortunate to keep them here and it is great for the community and great for the school. I think what these two ladies bring, more so than basketball, is they are going to bring great credit to our program. They both come from great programs and great coaching with winning programs. The character they bring in here is something we are looking forward to having in the classroom and the basketball floor. I couldn’t be happier with both of them.”

                The two will join another local basketball player in Morrill’s Jessica Aratani, who will be in her sophomore season next year. For Stevens and Brower, choosing WNCC was a pretty easy choice.

 “I chose WNCC because it is close and the program is good,” Brower said. “I like Coach Harnish and Coach T; they made me feel welcome and I am excited to come here. I had a few other choices and I had to make a decision, but it was a pretty strong thought to go here all the way.”

                Brower averaged 20 points, eight assists and five steals a contest for the Trailblazers. The 5-foot-7 guard is also a force in net for the Torrington soccer team, as well as finishing in the top four at the Wyoming state tennis meet last fall. But, for her, it was a no-brainer to choose basketball over soccer.

                “Basketball has been my first sport since throughout,” she said. “The other ones are just secondary sports for the fun of it.”

                Brower helped lead the Trailblazers to the state tournament. This past season, was named to the Wyoming 3A all-state team. Brower’s talents on the basketball court resemble another area player, Amber Kistler, who played two seasons at WNCC and then finished her career at Concordia University this winter.

                She said she is looking forward to bringing her championship talents to the Cougars and, hopefully, a regional title.

                “The run we had in basketball at Torrington has been fun,” she said. “There are a lot of people that you have to thank for that like our coach, the people who support us, the teammates. It is most definitely a team sport and everybody contributed to get where we got to every year.

                Brower said that her high school coach Jeff Halley has taught her a lot and she is hoping to display that talent on the hardwoods of Cougar Palace, and hopefully for another two years at a four-year college.

                “Let’s hope I am ready for this next step. I will work hard to ensure I get there,” she said. “[As for after WNCC], we will just have to see where the next two years take me. If there are opportunities and I am up to it, then I will try. But if not, I will be happy.”

                For Stevens, she was torn a little between volleyball and basketball, but then decided that basketball was her love.

                “I had more interests in basketball, so I decided to go for that. But, halfway through my decision making, I started to gain an interest in volleyball, so I had to think about that. But, I ended up choosing basketball because I like it better.”

                Stevens said that ever since she was little, her goal was to play volleyball at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. That changed after her senior year in volleyball. And, when Harnish showed an interest, and the fact that WNCC is just 35 minutes from her hometown, her interest to play here peaked even more.

                “When I was little, I always wanted to play volleyball for UNL,” she said. “But, I decided after volleyball season this year that I wanted to play basketball instead of volleyball. I choose here because it is close to home and they have a good program. I heard they have won 20 wins throughout Harnish’s career,  so that is exciting. They have a good program and hopefully I can keep it going with its tradition.”

                Stevens, who has competed at the Class C-2 state tournament her sophomore year, says that she is ready for the adjustment to college.

                “Everybody doesn’t like to lose, so hopefully we can keep the winning tradition going,” she said. “It is just a better feeling when you win than lose.”

                Stevens, who was named an All-state honorable mention this season, averaged a double, double in scoring and rebounding this season. She averaged about 13 points and 11 rebounds a game. She said that hardest part of leaving Bridgeport is missing the fans.

                “I am going to miss all my teammates and I am going to miss the crowd at the games,” she said. “It had become very exciting to play there with and hear them in the stand. I just want to thank everyone that has watched me come up through the years and supported me. It will be nice to see the fans come and support me after high school.”