Australia a slam dunk for Two Eagle senior
Carrie Pichler
Casadi Wunderlich shoots a free throw during the 2014 basketball season.
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Basketball has always been a big part of Two Eagle River senior Casadi Wunderlich’s life — she’s been a force on the court “since she could dribble,” mom Tari Shaw says with a chuckle.
Now her love for the game has taken her around the world to an international youth basketball contest in Australia, where not only was she selected her team’s most valuable player, she was also one of just five Americans to take home a Boomerang Award. The coveted award goes to the players who exhibit the most outstanding sportsmanship, competitiveness and skills throughout the Down Under Hoops Classic, held this year July 11-19 in Brisbane, Australia.
“The 2014 Down Under Sports Hoops Classic was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the athletes to learn a challenging Olympic style of play,” head coach Savannah Oeltjen of the USA conference team said in a statement. “It also allows them to put their skills to the test by playing against some tough competition and quickly merging into a team with just two intense practices.”
After nine days competing and sightseeing on the island continent’s Gold Coast, Casadi and her teammates took a flight to Hawaii, where they cooled off for three days on the beaches of Waikiki.
Casadi was notified a few months ago that she’d been selected to be on the USA’s team, one of only 10 girls from the seven-state western region, and one of just two from Montana. Intrigued, Tari called Down Under Sports’ Salt Lake City office and learned that the selections were made based on the player’s season records. As a sophomore, Casadi had tied with Arlee High School powerhouse Whitney Malatare for the second-highest point game in the county at 27 points, and last year, she totaled a whopping 238 points on the season.
“She’s done extremely well,” Tari said. “I’m pretty proud of her.”
With good reason, as on top of playing basketball and running track, the 5-foot-3 point guard works as a waitress during the school year, and just last week signed up for the U.S. Marine Corps. She’ll be attending a pre-boot camp in Helena in just a couple of weeks, but will stay at Two Eagle until she graduates.
“She’ll get to finish her senior year and then go straight to boot camp,” Tari said. “It’s going to be a busy year for her.”
