Makenzie Bartsch and Emily Rochelle spent the past four years on opposite sides of the net.

They've got the next four to learn how to play together.

Natrona County's Bartsch and Kelly Walsh's Rochelle will both play volleyball for Wyoming in the fall.

The two have already been at UW since last month and Saturday they helped lead the North to a 5-0 victory over the South in the Wyoming Coaches Association all-star game at Casper College's Swede Erickson Thunderbird Gym.

"It's been a lot of fun," Bartsch said. "We have no hard feelings, but we will give each other a hard time.

"We've put aside any differences we might have had because we're on the same team now."

Added Rochelle, "People were building it up like it was going to be a big deal, but it hasn't been.

We're both players that like to hit the ball, so it's great to be on the same side."

In reality, the only differences between the two might have been in the colors on their uniforms.

At 6-foot-1, Bartsch is two inches taller than Rochelle, but their games are strikingly similar.

Both players can control action at the net, with Bartsch, who led Class 4A in blocks, more of a defensive presence and Rochelle, the two-time Class 4A player of the year, proving to be a dominant offensive force.

In addition, both have state championships on their resumes. Bartsch led the Fillies to the title in 2007 and Rochelle followed suit a year later with the Trojans.

It's the kind of winning attitude that second-year UW coach Carrie Yerty will no doubt welcome after the Cowgirls struggled to a 5-20 record last season.

"It's a lot of fun to play for our home state and I think we both feel that," Bartsch said. "We're starting from square one and it's a whole new team so we don't know what to expect yet.

"We came into this knowing that it wasn't going to be easy, but we encourage each other and I think we're going to be a good team."

The Cowgirls obviously have a ways to go before they get there, but securing in-state players like Bartsch and Rochelle could be just what Yerty needs to get the Cowgirls headed in the right direction.

And the fact that Bartsch and Rochelle have put aside their differences and are now working toward the same goal can only help.

"Playing with [Bartsch] has been a lot of fun," Rochelle said. "She's a big player and she hits hard."

Bartsch has been equally impressed with Rochelle.

"I've only ever known her as a competitor on the other side of the net, so I'm really getting to know her in a totally different light," Bartsch said. "She's a great girl and she has the same morals as I do. She gets the job done in the classroom and I really just like being around her now."

What a difference a few weeks can make.

Contact sports reporter Jack Nowlin at (307) 266-0528 or jack.nowlin@trib.com.

Volleyball

NORTH 5, SOUTH 0: With nine players on its roster having won state championships during their careers, the North squad swept its way to a 5-0 victory over the South, winning 25-22, 25-21, 25-20, 25-21, 15-5.

Girls Basketball

SOUTH 68, NORTH 44: Mountain View's Amber Henry scored 12 of her game-high 14 points in the second half and the South raced to the convincing victory at the Wyoming Coaches Association girls basketball all-star game.

After a tight first quarter the South held the North to 14 combined points in the second and third quarters to build a 52-29 lead.

"The kids did a great job," South coach Darcy Bath of Rock Springs said. "They ran the floor well and they executed the game plan.

"It was just a wonderful experience for the kids and a privilege to coach them."

Henry and Wyoming Indian's Summer St. Clair turned up the defensive pressure early in the second half to put the game out of reach.

The South had a balanced attack with Lusk's Katie Glendy adding 12 points and Rock Springs' Kyla Radakovich 11.

Morgan Mines (Arvada-Clearmont) led the North with 10 points.

South 23 13 16 16 n 68

North 15 7 7 15 n 44

South: Amber Henry (Mountain View) 14; Katie Glendy (Lusk) 12; Kyla Radakovich (Rock Springs) 11; Brea Curry (Laramie), Tayler Anderson (Lyman), Mercedes Crouch (Rock Springs) 6; Summer St. Clair (Wyoming Indian) 5; Jasmine Belin (Cheyenne East), Callie Schafer (Southeast) 4; Juli Andrews (Green River) 0.

North: Morgan Mines (Arvada-Clearmont) 10; Katie Strandholm (Sheridan) 8; Kelsey Straub (Kaycee) 8; Jayde Schelling (Gillette) 6; Jordan Patterson (Buffalo) 5; Sydney Leichliter (Jackson) 4; Catie Lohse (Buffalo), Nicole Vavra (Riverside), Nikki Tresch (Glenrock) 0.

Boys Basketball

SOUTH 92, NORTH 80: The South simply had too much.

Too much size with Kemmerer's 6-foot-8 Keeton Tucker and Green River's 6-6 Mitch Roberts, too much quickness with Wyoming Indian's Chaske Valdez, Evanston's Hazen Davis and Douglas' Daniel Hancock and too much shooting with Lusk's Cody Gault and Cheyenne East's Seth Ganison.

It all added up to a 92-80 South victory in the final game of the Wyoming Coaches Association All-Star Saturday.

"Mitch and Keeton just took the game over early," South coach Casey Moats of Guernsey said. "After that it really opened things up for our outside shooters."

After a slow start, Gault scored seven quick points on two long 3-pointers and a free throw. Tucker added six points, including an 18-foot jumper, to help the South to a 45-28 lead late in the first half.

"Going inside was definitely one of our first options," Tucker, who will attend Northwest College in the fall, said. "That kind of got the rest of our game going."

Roberts led a balanced South attack with 16 points while Tucker pitched in 12. Ganison (15 points), Davis (14) and Gault (11) also finished in double figures.

Sundance's Hayden Johnston scored on a lay-up to cut the South lead to 72-61 midway through the fourth quarter, but Davis, Star Valley's Tyler Schwab and Ganison knocked down back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers to stretch the lead to 79-61.

Newcastle's Nick Piscotti led all scorers with 17, including an alley-oop dunk from Powell's Jordan Brown in the closing seconds.

South 22 25 23 22 n 92

North 18 17 15 30 n 80

South: Mitch Roberts (Green River) 16; Keeton Tucker (Kemmerer) 12; Cody Gault (Lusk) 11; Chaske Valdez (Wyoming Indian) 8; Daniel Hancock (Douglas) 6; Cody Foster (Snake River) 2; Rage Geringer (Guernsey) 0; Hazen Davis (Evanston) 14; Tyler Schwab (Star Valley) 8; Seth Ganison (Cheyenne East) 15.

North: Chantz Ramos (Worland) 15; John Erdahl (Ten Sleep) 6; Garrett Heusinkveld (Gillette) 4; Nick Piscotti (Newcastle) 17; Hayden Johnston (Sundance) 9; Anthony Apland (Thermopolis) 2; Cobi Eskew (Kelly Walsh) 6; Jordan Brown (Powell) 14; Rob Trabing (Buffalo) 5; Hunter Burningham (Ten Sleep) 2.

NO DECISION YET FOR DIETZ:Natrona County's Michael Dietz, who left the University of Wyoming last month, is still weighing his options as to where to play basketball this fall.

In attendance at Saturday's Wyoming Coaches Association all-star games, Dietz said he expects to attend a junior college and then will likely transfer to a Division I school next year. He is unable to play at a DI school this fall.

Dietz said he will make a decision in the next two weeks.