GUERNSEY – For Guernsey-Sunrise winter athletes, it all revolves around a round, orange ball, and to the victors go the spoils.

Although neither team was satisfied with how short their seasons were, there were plenty of life lessons learned.

The boys team was honored first with many trophies and accolades. It was a bittersweet night as the Vikings had learned within the last month that they are losing their head coach, Taylor Dick, who is moving up to a bigger school and will be coaching next season at 2A Shoshoni High School who is only losing one player to graduation. Coach “D” will be in the Northwest conference going against Rocky Mountain, Greybull and Riverside.

“The season, I thought was a good season,” said head coach Taylor Dick. “We learned a lot about ourselves I think. I think that we realized we have a lot of talent. I think we realized we have a bond in the gym. I think we know we have a lot more to give.”

“If I want to see these guys reach their dreams. I think we as a team recognize that we aren't good enough yet and I hope it makes us hungry to find ways to get better. The future, until we believe that we aren't good enough, we will never work hard enough to see the goals that we want.

“We are graduating two great kids that added so much character to this team. Rolo Isabell and Caleb Haase added a lot of character. I will miss them both. Thankfully Guernsey-Sunrise gets to return a huge core though. However, southeast graduated only one. They are young and Lingle didn't graduate any. They are only going to get much better, so they have to find a way to get much better too. All I know is I love this team and these kids and I feel the pain of not making it to state this year just as much as them, if not more.”

At the end of the night, both teams gathered and presented Coach D with a shirt which stated, “I will always be a Viking.” A grateful tear-filled team said their final goodbyes.

Letter winners: Rawland Isabell, Brian McCoid,Tristan Hohnholt, Dawson Bingham, Caleb Christensen, Aiden Noggle, Caleb Haase, Jacob Roper, Jackson Smith, Nathan VanNatter and Dominic Ramirez.

Team awards:
Viking Award Rawland Isabell, MIP Caleb Christensen, 6th Man Aiden Noggle, MVP Brian McCoid, DPOY Rawland Isabell, ROY Jackson Smith, THE CAPTAIN Rawland Isabell and
Caleb Haase

After the boys were finished, the girls stepped up and all received their letters from varsity coach Brandi McCoid. McCoid’s assistant, Mindy Kelley who is staying at Guernsey to teach will be stepping down from her coaching duties.

McCoids end of the year comments included:

“The girls didn’t make it to Regionals this year but as a team we continued to see improvement,” said McCoid. “I am certain that with hard work and determination these girls will continue to get better.  Our record may not show it but these girls all made gains this year as individual athletes and as a team.

“As we spend more time together playing, I feel the chemistry will build.  We plan to work hard this summer.  We will lose 3 great seniors and will gain some basketball knowledge with the freshman group coming into the program.  Our competition is always working so we have to continue to work in the offseason to get better. That’s when athletes really learn. You can’t just pick up a ball in November and be ready to go. I know our future is bright we just have to keep pushing upward. Thanks to all you supported us this season it didn’t go unnoticed.” 

Girls lettering

Libby Logan, Afton Kelley, Stoney Dimas, Paige Andrews, Rylie Thompson, Lily Ahrens, Micah Hebbert, Layla Noggle, Leni Dimas, Lashea Jaramillo, Jordan Atwood and Liberty Whitebird.