Gauging Success

“This is just my opinion, and there are certainly contenders which might prove me wrong, but I believe the top four teams in 1A basketball right now are Burlington, Saratoga, Southeast and Upton,” Cliff Jones, the head coach for Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow (HEM) Miner boys basketball team said.

“The season thus far, we will have played three out of the four teams by the end of Tuesday night.”

The Miners have played Burlington twice this season so far. 

Southeast is the leader in the Southeast Conference where they are 4-0 in conference play. Overall they are 9-1. The record of HEM is 1-6. The game was interesting in that the 4th quarter, HEM kept the Cyclones scoreless while the Miners scored 8 points. In fact the Miners won the 3rd quarter by a point. Jones said the Southeast coach told him his game plan. “He said we are going to press you guys in the 1st half, that is what we do, that is our style, and then we will bring in our JV. So at halftime it was 49 to 9,” Jones said. “In the beginning of the 3rd quarter his team scored a couple quick points and then he threw in his JV team early in the 3rd quarter.”

Jones said Southeast is big, strong and athletic, a team much like Burlington. The HEM coach said there were good things to be taken from the game. “We were even competitive in the start of the game. Six minutes into the game the score was 13 to 2 in their favor but we were playing well and I felt we were putting forth a good game,” Jones said. “Then it was like an avalanche where they kept that relentless pressure, and pretty soon you break and the tide rolls in. When it was 13 to 2, you are thinking this is pretty decent because we are playing arguably one of the best teams in the state and we were being competitive. Two minutes later you look up and the score is 25 to 2.” Jones compared it to standing on the shoreline in water around your knees and then you look up and see a 15 foot wave ready to envelope you.

He had praise for Hayden Antencio.“ I thought Hayden played well. He scored 12 points,” Jones said. “Kyler Proffitt had 9 points and Naythan Atencio 2. That is fine but we have to get players to recognize what is a good shot and when to take them. I believe we pass up some good opportunities because we are looking for a better shot.”

Jones said playing all the elite teams the Miners have in the beginning of the season, gives the boys of HEM an opportunity to see how they could optimally play. “We are a work in progress. This might sound cliche, but our goal is to get a little better each time we play,” Jones said. “We can’t measure our success on a win/loss record. Our success is putting in effort and setting goals and then achieving them.”

The Miners will meet the Saratoga Panthers on January 10 in Saratoga.