'It changed my philosopy'

The Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow (HEM) Miners played their last game of the season on February 22 in a pigtail game against the Rock River Longhorns, a team they lost to by three points and a team they beat by three points earlier in the season.

The game was decided by three points, but not in the Miners favor. The score ended 39-36.

Head Coach Cliff Jones wasn’t unhappy with how the season ended for his five man team.

“It was a game that we could not quite reach the win, but it was a good game to finish the season,” Jones said. “We were in it the whole game, we played hard, and we did a lot of good things and like any game, one or two plays going another way could have been a different outcome. We played well. Overall, I was pleased.”

He said a reason the Miners did well against the Longhorns was because the Longhorns didn’t press. Jones said sometimes teams pressed the entire game and, although Jones refuses to use only having five players as an excuse for any loss, he said the constant press does exhaust a small team that can’t substitute physically and mentally.

“For some coaches that is their philosophy and the score doesn’t matter,” Jones said. “I personally remember what Dan Kraft, a past Encampment girls basketball coach, said to me. He was someone I admired and looked to as a mentor. He told me if I can press and beat a team, then I probably shouldn’t be pressing them. If they can beat my press, then why would I press? I took those words to heart because, at some point, you have to be able to play the game without pressing.”

He is very proud of the six boys who elected to play basketball this season. Rayce Ward had stopped playing in early February due to a knee surgery and the team went to five.

He empathized with lone senior Dylan Romero, who had gone to state a couple times with other teams and, this year, the team had only three wins.

“We are going to miss Dylan, but I think he knows he contributed quite a lot to this remarkable team,” Jones said. “Next year I hope to see more numbers and the year after even more as the HEM population gives us more students attritioning up.”

Jones said this is the smallest amount of players he has ever had on a team.

“It changed my philosophy as a coach,” Jones said. “My drills were different because I could not have a practice that had five on five. There was so much I had to change.”

Jones said over the past 15 years he has had some high caliber players and teams and winning seasons are not foriegn to him. However, Jones sees the sport as a way to help kids find their character.

“I reiterate to my kids, if you have a losing season in sports, and that is the worst to happen in your life, you are blessed,” Jones said. “(The) Last couple of years with my health and having been sick, I have come to realize that the years I have left to coach are a blessing. You have to take advantage of blessings. So I coach kids to appreciate what they have with each other when they are on the court as a team.”

Jones said he has had winning and losing seasons.

“I don’t judge my worth and I don’t judge the kids I coached on the win or loss column,” Jones said. “This year, did we as a team grow as people? Absolutely. The team we started with at Thanksgiving is leaps and bounds better than the team in February. Probably there has been more improvement in this team than I have coached in the last 10. Unfortunately, our record won’t show that.”

He was especially proud of the team work ethic and character the boys demonstrated this season.

“They truly bought into the idea they were going to win together and lose together,” Jones said. “We had six kids that played as hard as they could and honestly there is no team that I saw this year that I would have traded for the team I had this year.”