Tag: Susan B. English

Seldovia Jr. High Basketball Awards

Seldovia Jr. High Boys Basketball Borough Champs

Tonight we celebrated the Jr. High Basketball season with the awards ceremony for both the boys and girls teams.  Scott Haller was the coach for both teams and had nothing but great things to say about the players this year.

The boy’s team (Dillon Waterbury, Darrel Wheeler, Thor Burt, Tim Haller, Sage Stanish, Aidan Philpot, Robert Waterbury and Calem Collier) were amped up to take first at the borough tournament this year – and boy they made it happen!  They had an undefeated season  11-0, and took first place in the final game against ABC (Aurora Borealis Charter School – Kenai).  It was an especially important win to the guys, as ABC beat them in the final round at last year’s tournament!  Great job gentlemen!

Seldovia Jr High Girls Basketball Team 2011

The girl’s team (Axcenia Waterbury, Ariana Waterbury, Gavin Elvsaas, Marina Chissus, Violet Mitchell) had a more difficult season, as they were such a small and young team.  We were fortunate in that we had Kelsey from Port Graham  who joined the team for our practices and games.  Last year our girl’s team hadn’t won a single game, but this year – they won 4 out of the 11!  They were ecstatic!  Scott mentioned how proud he was of how hard the girls worked, and what great improvements they made over last year. “It was incredible, the difference between this year and last!”

A few honorable mentions

Coach Haller had a few special awards he presented at the finale of the ceremony.  Marina Chissus was honored as the Most Valuable Player for both teams because of her great attitude, hard work, she was at every practice and ready to go, a vital team player that truly pulled everyone together.  To Aidan Philpot, who put his practice to great use, and with his talent, scored the most free throw points in a game!  Calem Collier won the special challenge of the most baskets made out of 100 shots at practice, showing real talent and consistency. This was a daily challenge, and Calem took the lead with 75 out of 100!   Way to go guys – and gal!

Finally, it is important to thank Coach Haller for the daily practice time, road time and effort he put into coaching both teams this year.  I have to say as a parent of one of the players, I truly appreciated Scott’s positive, team spirit approach.  Scott was always eager to praise, encourage and challenge the kids at all levels of the game.  Even when things weren’t going their way, he was always smiling, cheering on the team with a “can do” attitude and honest belief in his team!

Thank you Scott for your service to our kids and our school!  We appreciate all that you do!

Another shout out goes to Mark Janes who assisted the team at practices, as well as Chaela Hilts and Nathan Suydam who offered their time as managers.

Photos and Story by Jenny Chissus