Wednesday, March 24, 2004

Basketball team recalls "Year of the Moth"

WR boys banquet in Hailey

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The Wood River High School boys’ basketball program celebrated an outstanding winter season with the annual team banquet last Wednesday in the high school commons area.

First-year coach Fred Trenkle, who guided the Wolverines (11-14) to their first state tournament berth in 13 years, said his varsity "may have come farther than any team I’ve ever had."

Trenkle and assistant coach Jim Boatwright presented t-shirts to the varsity players that were printed with the words, "We survived the first year with Coach Trenkle."

Boatwright reminded the players and parents that the program went a long way with three new coaches—who were taking on-the-job lessons in getting to know each other and the boys.

"We went from—who’s who, to who’s he, to who cares? No, we checked our egos at the door. Fred had his long list of accomplishments and I’d had a few. All I asked for was a chance to finish five or six sentences over the year—and I lost that one."

Trenkle, who throughout the campaign likened his late-blooming varsity to moths devouring their opponents, said that the moths are a thing of the past. He said, "Our new motto is: Are you hungry? You’ve got to stay hungry to be successful in whatever you do."

He added, "This was a great group of kids. They played tremendous ball. I couldn’t have asked for a better effort in the district tournament."

Trenkle made special mention of his three All-Sawtooth Central Idaho Conference players for 2003-04. They were first-teamers Jason Hofman and Brady Femling, and honorable mention pick Jeremy Selcho.

Others on the varsity were Matt Pruett, Dylan Fullmer, Brian Ward, Kory Ott, Jonathan Dittmer, Riley Neff, Joe Paisley, Scott Bohrer and Morgan Uhrig. Team managers were Lauren Webb, Dana Christensen and Rachel Pace.

Junior varsity coach John Radford, in announcing his awards, said his team started flapping its wings after Christmas and finished 7-6 after the holiday vacation. "The kids played their butts off," said Radford.

He added, "My first coaching job was in 1983-84 in California, and this was my favorite group of kids."

Radford presented his team awards. They were:

Cutco Award—Derek Abbott. Windex Award for Cleaning the Glass—Reno Christino. Chevy "Like a Rock" Award—Ted Dankanyin. Best Nickname—Spencer Flade. Microwave Instant Offense—Casey Lane. Late Bloomer Award—Craig Werley.

Versatility—Kyle Lubeck. John Paxton Award for being a consistent spot-up shooter—Jess Matey. Elmer’s "The Glue" Award—Morgan Uhrig. Charmed Four-Leaf Clover Award—Josh Van Dyke. Pinball Award—Cooper McCroskey. Mr. Hound Dog—Jesse Stark. Master Card Award for most charges taken—Tyler Thiede.

On a more serious note, Radford gave two special awards to the JV team. His "Most Improved" player was Kyle Lubeck, and the Coach’s Award went to Morgan Uhrig.

Freshman coach Craig Estop announced his team awards Wednesday.

Little Big Man—Carter Stewart. Ronald McDonald Hair Care Award—Corbin Miniard. Just So Gangsta—David Sibrian. Yo Adrian—Kenny Cardona. "Get on the Floor" award for constant hustle—Travis Beckman.

Long Bomb Award—Raul Villaneuva. Athleticism—Sigi Paredes. Go to Guy—Cory Rutkowski. 110% Award—David Pinkard. Windex Award for Cleaning the Glass—Grayson Thompson. Most Improved—Bryce Reese.

 

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