There was something different about this year. Yes, we moved up a division. Yes, we still had a winning season and a conference championship. But that wasn’t it. There was a cool intensity on the court. A focused game along with the kind of joyful sportsmanship that is unusual among high school students. It wasn’t until this report on the season from head coach, Ken Hosier, that I understood…
“At the beginning of the season I told the guys that one of the overarching themes for our team would be deference. Every year I stress that we represent “the 5” well (God, Family, School/Community, Team, Self), but this year I wanted them to take that to another level. Since deference basically means to have humble respect, I wanted to make sure that, while remaining competitive, we showed humble respect while representing “the 5” on the court. Judging by the many compliments I heard from refs, opposing coaches and fans, and even opposing players, I would say, ‘mission accomplished.’ Despite some of our more definitive victories, teams still enjoyed playing against our guys.
There are many basketball moments that stand out in my mind. This year we moved up to a new division (1-A D1). We finally beat Liberty Charter–not once, but 3 times. We had one of our best shooting years on record. A conference championship. A district championship. A return trip to state and a Consolation trophy (we all wanted the blue one, but the guys did finish well). We beat a 3A school (Payette) and a 4A school (Bishop Kelly) for the 1st time.
Other things stand out too. Players had to overcome adversity–a broken nose, a severe calf contusion, a broken finger, a broken thumb, bad hips, bad knees, and illnesses. The community will stand out most in my mind. The Archer faithful filled our gym, Columbia’s gym, and Vallivue’s gym and cheered so loud my ears were ringing afterwards. There was the assistance of dads serving as the ‘advance scouting department.’ Many dedicated students were cheering at games and made sacrifices to be there. And let’s not forget all of the parents driving, sending e-mails, providing food, and working to collect gate fees. The AD and assistant AD spent many late nights making sure things ran smoothly. I have the privilege of working with the finest coaching staff a person in my position could ask for. Then there were the heartfelt prayers of players praying for a teammate’s mother facing a battle of her own. All of these memories will be imprinted in my mind.
What will I take away from this year? Never underestimate the power of a community that shows deference to one another.”
Deference. The key to winning? Apparently so, and not just on the court. SOLI DEO GLORIA.
