GUERNSEY—January in Wyoming brings snow and junior high basketball and Guernsey-Sunrise is no exception.  With an A and a B team suiting up for most games, these sixth through eighth graders are getting their first and valuable experiences of playing the game in an organized way rather than the helter-skelter rules that prevail during elementary recesses and driveway shoot-outs. It’s clearly a learning experience as the Vikes have come up short in most of their contests so far, but junior high basketball is usually far less about the score than learning the game

Their season began with a date against the Lusk teams on Monday, January 16. Against a much larger pool of players from Lusk, the Vikes’ B team came up on the short end of a 20-13 final score, but the Vikings had a consistent effort putting six players with points scored. Henry Zapf and Allen Valtierra-Gray each had three, Linkon Rotz and Gavin Noggle each had two and Ryker McConahay added a free-throw for the Vikes.

In the A game, the Vikes had a closer matchup, falling by a 26-20 margin. All four Viking players that scored tossed in five points each. They were Gavin Noggle, Allen Valtierra-Gray, Tanner Offe and Ryker McConahay.

On January 29th, the Wheatland Bullpups came to Guernsey for a pair of games. The B team had an especially tough time getting a shot to go down as they fell 27-2.  The Vikes managed just two free throws, both by Logan Lewis.

The A team dropped their game by a 30-18 margin. Adam Bandalos hit double figures with 11, followed by Matt Swingholm with four, Blake Gardner with two and Ryker McConahay with a free-throw.

On January 30th, the Vikes faced a pair of tough teams from Southeast. The B team came up very short in a 32-8 ending. Tanner Offe had six points and Allen Valtierra-Gray and Logan Lewis each had a free-throw.

The A team kept it much closer but succumbed in the end, 20-16. Adam Bandalos had 10 points to pace the Vikes.  Logan Lewis, Blake Gardner and Henry Zapf each added a bucket.

This past Saturday, the Vikes hosted Hanna-Elk Mountain for a pair of games. The B team finally found the winning combination, defeating the Miners 30-9. Tanner Offe led the Vikes with 11 points, including the first three Viking baskets, all three-pointers. Allen Valtierra-Gray had a good game with eight points, Ryker McConahay added five, Gavin Noggle pitched in four and Juan Lopez added a bucket to round out the Viking scoring.

The A team had a tougher go, falling to the Miners 19-6.  Tanner Offe and Henry Zapf each had three points.

The Vikes have two remaining home games. They will host Lingle-Fort Laramie on Tuesday, February 6—game times 4:30/5:30 and Rock River on Thursday, February 8—game times 4 and 5 p.m. in the east gymnasium.