Thursday, February 18th our basketball team had an away game in Fort Duchesne at Uintah River High School.

Uinta Rivers High School principal, Ben Pugh, wrote a letter thanking the Independence Basketball Team for their sportsmanship in last week’s game.

Principal Pugh complimented the Independence team and their coach for their examples. “I felt that some of them seemed like gentle giants. They were all positive to each other…they showed what it means to have good sportsmanship. I was impressed with the calm poise and quiet, yet supportive, leadership, of IHS players. At a point when the game seemed to be getting out of reach, two players led the charge and our lead was whittled down considerably. At a point when many young men would have hung their heads and accepted defeat, your young men valiantly fought on. They never got down on each other. At one point one of your players helped one of our players up after a foul.” Even though Independence lost, Pugh says they managed to maintain humility and determination throughout the game.

Pugh ends his letter saying that he hopes his players can achieve the same level of sportsmanship that Independence players have. He looks forward to playing Independence in the future and wishes them luck.

In a game earlier this season, IHS admin was expecially proud of the basketball team as they played against Spectrum Academy, which is a school that hosts many autistic students. The IHS basketball team played in a less boisterous way than usual out of respect for the Spectrum Academy students, and were continually supportive of and congratulatory towards the other team’s players.

Congratulations to Coach Louis and the Independence Basketball team for being great examples! It is great to see that the acts of Independence students are being recognized by others!