Living the Dream

"Matt gives us some athletisim that we probably didn't have last year. Kasey is the kind of player we have to have on the floor a lot. I think the sky's the limit for these guys," Hatter said after the Ouray game.
Kasey's love of basketball is as powerful as a Shaquille O'Neal two-handed dunk.
The game is in Kasey's genes too. His dad coaches club and pee wee teams, and currently the eight grade boys team at Riverside; Kasey's grandfather was a high school head coach in the hoop-crazed state of Indiana.
As an enormous basketball fan, whose favorite NBA player is Philadelphia's Allen Iverson, Kasey confesses - without reservation - that his favorite team is the Denver Nuggets. He's even participated in two of the most prestigious basketball camps from a pair of the most renown coaches in the nation: Bobby Knight when he was at Indiana and Roy Williams at Kansas.

School grades have improved
As much fun as they have had on the court, playing high school basketball, both Matt and Kasey say that the entire experience at DeBeque has been positive.
Both say their grades are on the rise and the social environment of a smaller school has created a much happier time in high school. They both have found themselves girlfriends too.
Matt was even named the Homecoming King at a recent basketball game.
They both say it's the size of the school that has helped them flourish.
"In Rifle there's too many kids and here there's so few kids in class you know everyone," said Matt, a softspoken 17-year-old.
Kasey said that from day one at the school, he's felt at home.
"It's really been great. I know everyone at the school and you just feel comfortable," Kasey said. "When I first came here I was pretty shy but it was easy to get to know the kids and then it was easy."

As a Ridgway High School (another 1A school) graduate, coach Hatter knows first hand that some kids work better in a smaller environment.
"I like the fact that when you look out you're not looking at 30 kids," said Hatter, who is also a social studies teacher at DeBeque. "I have Kasey in a history class and there's only 10 kids in the class. Matt is in my geography class and there's only 15 in that class.
"It's a situation where you can really get to know the kids, they feel comfortable with you and they can come talk with you. It's just a lot better as far as one-on-one teaching is concerned."
As former Riverside students in the 1970s, Kelley and Cindy know how the small school environment can benefit students. They now have vivid proof that their boys are best suited for a small school.
"I would say (Kasey) being a bigger fish in a smaller pond is good," Kelley said. "He was lost in the shuffle at Rifle. Some kids thrive in a bigger environment but Kasey didn't."
Kasey's transformation into a confident student and varsity basketball player has piqued his sister's interest as well. Chelsey, 13, is a Riverside eighth grader, who is enrolled at Rifle High for next year. But Kelley said she is attracted to DeBeque because of the positive things she's seen from Kasey's experience there.
For both sets of parents, basketball is really secondary to seeing how happy and content their boys are at DeBeque.
'He's just so happy and that makes me happy. Plus he's playing basketball and that's exciting," Kelley said.
Cindy admits that Matt's transition has been nothing short of miraculous. "To see him being so discouraged and you don't know how to encourage him, and now to actually see him playing basketball and coming out of his shell - it's like, 'are you my child?'" she said laughing.
The two boys don't analyze their situation at DeBeque the way their moms do, they just know that they are getting the opportunity to play basketball, improve their grades and enjoy life as high school students. Things they weren't familiar with before.
Matt and Kasey have discovered many things in their first six months at DeBeque High School; mostly, they've discovered that it is the land of opportunity and pinball may be a fun game, but it still ranks a distant second to the game of basketball.