The photo above is of the cover to the four page program that told the story about the final year (for some) of a decade long journey. A journey that started many a Moon 🌙 ago and has been very well documented.
The celebration of the journey was well planned out and once again took place at the First United Methodist Church ⛪ on The Hill. Season five of the Anthony Barnes and Kris Richardson partnership ended in the same manner as the previous four years and we will now walk 🚶♂️everyone through the two hours.
Ten tables were filled with Family 👪 members and Coaches, with 11 of the 12 Varsity Basketball players sitting at the head table up front. The previous post included the Family pics taken afterwards.
Israel Easter had the honor of Blessing the Meal and did a tremendous job of giving praise for all involved. The folks at the Church one again did a terrific job preparing the meal in addition to the surroundings.
Our keynote Speaker this year was Mrs.Kristen Quesenberry and it would have been a tall task to invite someone who would have spoken more elegantly than our Assistant Principal did. The ability to connect all of the dots in regards to everything that the journey meant across the board was done with both grace and style. Adding in the fact that Mrs. Quesenberry has been around the team for the entire time enabled her to speak from her heart ❤.
The next 10 minutes centered around Coach Barnes listing off everyone who had been part of the journey, focusing on just how many people are needed for a program to flourish in the manner that the Boys Basketball group did this year.
The old saying that I believe belonged to Hillary Clinton, about it taking a village seems like a nice fit in describing the group of people who were acknowledged during this time. A group Hug if you will and it was a well thought out segment.
Kris Richardson had the honor 🎖 of presenting the first Award and it was for the Offensive Player of the Year.
Coach Richardson kept the 🎤, filling in for Coach Stockner who was away on a family matter, and presented the Award for Defensive Player of the Year honors:
Next up, Coach Barnes presented his go-to Award, the Hustle Award
Coach Phillips followed with the Award for Most Improved
Cody Reece
Coach Largen took the 🎤 to present the yearly Cavalier Award
From there the focus shifted to the Post Season Awards presented to the two time District Champs 🏆.
Three Cavaliers made the 1st team All-District team !
The entire starting five made the list as Cody Reece (Second team) and Brayden Smoot ( Honarable Mention) were both named as well.
Ethan Richardson and Bryce Smoot both landed on the 1st Team All-Region with Isaiah Easter making it on the 2nd Team.
Coach Barnes took home the District Coach of the Year Award as well.
The final individual acknowledging Moment is still not supposed to be officially released yet but I can give you some clues. A Cavalier player who has a twin brother on the team made it onto the Second Team All-State list that hasn’t been announced yet….
One thing that we can tell you is that while Carroll County High School doesn’t retire numbers, it can retire jerseys. The Blue version of the #3 will hang in the halls and the White version will hang at the Smoot household for years to come.
Coach Barnes believes that he has created a First of its Kind Award, given to the Player who recorded the highest number of DropKicked Basketballs in a season. I have to also believe that to be true and he presented it to……
The six Seniors had a moment where they stood side by side and were given an opportunity to share their future plans.
Bryce hopes to play College Basketball 🏀 and welding.
Brayden is still enjoying his Senior year
Cody is headed to New River CC to play Baseball ⚾️ and earn a degree in Education
Ethan lists Bluefield as an option with a focus on Religion and Music.
Landon looks to play College Soccer ⚽️
Jay is looking forward to enjoying his Summer.
Coach Barnes took home quite the keepsake as the event wrapped up.
Coach Barnes will look through this later on today as I looked up and noticed that its now Monday morning 🌄. He will let me know if I need to add anything else.
The Sunday Basketball 🏀 Trifecta has been completed and now its about framing the Day. Let’s start with the Families of Boys 👦 Basketball…
The link above should take you back to the previous post 📫 with the Family 👪 Photos.
Couple of side notes 📝 – such as bonus to see Dr Oliver McBride again as our new Friend was part of the serving team from the Church ⛪.
Big Bonus to share the table with both Paula Richardson and Kristen Quesenberry. Two very special young Ladies that brighten up any room that they are in. Kris & Lin were at the Table as well so we were in great company from start to finish.
In closing, kudos to Christy Shupe for being the latest person to step up and agree to keep one of our Tennis 🎾 teams moving forward ! Pretty sure that she is shopping 🛍 for a new 🏡🏠🏡 with her signing bonus and contract !
The Last Dance 💃 was quite the success and as the music 🎶 fades we can all reflect on what the journey meant to us all.
A.S.P.N on The Hill 