Birthday Tributes

Baby Brother By: Jax
Today my baby brother turned 19. He is an amazing person. He is a hard worker and has great determination. He is very focused and knows how to get things done (the things he wants to get done). He is an amazing uncle. Jake always wants to go to Kev's house. He is always willing to help with babysitting or just being with his neices and nephews. He is very caring and understanding. I know in a few months he will be a great missionary too. I love him so much and know that he is going to acheive great things in life because of his determination and positive outlook.Love you Kev!!

19 Years By: Jill
On this day 19 years ago my mom checked into the hospital in Salt Lake City (refusing to stay in Rexburg, where we lived) and gave birth a baby brother. I remember very little about that day, except that my dad came and picked me and Jen up at Adams Elementary (Go Eagles!), and we got out of school early, which I was excited about. My first memory of Kevin as a baby is when we were in Hawaii, he was 6 months old. He was really sick, but whenever we turned on music he would dance around on his bum. He would just bump up and down and it was the cutest thing. I remember being obsessed with holding him. Whenever Mom would let me I loved to hold him, and when he switched to bottles I loved to feed him. Of course, with four older sisters he had no shortage of women who wanted to snuggle him. I remember he had this awesome bottle that I am sure my dad was very proud of. It looked like this:(Okay I was going to put a picture in, but after 20 minutes I couldn't find any football shaped baby bottles)Anyway, that baby has grown up to be the best brother someone could ask for. He is kind and sweet. He is a great listener, and at least with me he is good at talking on the phone. He is my favorite sibling. (Sorry guys, but Kevin called me first on my birthday - When most of the rest of you forgot - he won this year.) I can't believe what a great man he is becoming. And I really can't believe that this summer he will leave on his mission. I remember when we used to talk about him leaving and there was 12 years left to wait...Two years ago Kevin had a really bad health scare. Jeremy would always tell me not to worry, that everything would be okay, but I would at times just cry and cry and say "but what if he doesn't get better." Thankfully he has fully recovered, but I know now why I was so upset - because I can't imagine life without him. I love you kid. Happy Birthday.

Baby Bro- By: Jen
Kevin turned 19 yesterday and Jill wrote a moving tribute~ I loved it so here is one of my own. Not as eloquent as hers- but still a tribute.19 years ago my little brother was born. I was only six but I too remember walking out of good old Adams elementary. I think I was wearing my purple puffy coat. I remember looking at mom laying the hospital thinking I don't ever want to do that. Everyone was so excited though because Dad FINALLY got his boy.Kevin had no chance of being a "normal" boy with four older sisters. His favorite song when he was about 5 was Shania Twain's "Man, I feel like a woman!" Along with the Lion King soundtrack- especially I just can't wait to be king. We couldn't get all the boy out of him though because he definitely had a TON of energy and loved to fight! He would be in the tub and we would say do tough guy and he would grit his teeth and put his arms up and flex them. It was so cute! He had the chubbiest cheeks with bright blue eyes and blonde hair.He always wanted to come and play with me and my friends- which I hated at first but then really started to like him coming along. I had watched my older sisters protect me and lift me up and I felt like I could do that for Kev. I especially loved it when he came and played basketball at the college with me and everyone thought he was to little to play so I said he could be on my team and then he showed them up (and still does).I have always been proud of him as my little brother but I am more so now than ever before. As basketball player, he has become better than I ever imagined him being, but more importantly, I am proud of the person he has become. Landen said just a few days ago, "wow kevin has really grown up!" I completely agree (well, except for when he tries to tackle me, then I realize he is still just a little kid). I am excited for him to go on his mission and show the world the gospel. He will be great wherever he goes.I know I haven't always taught him the right things by my example, but I hope he knows how much I love him and how proud I am of him. I know he will make the right choices in his life because he has learned the right principles.Love you Kev.ps. The playlist is Kev's. I had papercut on there but couldn't justify it... the whole good example thing.

Diggers top Cougars

Kev played great in a rival match between south fremont and sugar salem. It was a tight game from the start and they didn't get any help from the officials. It seems like they all have something against the diggers.
Anways, Kev made some amazing passes (and I know this via a phone play by play from dad) hit a three, had some key steals and was a leader on the court. It was a great battle and they pulled it off. The final score was 45-37 (i think).

We should go on this site and order some pics.

There are a ton of pics of #22

http://www.idahosports.com/otr/jeffpedersen/football/Shelley_Sugar_Salem_10_03_08/Photos.asp?S=7

Diggers vs. Salmon

We just watched Kevin's game online and it was awesome! It was such a close game. Kevin went out in the first quarter because he had two fouls (this is becoming way too common of an occurance) and didn't go back in until the second half. He was amazing and helped lead his team to a tight 4 point victory. He made a foul shot to put them up by two instead of one with 12.7 seconds left and then got the steal so Jordan could go up and get fouled and put the lead to 4. The refs were terrible and somehow at the end of the game they called a foul on brennan as kevin was passing him the ball! It made absolutely no sense. Everyone was going nuts on the guy and he was just shrugging his shoulders like "yeah I know I'm an idiot." They won anyway and it was really a fun game to watch.

Idaho sports 3A power rankings as of today

3A
See complete 3A Power Rankings!
Rank School W L Power Ranking
1. Sugar-Salem 9 1 50.62
2. Fruitland 8 2 49.76
3. Marsh Valley 9 3 45.50
4. Kimberly 7 2 44.83
5. Priest River 6 0 43.61

The schedule

I know it is hard to read but I didn't want to rewrite the whole thing



Opponent Date Time Location Sugar-Salem Opponent
West Jefferson Thursday, December 04, 2008 4:30 pm Sugar-Salem 64 - 45
Soda Springs Saturday, December 06, 2008 4:30 pm Sugar-Salem 72 - 56
Firth Tuesday, December 09, 2008 4:30 pm Firth 45 - 37
Snake River Friday, December 12, 2008 4:30 pm Sugar-Salem 43 - 40
American Falls Friday, December 19, 2008 4:30 pm Sugar-Salem 60 - 46
Marsh Valley Saturday, December 20, 2008 4:30 pm Sugar-Salem 37 - 42
West Jefferson Saturday, January 03, 2009 4:30 pm West Jefferson 65 - 31
Soda Springs Tuesday, January 06, 2009 4:30 pm Soda Springs 61 - 31
Firth Thursday, January 08, 2009 4:30 pm Sugar-Salem 52 - 40
Snake River Saturday, January 10, 2009 4:30 pm Snake River 58 - 47
Salmon Saturday, January 17, 2009 4:30 pm Sugar-Salem -
South Fremont Wednesday, January 21, 2009 7:30pm South Fremont -
Shelley Friday, January 23, 2009 4:30 pm Shelley -
Marsh Valley Wednesday, January 28, 2009 4:30 pm Marsh Valley -
Teton Thursday, January 29, 2009 4:30 pm Sugar-Salem -
American Falls Saturday, January 31, 2009 4:30 pm American Falls -
Salmon Wednesday, February 04, 2009 4:30 pm Salmon -
South Fremont Friday, February 06, 2009 7:30pm Sugar-Salem -
Shelley Wednesday, February 11, 2009 4;30 pm Sugar-Salem -
Teton Friday, February 13, 2009 4:30 pm Teton -

SUGAR BEATS 2A POWERHOUSE FIRTH!

In a game that changed leads ten different times, you would have thought we were watching the national championship or something. Well, while Oklahoma and Florida were battling it out, we were in a small gym in Idaho of all places watching a barn burner.

Sugar and Firth have a history, and although Firth is a 2A school, the diggers have come to respect their equal and sometimes superior level of basketball skill.

The game started out with each team scoring on every possession. But the diggers picked up the defense and cause firth to have some turnovers at the end of the first quarter which would lead to 12 turnovers in the first half. Sugar didn't take care of the ball much better in the first half, with 9 turnovers.

OK- i can't do the reporter thing any more. It's annoying and taking too long. The game was awesome. Kevin and his team really played hard the whole game. They had a lapse in the second quarter and at half time the score was firth 25 sugar 24. It was so fun to watch them because they just fought back. Firth would make mistakes and we capitalized on them. Kevin hit a HUGE three pointer to put sugar up by four instead of one and then at the end of the game he hit two crucial free throws to put them up by 6 instead of 4. He had some awesome assists and steals too. And i think i even saw him smile a couple of times... they announced on the broadcast that a sugar fan had been ejected and I was sure it was dad- but it wasn't. It was Mason Miller, the coaches son- even better. Overall, the scoring was dispersed really evenly, everyone hit their foul shots at the end of the game, and their defense was solid all the way through. It was the best game I have ever seen Kevin and his team play. Keep it up!
Jen

Diggers take out Cougars

SUGAR CITY -- Sugar-Salem topped Firth at home Thursday night, but the 52-40 final score is deceiving.

The game was tight most of the way, featuring nine ties. Aside from an early Firth lead, the two athletic squads remained within three points of each other until Sugar-Salem stretched a lead to six halfway through the fourth and held on to earn the win.

The difference in the decisive fourth quarter, Firth coach Scott Adams said, was execution. On back-to-back possessions, Sugar-Salem wing Brennan Bean scored lay-ins on baseline cuts, one on a no-look bounce pass from guard Kevin Walker. Bean finished with a game-high 15 points.

"We didn't do a good job of attacking it or running our offense for whatever reason," Adams said. "We didn't play our game. I have to give them credit. They took us out of what we wanted to do."

Bean said Sugar-Salem's goal with its 2-3 zone was to limit penetration, especially on the baseline by reigning 2A state Player of the Year forward Colter Reeves. Reeves scored 10, but Sugar-Salem successfully forced him and his teammates to the middle, where help was waiting.

"We knew they had guys like Colter Reeves who could drive," Bean said. "We wanted to shut off the drives, especially on the baseline, and play tough down low. We did that more in the second half, and that's what made the difference for us."

Wyatt Jolley led Firth with 11 points. Cameron Hastings and Bryden Morris scored 10 apiece for Sugar-Salem. Reserve forward Jordon Ostermiller scored only two points, but he grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, and he snuffed two Firth possessions in the final two minutes with blocked shots to help seal the win.

Firth (7-4) and Sugar-Salem (7-1) play a similar style -- up-tempo offense and aggressive defense. Both teams boast talent and athleticism at every position. The most striking difference between the clubs was free-throw shooting. Firth converted just 7-for-15 from the charity stripe. Sugar-Salem nailed 14-of-17, including 4-for-5 in the final minute to ice the game.

Sugar-Salem coach Jay Miller said a win over two-time 2A defending champion Firth is a big step for his Diggers.

"Firth's a very accomplished team at any level, so we're thrilled with what we did here tonight," Miller said.

Diggers win on emotional night for Miyasakis

At Terreton, it was an emotional victory for Sugar-Salem brothers Brett and Kalin Miyasaki on Saturday at West Jefferson High School.

The Miyasaki's attended the funeral of their mother, Darla, earlier in the day, then helped the Diggers race to a 65-31 non-conference win over the Panthers.

"They played their hearts out," Sugar-Salem coach Jay Miller said. "Brett's our point guard and he led us in rebounds tonight. And the whole Miyasaki family was there to support them."

Kevin Walker hit two 3-pointers and led the Diggers with 13 points. Brennan Bean added 11 points and Cameron Hastings scored 10 for Sugar-Salem (6-1), which raced to a 29-4 lead in the first quarter.

Clayton Albertson scored 14 points to lead West Jefferson.

"We weren't ready to play," West Jefferson coach West Jefferson coach John Tucker said. "We're struggling with finding the right combinations, knowing when to shoot the ball. Our most consistent player right now is a sophomore, Clayton Albertson. He's been playing really well for us."