Enrollment an obstacle for Silverton’s coed basketball squad
With only 15 students in grades nine through 12, fielding a coed basketball team was a natural solution at Silverton High School. From left: Freshmen Hannah deKay, and Alexis Gallegos practice with sophomore Ernesto Saldana and senior Levi Lokey.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald
The Silverton High School coed basketball team finishes a practice Tuesday afternoon in Silverton. From left: Assistant coach Larry Gallegos, freshman Hannah deKay, freshman Alexis Gallegos, sophomore Talitha Gallegos, senior Levi Lokey, and sophomore Martin Torres.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald
Sophomore Talitha Gallegos, left, runs a drill with senior Will Custer during practice Tuesday afternoon. Talitha is the daughter of Larry and Jessica Gallegos, and Will is the son of Gregory Custer.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - Silverton High School is fielding a basketball team for the first time in a decade. And because there are only 15 students in grades 9 through 12, it had to be populated by both boys and girls. Freshman Hannah deKay, daughter of Kevin and Tiffany deKay, and sophomore Ernesto Saldana, son of Jesús and Liliana Saldana, front, take part in a drill on Tuesday afternoon. In back from left are sophomore Martin Torres, senior Will Custer, senior Levi Lokey, and sophomore Talitha Gallegos. Martin is the son of Martin and Fabiola Torres, Will is the son of Gregory Custer, Levi is the son of Jim and Amy Lokey, and Talitha is the daughter of Larry and Jessica Gallegos.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - From left: Assistant coach Larry Gallegos, sophomore Hannah deKay, freshman Alexis Gallegos, sophomore Talitha Gallegos, senior Levi Lokey, and sophomore Martin Torres wrap up a practice on Tuesday afternoon in Silverton. Larry Gallegos and his wife, Jessica, are the parents of Alexis and Talitha. Hannah is the daughter of Kevin and Tiffany deKay, Levi is the son of Jim and Amy Lokey, and Martin is the son of Martin and Fabiola Torres.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - Sophomores Martin Torres, left, son of Martin and Fabiola Torres, and Talitha Gallegos, daughter of Larry and Jessica Gallegos, do drills during practice on Tuesday afternoon in Silverton.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - Sophomore Talitha Gallegos, left, and her sister, freshman Alexis Gallegos, warm up before practice on Tuesday afternoon in Silverton. Talitha and Alexis are the daughters of Larry and Jessica Gallegos.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - With only 15 students in grades 9 through 12 in Silverton, fielding a co-ed basketball team was the natural solution. From left: freshmen Hannah deKay, and Alexis Gallegos practice with sophomore Ernesto Saldana and senior Levi Lokey. Hannah is the daughter of Kevin and Tiffany deKay, Alexis is the daughter of Larry and Jessica Gallegos, Ernesto is the son of Jesús and Liliana Saldana, and Levi is the son of Jim and Amy Lokey.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - Sophomore Talitha Gallegos, left, runs a drill with senior Will Custer during practice on Tuesday afternoon. Talitha is the daughter of Larry and Jessica Gallegos, and Will is the son of Gregory Custer.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - Teammates Will Custer, left, Levi Lokey, center, and Hannah deKay warm up before practice on Tuesday afternoon in Silverton. Will is the son of Gregory Custer, Levi is the son of Jim and Amy Lokey, and Hannah is the daughter of Kevin and Tiffany deKay.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - Freshman Alexis Gallegos, left, sophomore Talitha Gallegos, center, and sophomore Martin Torres listen to head coach Dan Salazar during practice on Tuesday afternoon in Silverton. Alexis and Talitha are the daughters of Larry and Jessica Gallegos, and Martin is the son of Martin and Fabiola Torres.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - Senior Will Custer, son of Gregory Custer, takes part in a drill during practice on Tuesday afternoon in Silverton.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - Head coach Dan Salazar, center, talks with sophomore Martin Torres, left, senior Levi Lokey, center right, and freshman Alexis Gallegos during practice on Tuesday afternoon in Silverton. Martin is the son of Martin and Fabiola Torres, Levi is the son of Jim and Amy Lokey, and Alexis is the daughter of Larry and Jessica Gallegos.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - Freshman Hannah deKay practices with the Silverton Miners on Tuesday afternoon in Silverton. Hannah is the daughter of Kevin and Tiffany deKay.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - Freshman Alexis Gallegos blocks while sophomore Ernesto Saldana tries to shoot during practice on Tuesday afternoon in Silverton. In back are sophomore Martin Torres, left, and senior Levi Lokey. Alexis is the daughter of Larry and Jessica Gallegos, Ernesto is the son of Jesús and Liliana Saldana, Martin is the son of Martin and Fabiola Torres, and Levi is the son of Jim and Amy Lokey.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - Head coach Dan Salazar, left, talks with sophomore Talitha Gallegos, center left, freshman Alexis Gallegos, center right, and freshman Hannah deKay during practice on Tuesday afternoon in Silverton. Talitha and Alexis are the daughters of Larry and Jessica Gallegos, and Hannah is the daughter of Kevin and Tiffany deKay.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - Sophomore Talitha Gallegos, left, and her sister, freshman Alexis Gallegos, practice with the Silverton Miners on Tuesday afternoon. The two are the daughters of Larry and Jessica Gallegos. Larry Gallegos also helps coach the team.
STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald - Freshman Hannah deKay, left, daughter of Kevin and Tiffany deKay, and freshman Alexis Gallegos, daughter of Larry and Jessica Gallegos, practice with the Silverton Miners on Tuesday afternoon in Silverton.
SILVERTON – To play high school basketball in Silverton, expect to play with the opposite sex. Your coach will be the county assessor. Be aware that your final game of the season may be canceled because your opponent doesn’t want to make the drive.
The Silverton High School Miners basketball team was resurrected in 2012 after the gym was refurbished with a state grant. The school had not fielded a basketball team for a decade. When head coach Dan Salazar tested the shorts used by the old team, the elastic crumbled. So the team raised money for new uniforms.
Silverton enrolls only 15 pupils in grades 9-12. So the only way to have a basketball team was to combine the genders. The Miners field a roster of eight, including five boys and three girls.
“There are some unique challenges,” Salazar said. “The boys are scared to play against the girls’ teams. The girls face some unique challenges in that they have to play against boys who are sometimes very aggressive.”
The Miners don’t belong to a league, having lost recognition from the Colorado High School Activities Association in the early 2000s. If all goes well, Salazar plans to apply for reinstatement in two years. The Miners would join the San Juan Basin League.
This season, the Miners compiled a 3-8 record against boys and girls teams from Ignacio, Ouray, Mancos, Dolores and Grand Junction. Only senior Will Custer, the team’s tallest player at 6 feet 3 inches, had previously played organized basketball.
“It is starting from scratch,” said Salazar. “It’s how do you pass? How do you shoot? How do you dribble? Then it’s how do you run an offense? How do you run a defense?”
Salazar said other coaches and administrators have been accommodating, but it’s difficult to schedule games with one team while other schools have four – boys varsity and junior varsity, and girls varsity and JV.
The Miners practice four days a week. On Fridays, they ski at Purgatory – something about “expeditionary learning.”
At practice Tuesday, the team started off running the length of the court while dribbling. Pass-and-shoot drills and rebounding drills followed.
During one drill, Will knocked Alexis Gallegos, a freshman, to the ground while pursuing a rebound. He offered a helping hand up, but she shot back to her feet on her own.
Alexis, 15, said playing against boys makes the victories more meaningful.
“It’s intimidating because they are so much bigger than me, but at the same time, it does feel great when we win,” she said.
Hannah DeKay agreed. Also a freshman, Hannah is the youngest member of the team at 14.
“It’s fun because if we win it’s like, Ha! We beat you,” she said.
Talitha Gallegos, a 16-year-old sophomore, said playing with and against boys heightens the competition. “It makes us want to push ourselves,” she said.
Salazar said the boys sometimes are reluctant to get physical while defending the girls.
“They’re hesitant,” he said. “They don’t want to get in there. They’re scared to touch them. It’s kind of funny.”
Will admitted playing against girls was “a little different.”
The Miners were practicing for their final game of the season Saturday against Caprock Academy, a small charter school in Grand Junction. Unfortunately, the game was canceled Thursday because of Caprock’s concerns about the weather forecast and driving over mountain passes.
Practice on Tuesday ended with the team running stairs in the school – some of them had missed practice the day before. Salazar gathered them around in a huddle in the school’s hallway.
“There’s no reason to stop now, when there’s only a week left,” he said.
Salazar told the players they have a chance to leave a legacy in Silverton.
“Do you want it to mean something that you were here and you started this and helped build it?” he said.
The players answered with a resounding “yes.”
The team loses two seniors going into next season, but they will be replaced by two eighth-graders, Salazar said.
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