Defying expectations

“We always had the goal to get into the state championship game, because we knew nobody believed that we could. That gave us a spark.””

Senior Baylie Booth

Keeping your head in the game

“(NCHS) beat us by 20 points when we played them (in January) and we came back and beat them by seven points. It boosted our confidence. At the end of the day, it all comes down to keeping your head, especially in the big movements like when you’re tied up in the fourth quarter.””

Sophomore T.J. Moats

YODER – Postseason awards for the 2023-2024 winter season are in, and two athletes in Goshen County garnered Player of the Year Awards from the Wyoming Coaches Association.

Southeast High School senior and Lady Cyclone Baylie Booth captured the 1A Southeast Player of the Year Award for girls’ basketball. Southeast sophomore and Cyclone T.J. Moats snagged the 1A Southeast Player of the Year Award for boys’ basketball.

Baylie Booth

The Lady Cyclones’ path to the 2024 1A state title contained plenty of ups and downs.

In early February, the Lady Cyclones hit a significant bump in the road with a four-game losing streak.

“I think a lot of us lost some hope and confidence when we lost those four games,” Booth said. “But we went back and started working on the fundamentals and the basics to get to where we needed to be with our defense and then worked up from there. We just knew we had to keep going and play in the future and the present and not the past.”

The Lady Cyclones roared back onto the court the following week, soundly defeating conference rivals Guernsey-Sunrise (36-9) on February 13 and cruising past Hanna-Elk Mountain (52-22) on February 17. 

A week later, the Lady Cyclones secured the No. 2 seed at regionals.

The state championships commenced with the Lady Cyclones knocking out Little Snake River, 35-31, and advancing to play top-ranked and nearly undefeated Cokeville in the semifinals.

“We always had the goal to get into the state championship game, because we knew nobody believed that we could,” Booth said. “That gave us a spark.”

Taking on the underdog mentality, Southeast beat Cokeville, 43-33, to secure a berth in the championship game against Upton.

“After we beat Cokeville, we knew we could do this,” Booth said.

Southeast confidently stepped onto the court and beat Upton, 45-40, to clinch the state title.

“Each of wanted the championship badly enough that we just went in and got it and didn’t let anything stop us.”

Booth eats, breathes and sleeps basketball throughout the long winter season, spending between 15 and 20 hours a week at the gym.

“It’s a lot of time with the girls and coach (Jennifer) Scheer and it takes dedication,” Booth said. “It’s late nights, sometimes early mornings, plus traveling.”

Booth credits Scheer for instilling a strong work ethic:

“Coach Scheer always keeps us striving and encourages us to work hard every single day.”

As a senior, Booth took the underclassmen on the team under her wing.

“We were so young and not many of us had played many minutes on varsity,” Booth said. “It was huge for those girls to have somebody with experience they could lean on.”

Booth grew up around basketball and began playing in third grade. 

“I’ve been playing the sport for years, and it is by far my favorite sport,” Booth said. “I will always have a special place in my heart for basketball.”

In addition to basketball, Booth played volleyball, showed livestock for 4-H and is a member of student council and the National Honor Society. Booth will attend Laramie County Community College this fall on a livestock judging scholarship and plans to study health and animal sciences.

Booth thanked her family and teammates for their support and expressed gratitude to coach Scheer for inspiring Booth to be a “better person, a better leader and a better player.”

“Coach Scheer has been my biggest supporter since I walked onto her court my freshman year.”

T.J. Moats

The Southeast Cyclones squared off against Niobrara County High School (NCHS) on February 10. Digging deep, the Cyclones battled the Tigers through four neck-and-neck quarters to win, 46-39.

“(NCHS) beat us by 20 points when we played them (in January) and we came back and beat them by seven points,” Moats said. “It boosted our confidence. At the end of the day, it all comes down to keeping your head, especially in the big movements like when you’re tied up in the fourth quarter.”

The Cyclones went on to secure the No. 2 seed at the regional tournament and began the state championships with a heartbreaking loss to Saratoga. Undaunted, Southeast battled back to defeat Kaycee (37-25) and Meeteetse (46-37) to win the consolation trophy.

“We knew there was still some hardware in it for us (at state),” Moats said. “We just kept pushing.”

Moats first picked up basketball in elementary school, although the sport was not an instant fit.

“I wouldn’t say basketball came easy to me,” Moats said. “I remember one time I scored in the wrong hoop. But I just continued to work.”

Motivated by a “love for the game,” Moats continued to push himself.

“You can’t expect something to just happen, you have to work for it,” Moats said. “With that, you have to put in hours at the gym and late nights watching film to see what you can do to get better.”

Moats and junior Ayden Desmond stepped into leadership roles on the Cyclones’ varsity squad.

“We pushed everyone, and they pushed us,” Moats said. “Everybody on that team wants to be better and continue to grow.”

With only one senior on the Cyclones’ starting lineup, Moats looks forward to returning in 2024-2025 with his teammates, each bringing significant experience with them to the court. The Cyclones are setting their sights on a run at the state tournament in 2025, Moats added.

While basketball is Moats’ “favorite” sport, he also plays football and is competing on the outdoor track team.

Moats thanked his coaches Craig Leithead, Cody Powell and Shay Shimic for “pushing me to be the best I could be all season.”