Representing the South

For four years, Saratoga Panther fans have watched Teegan Love take to the basketball court wearing the purple and gold while Encampment Tigers fans have watched Dalton Peterson don the red and black.

On July 24, however, the two Valley athletes donned the same uniform; the black and gold of the south team for the Wyoming Coaches Association (WCA) Boys All-Star Basketball Game. For fans of Valley basketball, it was likely a dream come true to watch the two play together.

"It was a ton of fun," said Peterson. "Teegan and I played some AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) together over the summer throughout our high school years and we've always said it's way more fun playing with each other than it was against each other. So, that was a ton of fun getting to play with him one last time."

During their high school careers, it was not uncommon to see Peterson-playing as Encampment's No. 20-and Love-playing as Saratoga's No. 11-to dominate their respective courts. Even when playing against each other, the skill each had was evident. As they went from underclassmen to upperclassmen, those skills were augmented with the role of leadership.

In 2020, just a week before the pandemic brought a halt to sports. Love helped lead the Saratoga Panthers to their first state championship in the history of Saratoga High School. In 2021, he helped take the team to the state championship where they came in as state runner-up.

The Encampment Tigers, during the time Peterson played, had three appearances in Casper and came in 3rd place in the 2017-2018 season and the 2019-2020 season and placed 2nd in the 2018-2019 season.

For Love, this was the final basketball game of his high school career. Along with helping the Panthers make two appearances at the 1A Boys State Championship, he leaves with a personal scoring record of 1,385 points.

"I realized it was my final basketball game which, it was pretty sad, and I just knew I was going to go out there and try to work my hardest," said Love. "Mostly just try to have fun. It was fun, it was a lot of fun. It went into overtime, which was cool, and we won. It was nice to get a win my last game for sure."

While the WCA Boys All-Star Basketball game did go into overtime, it ended in a win for the South as they ended it with a 97-96 lead over the North.

Peterson, meanwhile, was reminded how the place hosting his final high school basketball game would also be where he would begin his college career. His high school career ended with a personal scoring record of 1,813 points.

"I was glad I got to start off my career there with a win, a great team win, and it was a great start to the next two years," said Peterson.

Love and Peterson weren't the only Valley representation on the South team, though they were the only ones on the court itself. Encampment's Jake Johnston was selected as head coach with Saratoga's Jason Williams as one of the assistant coaches. Both Love and Peterson had high praise for Johnston.

"I knew he was a pretty competitive guy at first, but I guess I didn't realize how competitive he is. He had a lot of drills I had never really done before but it helped me learn a lot," said Love. "He had a lot of coaching tactics that, hopefully, I can use one day as my own. He's great, he's a very nice guy. It was really fun getting coached by him and Coach Williams at the same time."

For Peterson, Johnston's approach to the game wasn't something new as he had experience with his coaching for the past four years.

"He always brings the same intensity to every game whether it's a state championship, a conference game, a regional game, the All-Star game or just a pre-season game. I've said it for the past three, four, years that he's definitely, hands down, one of the best-if not the best-coaches I've ever had the chance of working with," said Peterson. "The amount of research he does and how much he cares not only for the team's success but also your success as a person on and off the court. The things he does to let you know he cares about you more than just as a basketball player really makes him one of the best coaches there is. I think all the All-Star kids do and had that same feeling that last week in Casper. He'd take time to ask them how they're doing, what things they're into, stuff like that."

Love will be attending Chadron State College where he will play football. Peterson will be attending Casper College where he will play basketball.