Season exceeds expectations

St. Francis boys’ basketball team breaks 14-year slump

More stories from Kristy Sibileva

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Kristy Sibileva

SFHS varsity basketball team huddles up to cheer before a game.

The fighting Saint’s varsity boys basketball team is heating up the scoreboards as their season progresses. Their overall record is 11-3 and there hasn’t been a record like that since 2000.

“In the early 80’s there were great teams and all of the 90’s there were very solid teams,” said Athletic Director Jeff Fink, “holding their rankings in the top 10-15 in the state.”

Back in 1994 the boy’s basketball team held a record of 23-3 and in 1995 they held a record of 21-2. During the 2000-2001 season the basketball boys won the section and went to the State Tournament. Fink said that the boy’s basketball team used to be in the best conference in the state.

With the Saints’ move to the Mississippi 8 Conference, new teams and new competition have presented new challenges.

“We have noticed a lot more respect from other teams, as well as other teams fearing us,” said Wald.

Fink said that regardless of the conference, the boys would probably have the same record. Head Coach Ryan Hauge also said that with the new conference they are developing rivalries that feel more real, as well as the teams they compete against have a lot in common.

The past ten years haven’t been record breaking for the basketball boys, but this year is different and the parents, fans, and rivals can see that. The question is what has changed this year compared to the previous years?

“A lot of the players have started for three years, and we are the favored ones in the conference,” said Fink. Hauge also said that during practice the atmosphere is really competitive, a lot of depth goes into practice, and the guys have to compete with each other which results in a better practice.

“This is my sixth year coaching, and the culture is better because the kids expect to win, which they should expect to do, and this culture was not present when I first came to the school ten years ago,” said Hauge.

Now the boys have pressure on them as they begin to prepare for the conference and section games ahead.

“Our goals as of right now are to win the conference title, sections and possibly go to state,” said senior captain Cody Wald.

The record may be good right now, but the boys need to keep working hard in order to reach their goals. Wald said they are preparing for the games ahead by practicing every day as if they were playing the best teams during practice.

“Everything is going well,” said senior Bryce Kulsrud. “I think we are all really enjoying the season, especially it being the last season for most of us.”

The seniors are noticing how fast the season is flying by. Senior captain Jake Johnson said that the end of the season is coming up fast and they just want to play each game like it is their last.

“We have been working on our game everyday and learning from past mistakes to make us better and more likely to succeed,” said senior captain Nate Svihel.

“It’s really fun to have very good basketball in our school again,” said Fink.

The seniors really are finishing their year by giving it their all.

“This group of seniors deserves a lot of credit for changing the culture,” said Hauge, “we have ten seniors this year, and not many teams can keep ten seniors.”