It’s the sort of thing that eventually happens every season. A talented senior basketball squad plays its final high school game, and then gives way to the coming talents. Looking back on the outgoing year before shifting forward to the year to come, Coach Hause paid tribute to the four outgoing seniors, then to the team to come.

The seniors in sequence are Carsen Hause, Lucas Smith, Brady Potaczek, and Cooper Nichols. This is a bit of what Coach Hause had to say for each.

“Carsen Hause is a versatile player that can score from the perimeter and get to the rim,” Coach Hause said. “He did a great job for us this season controlling the tempo of games and distributing the ball to his teammates. He was our main ball handler and kept teams from being able to pressure us full court. He led the conference in assists, Third in scoring, 10th in rebounding and was a 1st team All-Conference Selection.” Shifting from Hause to Lucas Smith, the S-B Orioles coach had more praise to give.

“Lucas Smith had a very nice Senior Season,” he said. “It was nice to have Lucas back after sitting out the majority of his Junior year with a knee injury. He finished the season 8th in scoring, 15th in rebounding, 6th in assists, 5th in steals per game. Lucas was our go to perimeter shooter, making the opposing team’s defense have to account for him every where he was located. He finished the season as a 2nd team All-Conference Selection,” Coach Hause said of Smith, before evaluating Brady Potaczek’s contribution to the team. “Brady Potaczek was a tough match up for opposing post players,” Coach Hause said. “He is very strong in the post and forced teams to have to double team him when he touched the ball. He was 7th in the conference in steals per game, 10th in assists, 5th in rebounds, and 16th in points per game. Brady matched up against taller/heavier opponents each night and was able to win the battle with his strength and speed. Brady was a 2nd team All-Conference Selection this season.” Closing out the senior review, Hause praised Cooper Nichols as well.

“Cooper Nichols was our defensive pressure specialist,” he said. “He was asked to guard our opponents best player or best ball handler each night and make their night miserable. His pressure lead to many of the steals that his teammates got. He was 12th in steal per game in the conference. Cooper became our inbound passer this season for the first time and really devel oped into a great passer throughout the season, this is a difficult role and he accepted the chal lenge.” Then shifting from praise of the seniors towards the team to come.

“We will return one lone starter next season in Henry Hoel,” Hause said. “If Henry continues to improve like he did from last season to this year, he will be one of the top players in the Conference. He is an aggressive rebounder and really puts himself in position to receive the ball when teammates drive to the basket.” As one person can’t carry the entire team burden, Hoel will have help in Logan Burzynski and Landon Karlen.

“Landon Karlen and Logan Burzynski were the other two underclassmen in the rotation this year,” Hause said. “They improved greatly throughout the season and we will be looking for these three players to be our leaders next season.” Of the season to come, Hause said the slate was open to those willing to put in the hard work.

“We have opportunities for some younger players to step into Varsity roles next season if they are willing to put work in this off-season,” Coach Hause said. We will definitely miss the four seniors, but we are excited about the younger players in the program as well.”

Henry Hoel practices a layup earlier this year against Cadott as the clock ticked down to the second half.Photo by Joseph Back.