Friday, March 7, 2025, marked the end of an era. The boys lost their sectional semi-final game, against the Oak Hill Golden Eagles, at Wabash High School. That night, the five senior, varsity players and three senior managers completed their final high school game. With a very chippy, back-and-forth game, the Kings’ played hard, but fell short 55-46 in the end. Although the seniors ended on a heartbreaking note, they had very successful basketball careers overall.
Starting at guard, Bryce Rudd had this to say about his favorite memory of his Cass basketball career, “Beating Logansport and Northwestern in eighth grade has to be my favorite memory of all time.” After going our entire elementary through middle school careers without beating Logansport or Northwestern, we finally beat both teams for the first time under, arguably, one of the best eighth-grade coaches of all time: Coach Mark Davis. After having seasons like we did in eighth grade, this senior season did not live up to the hype our previous seasons built for us. After predicting to have a better season, Rudd said this about looking back on his final campaign, “I think it was a little disappointing not being able to win a lot of games, but spending time with my team is something I will take from this season.”
Coming up next, in the manager spot, Jesse Sipin said this about his final season as a manager, “Now that my basketball manager career is officially over it is hard to pick a favorite memory. Over the last five years, I have had a lot of great memories from going to the sectional championship five years in a row, getting to go and watch the team play at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse, winning the 2023 sectional and regional, going to the IWU (Indiana Wesleyan University) basketball camp over the summer, and just getting the opportunity to spend so much time with all guys and getting to build a personal bound with each one of them.” While the senior basketball players had a maximum of four years for a high school career, Jesse Sipin was able to manage the high school team starting as an eighth grader. Thus, some may say, he had a five-year high school career. Luckily for Sipin, he had one more year than the players did to appear in a sectional championship, among other memories he got to experience. When asked how he felt looking back on the season, Sipin said, “… the record means the least to me and how I feel about the season. I think this season was good because of the relationships that were built and the lessons that were taught. This season had some rough patches where the relationships were rough between some people and the level of competitiveness was not where it needed to be. By the end, everyone came together and started to establish a level of trust amongst each other, while also increasing how competitive and aggressive the team became on the court and at practice.” Likewise, with Jesse, I care less about the record and more about what I gained from the seasons overall.
Back to the players, Wade Tocco has a very special favorite memory. “I think my favorite is either when we won regionals and had the pep sessions, or when we beat Logansport in eighth grade and their coach quit right after.” Similar to Bryce, beating Logansport in eighth grade was a special memory of many, especially making the coach (Logansport) quit after we beat them in the middle of the tournament. Now that this season is over, and it is time to reflect, Tocco said, “It definitely could have gone better. It was still fun sometimes.” The season had its negatives, but it was not all terrible. There were still positive moments from time to time.
Up next for the Kings’ is Mack-Magic himself, Jonny Mack. While Jonny may be quiet from time to time, he claims his favorite basketball memory is “celebrating with Nolan on the bench for certain plays, and even technical fouls. After that, my other favorite memory was when Drew Sailors got the ball stuck on top of the backboard on a layup at practice in seventh grade.” Although Jonny is more of a football guy himself, he still had this to say about his postseason basketball career. Mack said, “Reflecting on the season, we had a bunch of close games we could have won, but we still competed.”
Kolten Young, some may consider a fan favorite and the most expressive player on the court, is known for his running and jumping abilities, but mainly his expressive emotions and excitement. Compared to others, Kolten’s favorite memory comes from eighth grade. “When we beat Rensselaer Central in the championship game at the Carroll tournament, everyone went to my house and watched scary movies, except for Nolan Hahn because he was out for COVID-19 issues,” he said. Reviewing his senior year, Kolten said, “Basketball is obviously very tiring at times, and going home after practice was one thing I will look back at and remember looking forward to during the season.” With all the conditioning and overall movement of basketball combined with remembering plays and sets, basketball may be arguably one of the most tiring sports an athlete can play, and Kolten Young proved this.
Last, but certainly not least, I, Nolan Hahn, am your final senior player. I have had a variety of great memories, but my favorite memory is definitely when we beat Logansport in eighth grade to seal the deal winning the Twin Lakes tournament, as Logansport was our only competition there. Logansport is one of our biggest rivals and always a very competitive game. My other favorite memory had to be the bus rides. Bus rides were always overlooked for great memories, but bus rides were a time for us to take our minds off basketball, and engage in simply, being a kid and having fun with other teammates and friends on the trip. Bus rides also brought funny conversations and time to talk. Now that basketball season is over, these times are past. Reflecting on the season, I believe we underperformed throughout the season. Apart from the basketball side of the season, spending time outside the court was enjoyable. Working concessions, going out to eat, and taking bus rides brought quality time I spent with my teammates and friends.
One of the incoming seniors for next season, Brody Hillis, had this to say about what he was looking forward to next season, “Next year, I will be expecting to be more successful and build stronger relationships with my teammates.” Building stronger relationships is going to be important next year, as the varsity team is losing five seniors, half of the varsity roster from this year. Contrastingly to this, next year’s team will still have some varsity experience. Since next year’s team will return five juniors, Hillis said, “I am looking forward to the five seniors competing next year because we will be bringing back a lot of experience.”
Ultimately, while the Kings underperformed for their standards, they still maintained their ups and downs and found light in the darkness. It is time for these former basketball players to move on to their respective spring sports, time for the seniors to wrap up their high school careers, and time for the juniors to step up and lead the team next year. Be sure to support your Kings this spring and support them again eight months from now, when basketball season once again begins.
