Team: Stanton
Mascot: Mustangs
Colors: Orange and Black
Class: C-2
Conference: East Husker
Head Coach: David Stoddard (2nd season)
2018-2019 record: 6-17 (lost to Wisner-Pilger in Sub Districts)
Returning Starters: 2
Overview:
The Stanton Boys Basketball Team returns two starters from last year's 6-17 team in T.J. Larson (6'1, SR G), who averaged 10 points a game a season ago, and Parker Krusemark (6'3, SO G).
Other returning letterwinners include Mason Bruggeman (6'3, JR F), Ben Wilke (6'0, SR F), Brennan Wragge (5'5, JR G), and Adam Arens (5'9, SO G).
Newcomers likely to contribute include Abe Larson (5'10, SO), Ben Butterfield (5'10, SO), and Ian Schulzkump (6'3, JR).
Head Coach David Stoddard has this preseason assessment of his team. "Stanton returns 2 starters & will feature a young overall team in the 2019-2020 season. The Mustangs will be lead in the back court by TJ Larson and Parker Krusemark who do a good job scoring and creating for their teammates. Mason Bruggeman will be in the post with Ben Wilke and look for Abe Larson, Ben Butterfield, Adam Arens, and Brennan Wragge to play significant roles as well. "
Stanton lost Marcus Spotanski, Sam Bates, and Nathan Arens to graduation last year.
Stoddard says the offseason went really well. "We had great attendance all summer long. We did summer league up at the YMCA in Norfolk. That was a good experience for us. Did some of the team camp circuit things."
It sounds like the Mustangs did some really good positive things this offseason that will hopefully help them this year.
Hopefully the hard work they put in leads to quite a few wins this season, but if not then I'm sure things will only get better in the future.
High School Basketball and High School Athletics in General are about more than just winning and losing.
Sure winning is nice, but the lessons these kids learn and take with them the rest of their lives is what will benefit them more in life after high school.
It's about the camaraderie and relationships and bonds that are formed between the kids.
It's about developing friendships and relationships that will last a lifetime.
And that's exactly what Stanton has to do this year if they haven't done that already.
Excelling in the classroom and taking part in different community projects and things of that sort is important for the Mustangs, in my opinion.
Season Outlook:
The Stanton Boys look to grow and get better throughout the year this year.
The schedule is definitely challenging though, but I do see the potential for a couple more wins for the Mustangs this season.
Stanton hosts 2019 C-2 State Qualifier Howells-Dodge in the season opener on Friday.
Stoddard says the Jaguars are the real deal. "Very well Coached team. They have quite a bit returning I think in the backcourt. They're going to be a team that's going to pressure you full court throughout the game, kind of try to create some turnovers. They're very active on the offensive end. It's going to be a very tough game."
The Mustangs are in Sub-District C2-5 with Wisner-Pilger, Lutheran High Northeast, Hartington Cedar Catholic, and Crofton.
Stoddard says all of those teams are good. "Yeah Wisner-Pilger and Lutheran High once again just great programs. They're going to be tough. I know each team returns quite a bit from the starting department. Crofton is new this year. I think they had a pretty young team last year and returned a lot. Then Hartington Cedar Catholic I know is going to be once again a very good team too."
I think the biggest thing for Stanton is continued improvement throughout the season.
You want to see the team get better from the first game to the last.
And I think just being competitive and keeping games close like last year is a big thing for the Mustangs once again this year.
A lot of Stanton's losses were close ball games last year, and if they can narrow the gap and cut down on the number of blowouts even more than last season then they should see improvement.
I think offense and scoring will be key for the Mustangs.
Stanton has to pull the ball in the basket if they want to be successful.
The Mustangs have to work hard and have to want it more than their opponents.
Wins may not always be easy to come by given how young this team is, but Stanton has to give maximum effort and work hard at all times.
In other words the Mustangs have to earn everything that they get this season.
2019-2020 Stanton Mustangs Boys Basketball Schedule:
12/06/19 Howells-Dodge
12/07/19 @ Tekamah-Herman
12/10/19 @ West Point-Beemer
12/13/19 @ Battle Creek
12/17/19 @ North Bend Central
12/20/19 Wakefield
12/21/19 @ Pender
12/27-12/28 (To Be Determined) Stanton Holiday Tournament Stanton
01/03/20 Wisner-Pilger
01/04/20 @ Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family
01/10/20 @ Oakland-Craig
01/11/20 Logan View-Scribner-Snyder
01/14/20 Plainview
01/17/20 @ Boone Central/Newman Grove
01/21/20 @ Madison
01/25/20 BRLD
01/28/20 Twin River
02/01-02/08 (To Be Determined) East Husker BBB Tournament TBD
02/13/20 @ Clarkson/Leigh
02/21/20 Emerson-Hubbard
Team: Stanton
Mascot: Mustangs
Colors: Orange and Black
Class: C-2
Conference: East Husker
Head Coach: Greg Wegner (5th season) (75-28 record)
2018-2019 record: 13-10 (lost to Battle Creek in Sub-Districts)
Returning Starters: N/A
Overview:
A young team figures to see the floor for the Stanton Girls this year as the Mustangs return just three players who played last year.
The returners include Sophomore Savannah Siebrandt, Senior Jasmine Kment, and 6'0 Sophomore Sylvia Cunningham.
Seniors Morgan and Marissa Remm along with 5'5 newcomer Emma Hansen, who was homeschooled previously, make up Stanton's senior class.
Other players likely to contribute are 5'9 Sophomore Kinley Pohlman, 5'9 freshman Olivia Cunningham, and Junior Ellie Locke.
The Mustangs figure to be solid, but young.
5th Year Head Coach Greg Wegner says the team did a lot of offseason activities in house, meaning they didn't go many places.
Perhaps that focusing on themselves was a good thing for Stanton.
The Mustangs said goodbye to a very talented senior class last year in Jessie Brandl, Bree Burtwhistle, Jaiden Hartl, and Liz Christensen.
I don't think there's any doubt that the end to last season was disappointing, but perhaps Stanton put too much pressure on themselves last year.
Wegner says the team has set basic goals to be good teammates and getting better as opposed to the number of wins and making state.
I think simplifying expectations and playing together as a team is something that can help bring the team closer together when expectations perhaps are higher in another year or two.
I think the thing the Mustangs need to do is find ways to improve in all facets of the game, especially scoring, rebounding, and shooting.
Stanton is a very good defensive team, now the Mustangs just need to find an offensive identity and rhythm.
Stanton has to develop throughout the course of the season and put themselves in a good position to be playing their best basketball at the end of the year.
Season Outlook:
The Stanton Girls hope to grow and improve throughout the season.
Wegner says this season is road heavy with just 7 home games this year.
He adds the Conference is loaded once again as well.
Tough road games figure to come at West Point-Beemer, Battle Creek, North Bend Central, Pender, Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family, Oakland-Craig, BRLD, Clarkson/Leigh, and Norfolk Catholic.
The Mustangs will definitely be road warriors this season.
Stanton hosts Howells-Dodge in the season opener on Friday.
Wegner says the Jaguars are solid. "Howells is always tough. They're very fundamental. They're well coached. They play defense very, very hard."
Wegner says he's more concerned with his team trying to grow, trying to develop, trying to get rid of those mental errors.
The Mustangs are in Sub-District C2-5 with the Jaguars, Clarkson/Leigh, Lutheran High Northeast, and Madison.
Wegner says the Patriots aren't a good matchup for his team. "Clarkson always plays good defense, they're tough. They're one of those teams that scout us really well. They know us. And it doesn't help that we play them a week before Sub-Districts. The weekend before Sub-Districts anyways."
As Wegner told me in our interview, Sub-Districts are a long ways off yet and things could be totally different then than they are now.
And perhaps Stanton won't matchup with the Patriots in Sub-Districts.
I think the biggest thing for the Mustangs is to continue to get better and improve game by game, week by week.
Stanton has to go out there and have fun and enjoy playing the game of basketball.
The Mustangs have to play with a lot of pride and passion, and must enjoy the ride and journey of the season.
Stanton has to work hard and enjoy the wins, but also be gracious in defeat.
2019-2020 Stanton Mustangs Girls Basketball Schedule:
12/06/19 Howells-Dodge
12/07/19 @ Tekamah-Herman
12/10/19 @ West Point-Beemer
12/13/19 @ Battle Creek
12/17/19 @ North Bend Central
12/20/19 Wakefield-Allen
12/21/19 @ Pender
12/27-12/28 (To Be Determined) Stanton Holiday Tournament Stanton
01/03/20 Wisner-Pilger
01/04/20 @ Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family
01/10/20 @ Oakland-Craig
01/11/20 Logan View-Scribner-Snyder
01/14/20 Plainview
01/17/20 @ Boone Central/Newman Grove
01/21/20 @ Madison
01/25/20 BRLD
01/28/20 Twin River
01/31-02/08 (To Be Determined) East Husker GBB Tournament TBA
02/13/20 @ Clarkson/Leigh
02/14/20 @ Norfolk Catholic
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