By Sophie Butler
“Our players have really focused on getting better each day in practice. I kept assuring them that the wins would come if they continued to do so,” said the Silver Lake boys’ head coach Paul Bade. As they took on the Axtell Wildcats for their first home game of the season on December 6, it was a slow start. The Wildcats took the first quarter with a score of 10-5. In the second and third quarters, the Mustangs fought to catch up with pretty head-to-head scores. In the fourth quarter, the Wildcats were able to pull away for a 43-28 victory. The boys were motivated by this loss to work even harder in practice to compete against Elba the following Friday, December 9. Coach Bade says “Captains Cody Pankoke and Keaton Karr have been exceptional leaders in practice on a daily basis. Lane Conway and Beau Bonifas also give relentless effort, which in doing so, raises everyone else’s play.” In all four quarters against Elba, the Mustangs would not let up the hard work as they stayed ahead of the BlueJays. Junior Trey Vance was the leading scorer for the game in Elba, putting up 13 points. Ending the fourth quarter with a 50-20 game, the Mustangs had their first win of the season as well as Coach Bade’s first win as head coach at Silver Lake. “Seeing the boys in the locker room after the win was all the reward I needed. Personally, it meant a lot for me that my son, Tristan, was in attendance for my first win as a Mustang and as a head coach.” Coach Bade and the Mustangs are looking forward to their upcoming games and competing for a win every time they step onto the floor. “I expect to win every game we play and I believe our players are beginning to have that like mindset.”