By Sydney Bartels
Coming off of Christmas Break, Silver Lake Basketball had a big week. The boys took on the Blue Hill Bobcats, Heartland Lutheran Red Hornets, and the Pleasanton Bulldogs all in a matter of four days. This was a big challenge for the team coming off of the loss during the annual Holiday Tournament. However, the team didn’t let this challenge bring them down. Instead, it encouraged them to work harder: “Playing games is fun for everyone, but when you experience multiple close losses as we have, that can begin to affect our mental approach as you move into the next games. These players are actually competing with more focus and intensity each game. That’s a tremendous credit to every player in our high school program,” explained Coach Bade. Taking on the Bobcats on January 6, the team competed well with Blue Hill, only falling behind by seven points at the end of the game with a final score of 40-33. Juniors Trey Vance and Jordan Faimon along with freshman Beau Bonifas led the team in points with each earning 11, 10, and nine points respectively. The team didn’t let the loss bring them down, however. Coach Bade explained how the team has banded together to put down a win: “This group of players are winners. They compete in practice and in games which leads me to think nothing other than that. Players and coaches all believe wins in games will come, and the buy-in to that occurring is about as special as it gets. Recently, our team defense has improved significantly in games so that even when we may struggle offensively early in games, we don’t dig ourselves into a hole that may be difficult to overcome or catch up to.” Going up against Heartland Lutheran, the players and coaches were determined to do whatever it took to dominate the game. Their strategy was successful as the Mustang Men took down the Red Hornets 46-9. Faimon again was a leading scorer, racking up 12 points, with sophomore Lane Conway, junior Tayten Menke, and Vance adding six points each to the scoreboard. Coach Bade says, “I am proud of them; I’m not certain anyone fully understands how proud I am of this team.”