Facing a 25 point deficit with just 10 minutes left in the game, securing the 281 Conference tournament championship against Wolsey-Wessington looked out of reach for the Spartans.
“We had no defense in the first half. It was actually kind of mind blowing and so uncharacteristic of this team,” said Head Boys Varsity Basketball Coach Joey Mitchell, back at the helm after a two-year break coaching the Spartans. “To me, we were shell shocked, kind of in a daze, kind of scared. Then it hit me full circle.”
What hit him was that he had seen this before — only one time in this 9-1 season — when the Spartans traveled to Howard and suffered their sole loss.
“Howard was a tough loss for us, a tough environment and a tough game. We had eight guys on the court that had never played a serious, intense, loud, close battle in a high school game. Even talking to some of them after, the moment kind of got to them and they’d never been in that situation,” he reflected. “We were down and it hit me, I realized the 281 championship was reminding them of Howard. I always tell them, basketball is 90% mental and 10% physical. The ball doesn’t always go into the hoop, the refs don’t always make calls that go your way. But you can control one thing — the attitude you bring. Finally, in the 4th, we got it together.”
Mitchell said when it clicked for him, he honestly didn’t realize the Spartans were down 25 points.
“I just started preaching, let’s get three stops and score three times — get three stops and three scores. Then potentially the lead is cut by a third, maybe a half. I was just preaching what we gotta build on and get three more,” Mitchell explained. “Holy cow, they did exactly that. They went down and scored and did it again. I watched the last four minutes of the game and Wolsey scores one point, we get three stops, three scores. They just finally relaxed and did what they know and kept doing it. That’s how we practice, with discipline.”
The three stop/three score formula certainly paid dividends. The Spartans went on an unfathomable rally to claim the 281 Conference tournament title, taking down the Warbirds 58-56.
Wessington Springs scored 16 in under four minutes in the fourth quarter. As a final thriller, with the game tied in the final minute, Branden Flowers made a shot with 19 seconds left. The Spartans defense denied the Warbirds attempts twice after that, closing out the win.
Parker Graff had a whopping 35 points. Karter Mebius had nine points and Colby Flowers finished with eight points.
Grateful for the win but now with new evidence on what needs to be shored up for the Spartans, Mitchell said first on the list is to watch video of the championship game.
“I’m still a big defensive guy so it was eating me alive how bad we got exposed in the first two quarters, “Mitchell shared.
“Now I have some video evidence showing we were completely exposed — and the guys will see I might know what I’m talking about,” he laughed. “It was a perfect time for a test like that to see where we’re at and what we needed to work on. When it comes down to it, we lucked out and experienced kind of a miracle.”
Looking ahead, Mitchell said he feels good about the trajectory of the Spartans, specifically because of the grueling practice schedule that’s become part of the team culture.
“I can honestly say we are one of the hardest working teams in the state with our conditioning, our drills. There’s never a day you show up and it’s a cake walk,” Mitchell said. “When we were down so much in the 281 championship game, I told them this isn’t even hard compared to what we do at practice. They bought into it and we came alive.”