Warrior Brotherhood Grows Through Challenges

This time last year, the Neligh-Oakdale boys basketball program was enjoying its most successful season in school history.

After playing for a state title and replacing four starters, the Warriors expected a challenging season. But there were many more challenges ahead, including a head coaching change midway through the season.

“Adversity is always a tough pill to swallow, especially with kids who are younger,” said Ethan Larson, who took over head coaching duties in January.

Earlier this month, Frank Gade officially resigned from teaching and coaching duties. Larson was in his seventh season as an assistant.

Larson said he approached the basketball team the same way he always had.

“I told the kids the only thing that changes is I’m standing up, I’m not sitting down now. Our scheme doesn’t change, our preparations don’t change, the expectations don’t change. The change should be minimal. I think that’s the mark of a good program. When you can have a bit of adversity, you can have a speed bump, if the status quo remains the same and with the kids, you don’t see a change in effort, I think that shows we’re doing something right.

Nate Buck, the only senior on the Warrior squad, admitted the head coaching change happened quickly but said Larson kept them on track and focused on their job at hand.

“You know, it was a big change right in the middle of the season. You don’t expect that ever, and I think he did a really good job of just keeping our heads in the game and not anything outside of it. So I think he did really well.”

Austin Rice was the lone returning starter from last season’s state runner-up team. Rice said he worked hard to get his teammates in the gym during the offseason and learning to work together. While he admitted it wasn’t an easy role, he grew into it.   

​You don’t expect that ever, and I think he did a really good job of just keeping our heads in the game and not anything outside of it. So I think he did really well,” Buck said.

Austin Rice was the lone returning starter from last season’s state runner-up team. Rice said he worked hard to get his teammates in the gym during the offseason and learning to work together. While he admitted it wasn’t an easy role, he grew into it.   

“It was a little hard at first,” Rice said. “I didn’t really know what to do at first because I always played with the older senior boys. Just a change for me. It was a rough transition, but I made it work.

As the season progressed, the Warriors continued to have promise but struggled at times to put complete games together. As subdistrict action neared, few thought the Warriors had a chance as they faced  top-seeded Ainsworth.

“The beautiful thing about high school basketball in the state of Nebraska is the post season is a brand new season. The seeding just determines the time you play each night. Going into with that kind of attitude of it’s a new season, new game and just having that level of preparation with the mindset that you’re out there to win games, I think that’s key to it all,” Larson said.

So when the opening round saw the Warriors upset No. 1 Ainsworth 50-46, everyone was stunned. Everyone except the Warriors.

“It felt really good. A lot of people didn’t think we were going to beat them — them being No. 1 and us being No. 4,” Rice said. “We just wanted to go out there and prove we are a good ball team and we can go out there and play with other people. We knew we could do it, so we went out and played our best basketball probably all year our final two games and went out and played our hearts out.”

Determined to prove their win over Ainsworth was not a fluke, the Warriors had high hopes against Creighton in the subdistrict final. With a six-point lead at halftime and nearly even play through the second half, Neligh-Oakdale found itself down by 1 point with 12 seconds left. The Warriors turned the ball over on the final possession and Creighton sealed the win.

“Coming off of a one-day break after we had just played a really great defensive game — a really tough defensive game — against a good Ainsworth team. The kids deserve a majority of that credit. As a coach you want to hope you can put your team in the best position possible,” Larsen said.

While the Warriors were disappointed by the one-point loss, they recognized what the team accomplished by overcoming so many obstacles.

“Disappointment, from the loss, but I’m very proud of my team,” Buck said. “For us the biggest part about playing basketball is being a team and being like a brotherhood. It’s really nice to bond with your teammates.”

​Both Buck and Rice said the bond between players and coaches is also key. That relationship also made the coaching transition smoother, according to Larsen.

“The best relationships you can have produce the best outcomes, the best results.  There’s always a line. You don’t want to be their friend, but you want them to know you care about them, and I think the kids know that we as coaches care a lot about them,” he said. “The mark of a great program is when there is a big change, that change isn’t as noticeable. While we had a big change in our starting lineup, we had changes throughout the season and the middle of the season, I think growth still happened and there wasn’t a huge set back or roadblock that impeded progress.”