Wildcat boys deep, experienced

The Custer High School boys basketball team is young no more.
Blessed with experience, depth, speed, size (and dare we whisper, shooting), the Wildcats have high expectations as they embark on the 2023-24 season, beginning this week at the Lakota Nation Invitational.
“Things have been going pretty well,” head coach Paul Kelley said of early-season practices. “We’re pretty excited about the upcoming season. We just know it’s a tough road ahead of us. Things are looking really good. Our expectations are quite high.”
The problem for the Wildcats, and all of the teams in Region 8A and the Black Hills Conference, however, is that both are full of teams that are going to be good, very good and outstanding.
Hot Springs returns several players from last year’s state tournament team. Hill City returns a bevy of good players on a team that played Custer close, including 6-9 Erik Jorgensen. Rapid City Christian returns most of its team that won the Lakota Nation Invitational and fell just short of the state tournament. St. Thomas More is a perennial state contender. Belle Fourche always has good athletes. Spearfish and Sturgis both return strong players in their AA programs.
“It’s a tough conference, but we have the team that can compete,” Kelley said. “I’d like to think we are in the upper echelon of our conference.”
A deep and talented team will be led by the deep and talented junior class, at the center of which is Kyle Virtue (6-4 F), now a two-time all-conference performer.
He will be joined in the starting lineup by a pair of junior guards who also earned all-conference laurels a year ago, Rhett Lowe (6-1) and Cade Lehman (6-0), the former of which has been the team’s starting point guard since he was a freshman, and the latter of which came on strong toward the end of last year on both ends of the court.
“Kyle is going to be Kyle. I consider him to be one of the top players in our class in the state,” Kelley said. “The thing is, every else knows that, so he needs to continue to improve and work on his game.
“Rhett is our floor general. I’d like to see him take more of a leadership role and be a coach on the floor so I can be a little more quiet.
“Cade busts his tail on the defensive end and creates so much offense for himself doing that.”
Kelley said it’s important those three players take on the leadership role on the team.
“That’s the things we stress with them. You have to be a leader and bring it every day,” he said. “That may not be scoring, but just energy.”
Two other Wildcats also return with starting experience in fellow juniors Carter Boyster (6-1, G) and Roland Sedlacek (6-5, C).
Other players who may draw a start, or will certainly see plenty of minutes off the bench at the very least include Cody Dirkes (6-6, Jr. F), Ayden Petz (5-11, Jr. G), Jackson Wiles (6-1, Jr. G), Brady Virtue (6-2, Soph. G) and Drew Lehman (5-11, Sr. G).
“We are as deep as we’ve been in a long, long time,” Kelley said. “It’s not just guards. We have size. We have great speed. We are blessed with a lot of height and a lot of bodies.”
At times last season, if Virtue was having an off game, a second and third scorer were hard to find. With Lowe and Cade Lehman a year older and wiser, Kelley does not think that will be as big of an issue.
“We have kids who are capable. In basketball, everyone is a shooter. We want makers,” he said. “We need some kids to take pressure off the others and knock down shots for us. They have to go out and do it night in and night out.”
As for potential weaknesses, Kelley said the team will play fast, which could lead to turnovers. However, Kelley said the team has plenty of ball-handling skills, while adding this is a team that stacks up against any recent Wildcat team in terms of defensive ability.
Kelley stopped short of saying his team could land in the Class A State Tournament–knowing full well the number of strong teams in the region—but said it’s a team that has the ability to make this a season to remember.
“Talent and potential-wise, this could be the best team I’ve had in Custer looking at one through 10 and what they are capable of,” he said. “It’s putting in the time, putting in the work. Are they willing to do that through a long, grueling season facing the competition in front of us?
“Potential is what you’re capable of. That’s setting the ceiling high. We’re excited, and there is no reason not to be excited. But it’s not going to be easy.”