LINCOLN — Terry Comstock knew he had gone to a basketball-crazy town five years ago, but this was a little strange.
Junior high kids, ones who wouldn’t hit the hardwood for Comstock for three years, were blowing up his phone.
“It was kind of weird having sixth and seventh graders texting you to get in the gym,” the South Sioux City coach said of his first days. “You could see the drive the kids had, even at that age.”
That unlimited text plan and those extra sessions paid off Saturday as Comstock’s Cardinals beat Omaha Skutt 60-56 in overtime in the Class B state championship, the first boys title in program history.
It could start a three-year run at the top for the South Sioux boys. And it’s a school that knows a thing or two about winning hoops. The Cardinals’ girls have won 11 Class B crowns.
Comstock and company will start with one. If the past is any indication, though, don’t expect them to settle with one for long.
“These kids, they challenge each other,” Comstock said. “They call each other to go shoot. They push each other to get better.”
Their two leading scorers, Saturday and for the season, are sophomores. Guards Mike Gesell and Austin Groth average a combined 36 a game. On the biggest stage of their young lives, they teamed up for 47 — including all nine in the extra session.
Gesell had 29 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. He had Division I scholarship offers before he could drive a car.
“He’s the real deal,” Skutt coach Jon Burt said. “There’s no doubt about it.”
But Gesell doesn’t do it alone. There’s Groth’s 17 points a game. And a 6-foot-11 junior center. And a shooter in Trey Closter who can keep defenses honest opposite Groth.
But Gesell is a program builder. It’s not by accident that the Cardinals got within one point of the state tournament with him running the show as a freshman. The five seasons before that, South Sioux City was a combined 29-74.
This year’s state appearance was its first since 2001 and only the third after 1952.
“We just wanted to start a new tradition,” Gesell said.
The trickle-down is evident. After all the pictures, interviews and hugs were done Saturday, a group of ball boys and bench players found a couple of balls and started shooting. They had to be shooed off the court.
Expect a call, Coach.
Contact the writer:
850-0781, nickrubek@hotmail.com
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