Junior captain Max Shikenjanski is eighth in Pony history to reach the 1,000 point mark. Beyond that, he has broken numerous high school records including the all-time career scoring record in basketball. 

On Dec. 14, 2021, Shikenjanski joined the 1,000 point club during his game against the Woodbury Royals. Soon after, he broke the high school career scoring record and scored the game-winner against the Roseville Raiders. The Roseville game marked one of the proudest moments in his career.

“It was always something I’ve dreamed of. I mean, it was kind of like you just get the chills doing it. Even in the game, you’re just waiting for that moment to get the 1,000th point and I wish it was at home, but it was still super cool. They stopped the game and there was a standing ovation and everything, it was actually super cool. My parents were super proud, so it was great,” Shikenjanski said.

To honor his family, Shikenjanski switched his jersey number to 45 to match the one his dad wore. Family means everything to him. They are always supportive no matter the circumstance and they will always be his number one fans. His father was a former Minnesota Gopher and soon became one of Shikenjanski’s biggest mentors, in life and in sports. 

“When I need to hear it, it’s not all loving all the time. So he’ll definitely give me a hard time when I need to hear it. He’ll still get on me, he still cares about me like that. But I mean, if he has to push me to do it, it’s not going to be worth it in the end,” Shikenjanski said.

The captain of the Ponies is the current top scorer in the state and averages the highest points per game with 29.7. His scores have been double digits for all games including four of those with 40 points or more and four others with 30 to 39 points.

“Max has ‘it’, whatever ‘it’ is, he’s got it,” coach Brady Hannigan said.

Before each season, team captains are elected. Team captains lead, support, inspire, and represent the team. Qualities of a team captain include: commitment, passion and confidence. All of these qualities are held by Shikenjanski and his fellow captains senior Nick Koehn and junior Tyler Wiese.

“I was happy to be picked. They know they can lean on me to be a leader on the court and off the court. So it definitely means a lot, especially with that leadership part and knowing your guys can trust you on the court,” Shikenjanski said.

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Photo by Maya Disher

The Boys Varsity Basketball team played White Bear on Feb. 3rd. Stillwater lost the home game 66-57.

“It was nice that my team has that faith in me. And just that they think that I’m that good of a leader, that I can help lead them in practice and in school, and be a good representative of the team,” Koehn added. 

Success does not come because it is given, it has to be worked for. Shikenjanski is described by his coach and teammates as the definition of hard-working.

“He puts in a lot of work behind the scenes. Countless hours of training and working out,” Koehn said.

“It’s just all those hours that I feel like I put in that no one else really sees and then a lot of people just think you got to the place where you’re at because ‘Oh you’re self-given’ like ‘you’re born with it,’ whatever. But in reality, it’s a lot of hard work like working hard in practice and working hard when no one else is watching,” Shikenjanski added.

Not so surprisingly, Shikenjanski is a multi-sport athlete. He has broken basketball and football records and plays baseball for the fun of it.

He said choosing between the two sports will be a difficult decision when recruiting time comes, but he said he wants to “play as long as I can.”

No matter the sport, confidence is key. Confidence affects thoughts, behaviors, and feelings and therefore can affect an athlete’s performance. The self-confidence Shikenjanski possesses can be seen by watching him play. Hannigan believes his confidence is the strongest aspect of his game.

Hannigan said Max is the most confident player he has ever coached. He is always looking to figure out different ways to do things and it is fun to watch.

“If you come to a basketball game, you are watching, arguably, the best player in the school’s history to play,” Hannigan said.