As the “very senior heavy” varsity basketball team hits the court, Brady Hannigan feels the energy of his team and said there is something different about the team this year. With nine seniors on his team this year, coach Hannigan feels confident in the goals he has set for his team.

“Our goal is to host a 1st round playoff game,” Hannigan said.

Hannigan has been with Stillwater for three seasons and has loved every minute of it. He feels excited for this season and what the boys will accomplish.

Senior Nate Shikenjanski has goals he has set for the team too, “A goal I had for the team was to win 50 percent of our games, but I hope that increases! A goal I would have now is to go 500 in conference play, I believe that seems reasonable.”

Shikenjanski has played basketball for a long time and loves the competitiveness of the sport. He feels that this year in particular will be especially fun for him and his team.

When asked about his favorite memories, coach Hannigan simply said, “My favorite memories of this team is the collective memory of all the things they did over the summer.  These players worked hard every summer morning in the weight room and the gym.”

Shikenjanski appreciates the comradery with his teammates and said, “The best memory I have is either winning in five overtimes against Cretin Derham-Hall as a freshman, or singing Country Roads by John Denver on the way home from Park of Cottage Grove.”

“I feel as a whole, we work very hard and we play good defense, but our offense needs work. We never come out lazy on the court, and that allows us to stay in games,” Shikenjanski said. He feels his team has improved more this year than year’s past and is excited to see where it can take them.

When asked to describe his team in one word, coach Hannigan used “interesting.” Hannigan added, “This is a team that has the opportunity to win any game we play the rest of the year, but we play such good teams, that we could lose every game.”

Shikenjanki’s personal goals for his senior year are to, “improve from last season, with scoring, passing, rebounding, defense and being a better overall leader.”

The basketball team has proved they are a contender for the playoffs this year and have high hopes for the season ahead of them. Under the leadership of coach Hannigan and Nate Shikenjanski, this team may prove themselves worthy of a title in the 2018-2019 season.