The 2023-24 boys basketball season is nearing the end, and they’ve had a historic season.
After their success in becoming regional champions last year, they had many talented players return for last winter’s season. Senior Captain Sawyer Schipper believes that the team has had a special bond this season and that there’s a lot of love between the players.
“Last year we got in the playoffs [and made] a little bit of a run, and we looked around and [realized] a lot of these guys are coming back next year and we can do something really special,” Schipper said.
Entering a new season, the team also entered a new conference; Stoughton had recently changed from the Badger Large Conference to the Badger Small Conference, which switched a lot of competition and rivals for the Vikings.
“We had a lot of our conference rivals for a long time like Monona Grove and Milton,” Schipper said. “This year [introduced] a lot of teams we haven’t seen before like Portage [and] Reedsburg.”
The biggest conference games this season were against the Mount Horeb Vikings. “With Mt. Horeb, both were close games that we were able to win,” Varsity Head Coach Nolan Weber said. Stoughton won both games against Mount Horeb 69-67 and 70-65.
Playing Mt. Horeb in conference games boosted the team’s confidence in beating a quality opponent.
The Vikings saw some tough teams in non-conference play; they lost to the three-time defending state champions, the Pewaukee Pirates 74-77. They also played top 10 Division I opponents Oshkosh North and Kaukauna.
Unlike most teams they had seen during the regular season, those games challenged the Vikings.
“It’s just a different kind of feeling this year in the conference. We are playing teams that are a little bit lesser [than us], but it’s important to take each game as something to learn from,” Schipper said. “So we want to try to find a way in every game to learn something about ourselves and get better.”
Going into the season, there was much talent all around, but the team still had to figure out roles for everyone, mainly the roles on and off the bench.
“We have a lot of very talented players, so it was difficult to find sufficient time to get everyone the experience they needed to compete at our best as a team,” Weber said.
Senior Captain Ty Fernholz became the all-time leading scorer for Stoughton Boys Basketball in history. This was a massive accomplishment for Fernholz and the team. Weber knew how much work he put in and his great love for the sport and the team. Weber felt it was amazing to see him show everyone that his hard work paid off.
The team had 21 wins and went 14-0 in the conference in the regular season. They secured the Badger Small Conference title for the 2023-24 season with a win against Sauk Prairie on Feb. 16.
“We’ve had some success this year and realized that we can do something special in the postseason,” Schipper said.
The team had an important turning point where they believed in their abilities and knew they had the most potential.
“Strangely enough, losing to Pewaukee in December was the turning point,” Weber said. “We knew we had a good team, but to compete with the three-time defending state champions and [only] losing by just three points gave our kids the confidence that they can play with anybody.”
With the regular season wrapping up, the team has many hopes and goals for the playoffs; they earned the number one seed in their section of the playoffs. In the past year, the Vikings lost in the sectional semifinals.
They will see many familiar opponents who have put up strong fights against the Vikings; they are preparing hard in practice to see many talented players and teams who know how to keep the competition going.
“We prepare for every game one at a time; we do not look beyond any opponent at this time of the year,” Weber said.