With team chemistry, talent and a competitive personality, the boys basketball team won the Suburban One League (SOL) championship, along with setting school milestones and records.
According to Coach Brendan Stanton, he “let [the team] come up with the mindset.”
“I knew that when I got the job, the expectations were for us to be very competitive again,” Stanton said. “I think we had two of the best players in the league returning.”
One of those returning players, senior Chanse Salone, said that the time he spent with the team in and out of practice is what helped the team grow and connect.
Another one of those players is senior Nate Rusike who describes the team as “fun.” “I have never felt this connected with a basketball team,” Rusike said.
Salone agrees. “I love this team; the Wawa runs we do and the 2k nights, playing Fortnite, hanging out with this team is so fun,” Salone said.
Salone, who has been playing varsity basketball for four seasons, recorded his 1,000th point during the season.
“For a second, I did tear up just because of how hard I worked, but at the same time we were down in the game at the time and I cared more about winning than the 1,000 points,” Salone said. “I think it reflects how hard I’ve worked.”
Stanton described the moment Salone scored his 1,000th point as “awesome.”
“It was sort of in the back of our minds all year. I’ve coached high school basketball for a long time, and I’ve never coached a 1,000 point scorer, so it’s unique for me,” Stanton said.
As for Stanton, Salone’s “impact” was “even bigger” than the points he scored.
“The fact that we had kids leaving Souderton to go play basketball and now they all want to come back and play, that doesn’t happen unless Chanse is here. It was bigger than 1,000 points,” Stanton said.
Salone’s loyalty to the team when faced with opportunities to transfer to an academy was noticed by coaches and other players around the league. “I wanted to stay home and bring championship basketball back to Souderton,” Salone said.
Rusike said he is proud of his team. “Winning the league felt amazing, but I knew this would happen,” Rusike said. “We had a goal from the beginning of the [season] that we were going to win the league.”
Rusike said it was important to him to prove that they could still win the league despite losing some taller seniors.
On March 7, Souderton completed a major upset against Archbishop Wood in the first round of the state playoffs. Senior Marques Brown hit the game winning shot to conclude a 68-66 victory.
Souderton’s season ended on March 11 after a 68-55 loss to Central Dauphin.