Zach Wessels-Girls Basketball

By: Logan Sanborn

“Just who is Zach Wessels?” The question that is on everyone’s mind. As he is not a faculty member of the Sioux Falls School District, many are unfamiliar with him. With his novelty and basketball season starting to ramp up, he has been the talk of the town these past few weeks as one of LHS’s newest edition to their coaching staff.
Wessels found his passion for basketball when he first started the sport all the way back in 3rd grade. Playing through high school, he eventually went on to play college ball for the University of Sioux Falls. His immense knowledge and talent for basketball would lead him down numerous coaching opportunities. One of which was coaching Sibley Iowa’s high school girl’s basketball team. There are two facts to note about Sibley when discussing basketball, first, 27 years, which was how long it had been since their girls team had made it to state, and second, it took only one year of Wessels as the head coach for that to change.
“Being able to see the [Sibley’s] girls’ hard work pay off like that will stay with me forever,” said Wessels.
After waving goodbye to Iowa and moving to Sioux Falls, Wessels went one year without coaching entirely. However, he was eventually offered a coaching position at LHS in May of 2024. In that short time, Wessels has focused on building strong relationships with his team. He spent much of his time in summer open gyms and practices, focused on the goal of a unified team. His enthusiasm can be seen through his players. Sophomore, Kacie Adler, has first-hand experience of Wessels’ drive for the team.

Wessels’ commitment to the team extends beyond just showing up to practices but goes into his expectations for the team as a whole. Focusing on team bonding, Wessels plans to move the goalpost for his girls through strong relationships.
“We want to see how high our ceiling can be with this fun group, and then work towards reaching that ceiling,” said Wessels.
Wessels brings a competitive energy to LHS basketball. This shift is no better seen than the number of girls who are signed up to try out, which includes 36 this year. Many returning team members are excited for this year’s new roster.
“Wessels always tries to include everyone, and make more people want to be included. He always tries to create new fun activities that everyone will like, and everyone could be a part of,” said Adler.
Wessels hopes to foster a positive, eager basketball community on and off the court. Although the season has hardly started, it is safe to say that Zach Wessels, a man who was not even in the minds of LHS’s student body less than a year ago, his team and LHS are eager to see what happens this season.

Luke Hannemann- Boys Basketball

By: Cooper Schultz

The LHS boys’ basketball team finished the regular season with a record of 10-10 and were eliminated in their Sodak 16 game against Watertown. This resulted in the retirement of 15-year head coach Jeff Halseth. The vacant spot was a topic of conversation throughout the school for a month before LHS alum Luke Hannemann was hired as the new varsity coach and math teacher in April.
Before working at LHS, Hannemann was a teacher and basketball coach at RHS.
“It was kind of odd getting the job last April while I still had to teach at Roosevelt,” said Hannemann.
Hannemann set up some open gyms towards the end of the school year to build early relationships with the players. On top of that, he has gotten to know the players through weightlifting and scrimmages. Being a first-year coach can be difficult because they have to adjust to the new environment quickly, luckily for Hannemann, that will not be necessary.
“It was honestly a dream job of mine because I went to school here,” said Hannemann.
Hannemann’s connection to LHS is strong as his two brothers were also alums at LHS. On top of that, he was a part of the state championship team at LHS in 2009. Hannemann’s championship pedigree goes beyond playing the game as he was the assistant coach for RHS during their back-to-back state titles in 2021 and 2022. Despite last season’s woes, Hannemann expects great results from the Patriots going forward.
“We have very high expectations as a group to win a lot of basketball games,” said Hannemann.
Due to the loss of many seniors last year, there are few players who have varsity experience. Seniors Edison Noll and Luke Krempges along with juniors, Sam Ericsson and Sam DeGroot will have to step into that leadership role. Despite the lack of experience, Hannemann believes there is a surplus of talent on the roster. However, for Hannemann, coaching is more than just about sports.

Hannemann wants the players to be seen as a team that perseveres through obstacles and works hard at all times, whether it be an important game or a routine weightlifting session. Hanneman is ready for any challenge that might come his way this season and is looking forward to the start of his head coaching journey at LHS.
“I’m just trying to create an experience for the kids in the basketball program that they are proud to be a part of and when they look back at it down the road, they can say it had a major impact on their life,” said Hannemann.