FA/MARION BASKETBALL: BOYS TO MEN
STORY AND PHOTOS BY JEREMY WALTNER
On March 5, 2021, with Freeman Academy/Marion facing Viborg-Hurley in the third round of the Region 5B Tournament, Connor Epp dazzled the crowded house inside the Freeman High School gym with the game of his life: 25 points, eight assists, five steals and five rebounds.
But that’s not what he remembers.
What Connor remembers is that, with the game tied at 55 and 28 seconds to play, he found himself at the free-throw line with the opportunity to give his team the lead and put the pressure squarely on the shoulders of the heavily favored and No. 5-ranked Cougars.
Connor missed.
Twice.
The game ended up going into overtime, Viborg-Hurley escaped with a 66-59 win and went on to finish fourth at the state tournament. The Bearcats walked off the court dazed and bleary-eyed, with what-ifs likely keeping them awake on countless nights thereafter.
“I still think about that to this day — just having our team in a position to win that game, and then part of the reason the game turned out like it did was because of me,” Epp said after a practice in Sterling Hall last week. “I try not to brood on it; I try not to hang my head about it, but it’s always going to be there.”
But those missed free throws did something else. They served as a key motivator for both Epp and those around him in the almost-year since.
“It has helped drive me to work harder, never settle and keep going,” he said. “I try to look at it in a way that can help benefit me and the team.”
Chips on shoulders can do big things for highly motivated teams, so it’s no wonder that Epp and the Freeman Academy/Marion boys have turned that crushing loss to Viborg-Hurley a year ago into what has been by far the most dominant squad in the six-season history of the cooperative, and arguably the most explosive basketball team Freeman Academy has ever seen.
The Bearcats are 15-2 and could very easily be 17-0. Consider:
Their first loss of the season came at the Sanford Pentagon against Howard on Dec. 29 when the now 14-4 Tigers clipped FAM 56-53 in a game that saw the Bearcats shoot 6-for-24 from the three-point line and 5-for-11 from the charity stripe.
Their second loss came against Class B No. 4 Lower Brule (14-2) last Saturday at the Dakota Wesleyan University/Culvers Classic at McCook Central (a game that was moved to Salem because of state gymnastics at the Corn Palace). In that game, FAM fell 75-60 to a dangerous Sioux squad but trailed by just two at the half and by six with 4 minutes to play. Oh, and senior starting forward Thalen Schroeder, who was averaging 14.2 points and nearly 6 rebounds a game heading into this week’s games, played with the flu. (Lower Brule’s 10 three-pointers and 60% shooting from the field didn’t help FAM’s cause.)
Even with that loss to Howard early in the season, had the Bearcats knocked off Lower Brule, it would have been a statement win that would have almost assuredly put them in consideration for a top-five spot in this week’s South Dakota Prep Media Basketball Poll.
But once again they didn’t even get a vote. De Smet (18-1 as of Tuesday) is No. 1, White River (13-2) is No. 2, Aberdeen Christian (15-2) No. 3, Lower Brule (14-2) No. 4 and Potter County (15-1) is No. 5.
And Platte-Geddes (14-4) and Timber Lake (15-1) both received votes for a top-five spot despite being lower than Freeman Academy/Marion in seed points; as of Tuesday the Bearcats were sitting seventh in the Class B standings with Platte-Geddes eighth and Timber Lake ninth.
Oh well. Freeman Academy/Marion is more than happy to be flying high under the radar and working hard to take care of the things that are in their control.
“Every day, one step better,” says seventh-year head coach Austin Unruh. “Never comfortable.”
“It’s a blessing for us to be out here every day with each other,” says Epp. “I know I don’t take any one of them for granted, and I know that they don’t either. We just love being out here together.”
The road to now
The show that the Freeman Academy/Marion boys are putting on this season didn’t just suddenly come into picture. Last year’s Viborg-Hurley game aside, it’s something that has been building over the course of the past few seasons. The Bearcats finished 4-18 in 2016-17 — the first year of the cooperative — but received a healthy dose of motivation with a thrilling 62-60 win over Freeman Public in the first round of what was then still the District 10B Tournament.
They finished 9-13 the following season, 7-15 the year after that and then catapulted to a 16-5 mark in 2020, when they nearly knocked off a heavily favored Canistota squad in the third round of the Region 5B Tournament.
Three years ago, Unruh said this:
“The message I have for the guys is clear. We have the potential to build something great, but it will take incredible work, dedication and preparation every day, in and out of the season. The pieces of the puzzle are there in front of us; it is up to us to put them together.”
Patience, discipline, hard work and motivation from the coach — oh, and some serious talent — have proven Unruh right and have been the formula for the success the Bearcats have seen this season.
Freeman Academy/Marion is fueled by five starters who have been with the program throughout their high school years and even before: Freeman Academy senior Quincy Blue; Epp; Schroeder, an alternative education student; Marion’s Dylan Johansen, also a senior; and Marion junior Donte Butler.
The first seven are rounded out by two juniors who have transferred to Freeman Academy largely because of their relationship with Epp through Pentagon league play: Matt Hagen, a transfer from Sioux Falls Washington; and Maddox Kihne, who comes from Harrisburg.
Both say the opportunity to play basketball for the Bearcats, coupled with some challenging situations at their previous schools, made transferring the right call.
“I just thought this was the right fit,” said Hagen, who met Epp the summer of his eighth-grade year. “It was a bit difficult at first — there was a lot to get used to and a lot of culture change. I miss some family and friends at home, but it’s for the best.”
“I thought this was the perfect fit to come and play here,” said Kihne, who played with Epp and Hagen at the Pentagon last summer and against them in the years prior. “It was pretty difficult leaving your family, leaving your house, and coming to live here. Pretty hard, but in the end, I think it’s going to pay off pretty well for both of us.”
Hagen and Kihne have proven to be vital cogs in the wheel, not only coming off the bench in relief, but also from a production standpoint. The duo was teaming up for an average of 12 points per game heading into this week and contributing in both assists and steals, thanks to quickness, court awareness and a natural ability to play the game.
Butler and Johansen bring their own skillsets to the table. As a two guard, Butler has developed into a master ballhandler who can shoot the ball and is more than capable of taking the point position from Epp when needed. He said just being around this group has motivated him.
“Playing with them this summer made me realize I need to get into the gym a lot more,” said Butler, who is second on the team in assists and was at 6.6 points per game heading into Tuesday’s matchup at Alcester-Hudson. “I needed to get to a new level.”
For Johansen, he knows he’s not going to get the minutes, the flash nor the high-scoring accolades of the others, but he embraces his starting role and the opportunity to contribute where he can.
“My role is to go out there and play my heart out — give it my all and bring energy,” he says. “That’s the big thing we need. I’m just happy to play my role and do what I need to do.”
Setting the pace
From a production standpoint, this year’s team is fueled by Blue, Schroeder and Epp, who were averaging 15.7, 14.2 and 13.1 points per game through the first 16. But what makes the trio so dangerous is its ability to make an impact from anywhere on the court, creating a truly effective inside-outside game that has defenses spinning. Blue, who topped 1,000 career points at the end of last season, has connected on 38 three-pointers this season, leads the team with 104 rebounds and memorably threw down a two-handed dunk on an alley-oop from Epp in a big win at Bridgewater-Emery.
At 6 foot, 7 inches, Schroeder can shoot the three, dominate inside and started dunking when he was just an eighth grader. “First one,” he said. “Not great, but …”
Schroeder said he has come to learn that emotional growth is just as important as the physical realm.
“Physically I want to put my best in and get a lot better, but I’ve come to know that the game is really one where you’ve got to be strong mentally,” he said. “I started in the fourth grade and it’s been my love my whole life. This is what I put my time into.”
As for Epp, Unruh says it’s hard to find a playmaker with an assist-to-turnover ratio as impressive as Epp’s; he was averaging 4.1 assists and just 1.9 turnovers per game heading into this week’s games — impressive for a point guard who controls an up-tempo offense.
While Epp has worked hard to improve himself, just like the others, he will be the first to say that it’s not about him.
“It’s the personal drive that each and every one of us has,” he said. “It’s not a thing where it’s just one or two guys committed to basketball and it’s their passion; it’s seven of us who have worked for however many years it’s been — for ourselves — and now we’re putting those tools together and seeing the outcome.”
The outcome? How about a 71-55 win over Canistota, 52-44 win over Bridgewater-Emery, and then three wins in four nights against good teams in Marty, Oldham-Ramona/Rutland and Viborg-Hurley by a combined 70 points.
“Understand this,” Unruh told his team the practice before the Lower Brule game late last week. “When you go to bed and wake up, you’re good at basketball.”
“Yes, sir,” said one of the players.
“And what makes you great at basketball is when you choose to be great at basketball.”
“Yes, coach.”
“When we lock in and start games together, on the same page and with the same energy, it is contagious,” Unruh continued. “18-2 run to start the game against Viborg-Hurley. Coming out of halftime against Canistota; amazing run. End of the first half against Gayville-Volin — 21-7 run. In those moments, the whole gym feels connected.”
Path to state
Freeman Academy/Marion has three regular-season games to go: at Menno Thursday, against Burke at the Great Plains Classic in Corsica-Stickney on Saturday, and at Flandreau Indian on Friday, Feb. 25.
Based on seed points, the Bearcats are the No. 1 seed in Region 5B (that tournament is set for Feb. 28, March 1 and March 4) and heavily favored to advance to the SoDak 16 on March 8. Based on seed points as of early this week, the Bearcats would go into their SoDak 16 game as the No. 7 seed playing a No. 10 seed.
A win, of course, puts them in the State B Basketball Tournament in Aberdeen March 17-19.
But the Bearcats know there’s a lot of work to do first.
“Don’t be overconfident, don’t be cocky; there’s a fine line between the two,” said Kihne. “Don’t overlook anyone. Can’t take a play off.”
“Just treat every team and every game the same,” said Epp.
“Grit and determination,” said Butler.
“We’ve got to do the little things right and do them better than anyone else,” said Hagen. “At the end of the day you’ve got to want it. It’s not just going to be given to you. You’ve got to work for it.”
“Yes to all of that,” said the coach.
Brotherhood
No matter what happens in the weeks to come, when this year’s Freeman Academy/Marion boys basketball team reflects on the 2021-22 season they will remember a lot about what happened on the court, but there’s an even better chance they will remember how much fun they had, and how it all felt.
“It’s been great; it’s a brotherhood, a family,” said Blue, who first started coming to Freeman Academy his junior year after growing up in an alternative education environment. “I’ve felt like I’ve grown up with these guys my whole life.”
Unruh praises his team for how far they have come.
“The physical growth is easy to see, but unless you’re with these guys on a regular basis, day in and day out through all the grind, through the years, it’s tough to see where they’re at and how far they’ve come in all aspects of the game, whether it’s physical, mental, emotional,” he said. “And to be here, in this spot, it shows that we’ve matured as a group and are comfortable being a winning program, but also carrying that weight and being aware that we need to prepare at a high level each and every day.
And he loves the buy-in, not just from the first seven, but all the way down the line.
“We’ve got 25 guys at practice and we’re getting that connection built from top to bottom,” Unruh says. “Those younger players are looking up to these guys and they want to be these guys. And that drives them and pulls them closer together. I get to see these guys mentor those young guys in practice, in the locker rooms, in the hallways, on bus rides. It’s truly a great family environment and a great close-knit group, and it’s kudos to these guys for their investment — for wanting that and buying into that.”
As focused as they may be on winning, these boys-turned-men know that it isn’t all about basketball, and that has everything to do with their coach.
“He always wants the best for us,” Butler says of Unruh. “He’s always giving us advice — always there for us. Even though we’re in basketball season, he’s making sure that we are good outside of basketball; that we are good in school and have everything we need.”
“It’s bigger than basketball,” Johansen says. “At the end of the day we’re all human beings; we’ve got lives to live and he takes care of us. He makes sure we’re good off the court and on the court.”
“It’s about the love he has shown each and every one of us,” says Epp. “He cares about us individually and he’s invested in us and what we do outside of the game, as well. He’s helped us in a lot of areas that people don’t really see or know about.”
“It’s a family,” says Unruh. “I see these guys more during basketball than I see my own family, and I consider them my family and they consider each other family, and we treat each other like family. We love each other deeply; sometimes we get on each other’s nerves a little bit, but at the end we all know what we’re here for, and we look after each other. That’s what makes this team so special.”
“It’s the chemistry,” says Schroeder. “We’re a family, and playing together makes us special both on and off the court.”
Unruh responds with one simple word.
“Amen.”
