After a couple of tough seasons in 2020-21 and 2021-22, South Loup boys’ basketball Head Coach Jeff Cole righted the ship once again in 2022-23, and the Bobcats have been nothing but consistent since. That season the team went 18-5, last year they finished 16-6, and in 2024-25 the season ended with a record of 18-5. Unfortunately, the team has fallen just short of making it all the way through the post-season and on to Lincoln each of those years as well.

After losing their first two games of the 2024-25 season, the Bobcats went on a run winning their next seven games. They lost to Bertrand on Jan. 11, then won their next five. Each loss seemed to spark a fire in the players.

On Jan. 30, the Bobcats suffered their second loss of the season to Twin Loup at the MNAC tournament. Once again the team bounced back and went into the sub-district tournament on a six-game winning streak. Sutton put an end to that streak, and to the season.

Cole has served as head coach for more than a decade and has amassed an overall record of 217-113. He has coached some outstanding players over the years, and this year was no exception. This season’s team was led by 6’2” junior Crew Witthuhn, who ended the season with a total of 384 points - averaging 16.7 points per game - and an astonishing 254 rebounds, an average of 11 per game.

Conner Paulsen, a 5’9” junior, fell just one point shy of the 300 mark, with 299 points - an average of 13 points per game - was second in rebounds with 97, and led the team in steals with 57. Dylan Pandorf, also a junior, was right behind Paulsen in all categories, finishing the season with 283 points, 88 rebounds, and 56 steals.

“I was really pleased with how the boys performed this season. They were a great group of boys to work with, and I think they exceeded everyone's expectations coming into the season,” said Coach Cole. “The boys came to practice every day with the expectation of getting better, which gave themselves an opportunity to be successful each time they took the floor on game night.”

As a team, the Bobcats averaged 55 points per game in 2024-25, and 30.5 rebounds.

The team loses five seniors from the squad - Caleb McFate, Carter Wood, AJ Starr, Ethan Furne, and Harper Johnson, but will return a host of experienced and talented players next season.

“We have a great core returning, but will need a number of guys to step up and fill the void of five talented senior players departing,” Coach Cole shared. “Those five boys did a lot for our program that wasn’t always glaring on a stat sheet. They filled their roles tremendously and will be difficult to replace. It will be interesting to see which ones make the commitment over the offseason to improve their game and earn themselves more minutes next season.”