Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Zane Neubaum of South Central Calhoun goes up for a shot against Southeast Valley during a Class 2A district final in Manson.

To say the basketball season started out rough for Kolson Kruse would be an understatement.

But the Southeast Valley sophomore overcame and thrived, helping the Jaguars win 17 games and reach a Class 2A district championship.

For his efforts, Kruse was named first team all-Twin Lakes Conference, the league announced recently.

Joining Kruse on the first team were three sets of teammates in South Central Calhoun’s Zane Neubaum and Landon Schleisman; Newell-Fonda’s Trey Jungers and Aden Mahler; and East Sac County’s Griffin O’Neill and Camden Schroeder. Emmetsburg’s Ben Dunlap rounded out the squad.

Two days after Thanksgiving this past November, Kruse was in a car headed towards the hospital instead of a planned basketball scrimmage with his teammates. The guard needed to have his appendix removed, forcing him to miss the first two games of the season.

“Basketball is my passion and I was extremely excited to begin the season,” Kruse. “The sudden need for surgery really caught me by surprise. Watching the first couple of games on the sideline had me anxious to get back out there.

“That anxious feeling had my trying to get back out there probably too fast, and I was scolded a few times by our amazing athletic trainer for shooting the ball while I probably shouldn’t have been.”

Kruse returned with a focused demeanor, scoring a game-high 17 points in his first time on the court as the Jaguars bested St. Edmond. Kruse averaged just under 14 points a night, knocking down a team-high 67 three-pointers with 61 steals, 60 rebounds and 37 assists.

As one of several underclassmen on the roster, the task now falls to Kruse and the likes of teammate Aaron Graves to keep the momentum generated from this year moving forward.

“It was an honor to be named first team in this conference knowing the amount of great competition I face throughout the year,” Kruse said. “I really embrace the challenge of also being able to defend some of the other top players in the conference.

“I’m a competitor at heart, and I really thought as a team, we came together to shift our program to more of a winning one. I hated to see the season end knowing it was my last time playing with our seniors.”

Schroeder, a junior, was the leading scorer in the TLC with 283 points, while Neubaum had the highest average at 27 a night. Dunlap also posted over 20 points per league game.

Along with his points lead, Schroeder also was tops in rebounding and blocked shots, averaging a double-double in conference play.

Jungers, just a sophomore, was second in the conference in steals and fourth in assists. Southeast Valley’s Carter Lane, who made the third team, tied for the conference lead in assists.

Clive Clark, who led the Titans to the regular season TLC title and a substate final, was named the coach of the year.

South Central Calhoun went 10-1 in the conference, finishing a game head of Newell-Fonda. East Sac County and Emmetsburg tied for third.

BOYS ALL-TWIN LAKES CONFERENCE

First Team

Zane Neubaum, South Central Calhoun, sr.; Landon Schleisman, South Central Calhoun, sr.; Trey Jungers, Newell-Fonda, soph.; Aden Mahler, Newell-Fonda, sr.; Griffin O’Neill, East Sac County, sr.; Camden Schroeder, East Sac County, jr.; Ben Dunlap, Emmetsburg, jr.; Kolson Kruse, Southeast Valley, soph.

Second Team

Brennan Holder, South Central Calhoun, jr.; Tim Geelan, Emmetsburg, sr.; Aaron Graves, Southeast Valley, soph.; Carter Boettcher, Sioux Central, fr.; Caleb Rock, Sioux Central, sr.; Trey Oehlertz, Pocahontas Area, jr.; Anthony Krier, Alta/Aurelia, sr.; Thomas Fehr, West Bend-Mallard, sr.

Third Team

Cole Corey, South Central Calhoun, jr.; Tanner Gerke, Newell-Fonda, jr.; Treyton Mahler, Newell-Fonda, sr.; Carter Lane, Southeast Valley, sr.; Jacob Hargens, Sioux Central, fr.; Christian Davidson, Pocahontas Area, jr.; Austin Anliker, Manson Northwest Webster, sr.; Mason Laven, Storm Lake St. Mary’s, soph.