South Haven News

By Carley Russell

On Friday, March 7, 2025 the Lady Cardinals beat the Hartford Jaguars, winning 32-31. This got the Lady Cardinals the title of Sub-State Champions and meant they were going to State. The Lady Cardinals then traveled to Colby, KS, on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. Before they left, the high school cheer team hosted a pep rally and sent off to send the girls off to Colby.

“I feel like there is always something you could do better on, and I always feel like there’s something I could do better on, and we tried but it just wasn’t enough,” says Adele Helsel, a forward on the Lady Cardinals team.

On Wednesday, March 12, 2025, at 7 a.m., a pep bus left from South Haven to travel to Colby, KS to support the girls at their game. At the same time, the Lady Cardinals left their hotel and headed to the Colby event center to have a short practice before the game.

“It was quiet when we first walked through it and nobody was there, but I was very loud when we went into the gym to play our game. It echoed too,” says freshman Adalyn Irey, a guard on the South Haven Lady Cardinals. They then spent the day until it was time to go back to the gym and play their game.

At 2 p.m., the Lady Cardinals started playing their game against the Linn Bulldogs. The game stayed pretty close throughout the game with Linn staying in the lead most of the time. In the last quarter, the Lady Cardinals slowly fell behind and ended the game in a loss, with the score being 39-51.

“It was frustrating going into our fourth year hoping to move on, then not make it. Communication is always key and they can always work on communication,” said Rheann Heater, the assistant coach of the Lady Cardinals. This game was the end of the 2024/25 South Haven Lady Cardinals basketball season.

This year’s team captains were seniors Rahlee Cowell and Aubrey Pond. These girls led the Lady Cardinals through 23 games, with their record being 21-2.

“The relationship that they all had, and all the different personalities each person brought a different perspective to basketball because of all the different personalities,“ says Rheann Heater, after asked her favorite part of this year’s team. Congratulations Lady Cardinals for a long and good season, and making it to state for the fourth time in a row.