South Haven News

By Claire Minor

On Jan. 30, 2026, the South Haven Cardinals went over to Caldwell, Kansas to play against the Caldwell Bluejays. Unfortunately, the Cardinals lost with the close final score of 45-42.

A junior attending South Haven Schools and starter for the South Haven Cardinals, Cole Spencer (#5), is a shooting guard for the Cardinals. Spencer made around 11 points during the game. Spencer’s favorite part of the game was when the Cardinals made a three-pointer closer to the end of the game, tying the score up with the Bluejays.

Spencer said that he feels that he was prepared for the game, just didn’t execute. He mentioned that he didn’t play up to his potential, saying that they always seem to not play their best against Caldwell. Spencer said that he could have slowed his shots down because he thought that he was rushing. Additionally, Spencer thought that the team was prepared also, they just didn’t play as well as they could have. He said that they didn’t play as a team very well and that they needed to talk more on defense.

If Spencer could change one thing about the game, it would be the score, as that was his least favorite part of the game, along with the overall attitude of everyone. 

Spencer described the Caldwell Bluejays as “underdogs”, saying “but they have that mentality and they don’t quit. They fight their way back into the game,” following with saying that South Haven unfortunately just can’t handle the pressure from that. Lastly, Spencer thought that junior for the Bluejays, Mak Blosser (#2), made it a little difficult for the team because “he got hot in the fourth quarter.” 

Now for some good news… The South Haven Lady Cardinals played against the Caldwell Lady Bluejays on Friday as well. Their game was a bit better of an outcome than the boys with a final score of 21-55, Cardinals securing the win!

A freshman attending South Haven Schools, Xava Wiens (#25), is a guard for the Lady Cardinals. Wiens said that there was no bad part of the game but her favorite part was coming out of halftime because the Lady Cardinals were excited due to them being up by a lot.

Wiens didn’t think that she was very prepared for the game but she thinks that she played pretty good. However, she still thought that she could have been better on offense and not being as giddy as she was because she was so excited that it “messed her up”. Wiens mentioned that the team overall was prepared and that they played very well, saying “one of their best games and did good at everything”.

If Wiens could change one thing about the game it would be for her to pay attention a tad bit more. 

Though the Cardinals had an annoyingly close loss, both South Haven teams could go into the night knowing that South Haven Schools had one win against the Bluejays. Both the boys and girls showed great effort, making two amazing games to end off the week!

REMINDER: If you would like to stay up-to-date with the events that South Haven Schools are involved with, check out Usd509 South Haven on Facebook/Instagram or https://www.usd509.org/!