South Haven News

By Claire Minor

The season for the South Haven Cardinals started with the first basketball practice on Nov. 17, 2025, and ended with their last game on Feb. 23, 2026–a Sub-State game played against the Crest Lancers. That’s a little over three months that was put towards this season for the Cardinals. Even though it was clear that the boys didn’t have the best season, their hard work and dedication is not something to look past. The Cardinals final overall score was 2-21 with three one-point-difference losses and multiple close games. 

Zach Norris is the head coach for the Cardinals and he plans on having the same position next year too. Unfortunately, Norris thinks that the season was a pretty big letdown. He said that the season did not meet his personal expectations and he let a lot of things go that he shouldn’t have. Norris thinks that the biggest weaknesses in the team’s performance was depth both in games and in practice along with experience.

Just like every new year, teams have to adapt to the loss of the seniors that played the year before. This year the seniors that were lost were Alex Shore, Tanner Kelly, Brady Russell, and Colby Irey, all of them being amazing players and strong assets to the team prior to this season. This season, Norris and assistant coach for the Cardinals, Christian Ward, did their best to get the freshmen as ready as possible. There were six of them that were thrown into the fire of the game, so maybe the team won’t have such a disadvantage next year. Amazingly, one of the starters, Landon Geokel, was a freshman. Norris said “A freshman shouldn’t have to start varsity. I never thought that he would start, but he handled it surprisingly well.” 

Norris said that next year, some of the team goals are to see improvement everyday in practice, which will reflect on the games, hopefully leading to more wins and to close up games better, to not just accept a loss towards the end of a game, but to push for a possible victory. Going back to the 2-21 overall final record, Norris thinks that at least five or six of those games should’ve been easy wins and I’m sure most of the athletes and fans could agree.

Some of the positives of the season according to Norris is that the team faced adversity, didn’t point fingers or get mad at each other… For the most part at least… The underclassmen got more opportunities to advance. “Not the season they wanted and not an acceptable season.” but Norris doesn’t want that to affect them next year, other than learning from it.

This season, Norris said that there was not much leadership shown. Going back to the loss of the 2025 seniors, only two main players from last year stayed, Coal VanZant and Maddox Pond, so it was hard to ask and expect that much leadership from the team. They didn’t fall apart though. Norris said that they led together as a whole but not really one person earned the title of “the leader of the team.” Norris thinks that the team could’ve improved by going harder in practice. He thinks that the practices should be harder than the games. He also wants the team to be more consistent and have/show more overall competitiveness. 

This year the captains were Maddox Pond and Coal VanZant. Norris and Ward had a coach meeting a couple weeks into practice and both of them decided that they were the best choices. Both captains were mentioned in the All League Rankings. Pond got 2nd team and VanZant got honorable mention. Norris thinks that Pond should’ve gotten 1st team and VanZant should’ve gotten at least 2nd team. When asked if someone else deserved something, Norris said that he nominated Cole Spencer and he thinks that he should’ve gotten at least honorable mention but he understood when he didn’t make it due to his role this year primarily being just a shooter. Everything is decided on at a league meeting where the coaches pitch their players and coaches from the district vote on who gets what. 

Norris thinks that the team’s best game this season was their loss against the Cedar Vale/Dexter (CVD) Spartans. It was senior night and they lost by one point. Norris said they “Hit big shots, big punches, played hard, and kept the good work up.” It was upsetting that they lost but it was one of the best games. Norris’ favorite game was the team’s first win which was against the Caldwell Bluejays. The celebration in the locker room was amazing for them because they finally got their first win of the season, which relieved them of some pressure. 

Norris is excited for next season and is glad that some experience will be coming back. He has big plans and is working on some off-season preparation. Get ready Cardinals!

Captain and varsity starter for the South Haven Cardinals, Coal VanZant, is a senior attending South Haven Schools. VanZant thinks that he improved the most on his defense but thinks that he could still work on knowing what the situation is at times. VanZant said that he did not meet his personal goal that he set for this season. That goal… was to dunk in a game. Everyone thought he would, but that’s just what happens when you’re 6’5 and on a basketball team in South Haven Ks. VanZant thinks that his role this season was to be more responsible and lead the team since he was the only senior on varsity. The thing that surprised him the most this season was his shooting ability and defensive skill on the court. To evaluate the team, VanZant thinks that there were some times where the team wasn’t as focused as they should’ve been, there was good leadership, and there was positive team culture and chemistry. Towards the end of the game, there is no doubt that players that have been on the court all night are tired.

Which is why, for VanZant, the most challenging part of the season was trying to finish games strong. If VanZant could replay the season, he would try to finish the games harder, not give up, and not rush the plays. VanZant’s favorite moment and game of the season was fighting for the win against CVD. His favorite memory was practice team bonding and the best moment of that in which VanZant experienced, was the practices towards the end of the season because they would just have fun and play the game together. VanZant’s least favorite game, or games I should say, was losing to the Caldwell Bluejays twice. Despite the Outlaw conjunction of both of the schools for other sports, they are considered each other’s biggest rivals. So, for each team, losing to the other isn’t ideal. VanZant thought that the Cardinals were more than capable of beating the Bluejays, but it just wasn’t executed correctly with VanZant saying “I personally made a bad decision against them that cost us the game.” 

As said before, Coal VanZant, was the only starting senior on varsity. Most everyone around here knows him, and for good reason. His basketball coach, Mr. Zach Norris, said that he was incredibly proud of him. VanZant wasn’t the only senior that played varsity, Landon Kuchar and Landon Cullens played as well, but he was the only one that was a starter. With that comes loads of pressure and responsibility, Norris saying that he handled it well. The coaches/team’s goal for VanZant this year was met! The goal was for VanZant to get a double-double. For those who don’t know what that is, it’s where a player gets 10 of two things. VanZant averaged more than ten points and ten rebounds, completing his goal. Norris also said that he and the team will definitely miss his height and effort next year. 

VanZant has been doing basketball all of high school so here are some words for his teammates: “Don’t give up on each other, just play the game for a reason to play the game. For you and your team. Just have fun because time flies when you have fun. Thank you all for just having fun. Wish our season could have gone better. We had our good times and bad times, so just keep fighting for each other because it is more fun when you guys play together.”

The season might have come off as a letdown for some but the school is still extremely proud of what the South Haven Cardinals have accomplished so far and is excited to see what they bring next year!

Coal VanZant, Landon Cullens, and Landon Kuchar signing out!