When students talk about Lakota West’s athletic program, the main focus is normally football. However, our basketball team also deserves recognition! At the moment, our team is 6th in their conference and is 11-8 with a 58% win rate. 

The basketball team has great players with many rising stars that have a chance to go play further than just high school ball. One of the most recognizable players is senior guard William Layfield, who just broke former Lakota West athlete and NFL player Jordan Hicks single season steals record (55) —  he already has some college offers.   Another player for West who had two great accomplishments is junior guard Nathan Dudukovich, who just recently surpassed 1000 points for his career at West and also had a incredible 50 point game performance. 

 Sophomore guard Isaiah Tyson said that “there are some great leaders on the team including William Layfeild and Christopher Barber, because they hustle no matter what, and it’s very inspiring.” Tyson seems very comfortable where they are, and he also made note that  “the team gets even better game by game, and that with such a young team and being a top 5 team in the GMC feels very good.”

A lot of the credit should go to the coaches believing in such a young team. Tyson said “The coaches keep us calm and make us feel good about every situation that comes to us.”  The coaches and players inspire each other to win games and make it a good experience.

The team is ready for their last game on Friday for senior night, then after that they are on to the playoffs to make anticipated push for state.