The Pioneer basketball family will be losing eight seniors that have been great team players and great individuals throughout their four years in orange and blue.

Some of these players had tremendous stats in their careers, but there is one characteristic of all eight of these student athletes that cannot go overlooked, and that is selflessness.

When looking at the men’s team, Curt Hanson and Mike Shaw jump off the stat sheet. However, do not discount the work that Allan Ballweg, Andrew Brown and Connor Finley did in their careers. These three seniors were just as important to the men’s basketball program as Hanson and Shaw.

Sure, Ballweg, Brown and Finley did their best work primarily in practice, but you have to ask yourself a big question. Would Hanson and Shaw have been as good without the other three seniors pushing them every day in practice? Probably not. Therefore one could say that Ballweg, Brown and Finley were just as important to the team.

The women’s team has a much different situation. They lose three seniors and all of them were starters. These three players were obviously vital members of their team because of their on-court presence. However, consider the fact that this year they played with a number of freshmen and had to help guide them through their first season as student athletes, and never complained.

Stacia Nemitz, Dru Schneider and Charity Stotmeister all gave their best on and off the court. In watching their games this year, a fan could easily tell that they embraced their roles as leaders. They served almost as on-court coaches.

All eight of these seniors gave their very best not only on the court but off, and their coaches never failed to talk about them. In conducting weekly interviews with head men’s basketball coach Jeff Gard and assistant women’s coach Andy Busch, their appreciation for their seniors became more evident the deeper into the season they went.

The Pioneer basketball family has lost eight terrific athletes but a more significant loss is the leadership and academic responsibility that all of these student athletes showed throughout their careers.

On behalf of Pioneer basketball fans, I would like to thank Stacia Nemitz, Dru Schneider, Charity Stotmeister, Allan Ballweg, Andrew Brown, Connor Finley, Curt Hanson and Mike Shaw for four great years, and wish them the best of luck in the future.