All Decade Team - Boys Basketball

Picking an all-decade team for boys basketball at Custer is always difficult because of the storied tradition and seemingly constant flow of good players who come through the program. I remember how tough it was for last decade’s team, and this one isn’t much easier. This particular team is guard-heavy, as those were in much greater supply than all-decade worthy big men. Narrowing it down to 12 players for my team took some time, but I like the squad I ended up with.

 

Starting Five

 

Guard - Luke Roddy - Class of 2011 - Roddy’s excellent play spanned both decades, but I’m starting him at guard on my team for his work in the previous decade. In this decade he was a two-time all-conference selection, as well as the MVP of the Lakota Nation Invitational in 2010. I can also remember a postseason game in which Custer was down some ridiculous amount to St. Thomas More at halftime, and Roddy had the only points for Custer at that point, or at least, the vast majority. Roddy went on to play college basketball. He also holds the single season record for assists in a game, with 16.

 

Guard - Blake Martinz - 2017 - The younger of the Martinz brothers slots in at another guard. Martinz could shoot from anywhere on the court and, like his brother, was very good from the free throw line. He is a two-time all-conference selection, making it both his junior and senior years. Martinz is another who went on to play college basketball.

 

Guard - Nolan Patzlaff - 2019 - Patzlaff was another undersized guard (that was a recurring theme at Custer the last decade) who played much larger than he was, serving as point guard throughout his high school years and twice earning all-conference honors. He was also honorable mention all-conference as a sophomore. He finished his high school career at 999 points, one point from being immortalized on the Armory wall. That was a bummer. Someone go back through the old books and see if he wasn’t robbed of a point somewhere!

 

Forward - Chad Bryant - 2012 - I’m slotting Bryant as a forward on this team because he’s taller than the first three and could really jump. And boy, could he score. He and Roddy made quite the one-two punch in the early part of the decade. Bryant was honorable mention all-conference in 2010, made the all-Lakota Nation Invitational that same year and was all-conference both his junior and senior years. Bryant is also a career 1,000-point scorer, with 1,173 points.

 

Forward - Chase Glazier - 2014 - My lasting memory of Glazier was his single-handedly trying (and almost succeeding) to pull his team out of a postseason hole against St. Thomas More (of course) his senior year. He had a game for the ages that night, is on the program’s 1,000-point scorer list (1,119 for his career) and was all-conference honorable mention his sophomore year before being named all-conference both his junior and senior years.

 

Off the Bench

 

Cody Martinz - 2013 - I considered seven players for the starting five, and the older of the Martinz brothers was one of them and, like Blake, played some college basketball. Martinz was a two-time all-conference selection for the Wildcats. He is also tied for the single-season free throw percentage record for the school, at 86.8 percent.

 

Jace Kelley - 2021 - Here is the other player I considered putting in as a starter. Kelley was all-conference honorable mention as a freshman and has twice been named first-team all-conference as he heads into his senior year. He also cracked the 1,000-point club in this year’s postseason. He’s a lock to be a starter on next decade’s all-decade team, so we can afford to bring him off the bench this decade.

 

Kenneth Meyers - 2014 - Another guard on the team who was twice all-conference, the first being honorable mention in 2013 before being named first team his senior year.

 

TJ Stover - 2011 - Stover was a top-three player on those very good early-2010 teams and was twice named honorable mention all-conference. He was also named to the all-Lakota Nation Invitational team his senior year.

 

Joel Thomsen - 2015 - Here’s another guy who excelled on the gridiron as well. Thomsen was no slouch on the basketball court, as he was all-conference honorable mention in 2014 before making the first team his senior year.

 

Adam Baker - 2016 - Full disclosure, I didn’t much care for it when Baker transferred to St. Thomas More for his senior year, mostly because it seemed like handing a millionaire another $100,000. That doesn’t keep me from recognizing what he did for the Wildcats his junior year, however, when he was a true difference-maker. He adds more size to our team and was all-conference his junior year. I have to believe he would have been his senior year as well had he stuck around.

 

Brandon Miller - 2011 - Every team needs a “glue guy,” and here is mine. Miller never led the team in scoring or rebounding, but he could do both just fine. What he did lead the team in was diving for loose balls and the dirty work many players don’t want to do. He was an undersized post who could defend taller players, and I have to imagine he would be the school leader in charges taken if that stat was tracked. I will take a guy like Miller on my team any day. He was named to the all-Lakota Nation Invitational team in 2010 and was all-conference honorable mention his senior year.