Despite entering the 2022-23 season with questions surrounding the roster regarding injuries, illness and inexperience, the Spring Valley boys’ basketball team has won three of its first five games including all three Dunn-St. Croix Conference contests.

The three wins came over Elmwood/Plum City, Boyceville and its most recent contest, a 62-53 victory on the road against Glenwood City on Tuesday, Dec. 20. Spring Valley’s 3-0 record in league play gives them sole possession of first place. Elk Mound and Durand remain in a tie for second, as both are 2-0 in conference action.

“We certainly have to be happy with winning all of our conference games so far,” Spring Valley head coach Rob Bosshart said. “We’ve played a little inconsistently, but for the most part, we’ve progressed as the season has gone on. I feel like we’ve improved dayby-day and on a game-by-game basis.” Spring Valley’s strong start through the first three games of conference play is due largely to sophomore guard Cade Stasiek’s performances. Stasiek is tallying 19.4 points per game, 6.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists per contest, all of which are team-high figures for the 2022-23 season.

Stasiek’s excellent season continued against Glenwood City on Tuesday night. He finished with 26 points, seven rebounds, and five assists in the nine-point win on the road. Perhaps no figure was more impressive than Stasiek’s eight steals against Glenwood City. His defense led to easy transition offense and culminated in a victory. Bosshart spoke about Stasiek’s performance.

“He’s very active both offensively and defensively,” Bosshart said. “Eight steals is such a high number, but I wasn’t really surprised because he’s so active and he has such a knack for where the ball is. He played a pretty complete game and we were excited to see that.”

Spring Valley’s start to the 2022-23 campaign has likely surprised some preseason prognosticators, as the Cardinals were picked to fall back to the middle of the pack after losing several seniors from last year’s roster, especially forward Connor Ducklow and guards Tyler Bowman and Brady Bednarek.

The loss of those seniors, paired with an offseason plagued by football injuries and general illness led to a lot of question marks coming into the season. Although Spring Valley is 3-0 through the first three conference games of the season, a lot of those injuries and question marks still surround this Cardinals team.

One of those injuries is junior guard Wyatt Goveronski, who had season-ending wrist surgery after the Cardinals’ 61-53 non-conference loss against Thorp on Saturday, Dec. 10, at the University of Wisconsin-Stout Northwest Classic. Spring Valley’s coaching staff has struggled to implement adjustments to replace the loss of Goveronski, mostly because a lot of the kids have been sick and have missed multiple practices.

“To be honest, it’s been really difficult because we’ve had so many kids out with illness,” Bosshart said. “Cade (Stasiek) was one of them that missed basically a week. Tanner Dicus, who is now our fifth starter in Wyatt’s spot, was also out an entire week. It’s been difficult to get our top six or seven guys on the court and figure out what everybody’s role is going to be.”

While Goveronski’s season just recently ended, sophomore center Caleb Bartko’s year is just getting going. Bartko missed the first chunk of the season with a lingering football injury. As he has returned to the lineup the last couple of games, he’s had an immediate impact, especially defensively.

“He’s a high-energy guy with a high motor,” Bosshart said. “It’s taken him a couple of weeks to come back and get comfortable again, but his energy and aggressiveness have been a huge boost for us. It’s been noticeable that he can help us go to another level, especially defensively.”

While all conference games are going to be a battle, none of the three teams that Spring Valley has defeated this season were picked to win the Dunn-St. Croix Conference. Instead, the two teams picked to finish at or near the top are Elk Mound and Durand; Spring Valley hasn’t played either of those teams yet.

The Cardinals’ schedule is slated to get quite difficult after Christmas, as Spring Valley is set to host the undefeated (6-0) Unity Eagles in a non-conference game on Thursday, Dec. 29. That game will serve as a litmus test before the Cardinals play against Durand and Elk Mound back-to-back games during the third week of January.

“We’re really going to get challenged now after Christmas,” Bosshart said. “We play Unity and then we see the heart of our schedule as we see the upper teams in our league in Elk Mound, Durand, Mondovi and Colfax. That will be a great barometer for where we are.”

Spring Valley is slated to host the Unity Eagles on Thursday, Dec. 29. Tip-off for that game is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.