Gayville-Volin Raiders: Season Intro

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We are heading into South Dakota for this Season Preview. We are looking at the Raiders from Gayville-Volin. They are a young squad but they bring back all 5 starters this year and they deserve your attention. The Raiders have some post players and a talented baller with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2263242' first='Spencer' last='Karstens']</strong>. See below for much more information on the Raiders.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Team:</strong> Gayville-Volin</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Mascot:</strong> Raiders</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Head Coach:</strong> <em>Justin Karstens</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Class:</strong> B</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Region:</strong> 4</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":2058335,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Preview-crop-823x540-1688699564.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/Preview-crop-823x540-1688699564.jpg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-2058335" /></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"large"} --> <p class="has-large-font-size"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Returning Stat Leaders</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2263242' first='Spencer' last='Karstens'] (2025)</strong> – 17 ppg, 6 rpg</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2263240' first='Preston' last='Karstens']</strong> <strong>(2026) </strong>– 10 ppg, 4 rpg</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Hunter Wuebben (2026)</strong> – 5 ppg</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"large"} --> <p class="has-large-font-size"><span style="text-decoration: underline"><strong>Returning Starters</strong></span></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2263242' first='Spencer' last='Karstens']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2263240' first='Preston' last='Karstens']</strong>, <strong>Hunter Wuebben</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2263356' first='Nate' last='Selchert']</strong>, <strong>Will Fairley</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"large"} --> <p class="has-large-font-size"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Q&amp;A with coach <em>Karstens</em></span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">PHD: What can you tell us about last season?</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"<em>Last season the Raider basketball team was very young, with our veteran leadership coming from a lone sophomore, no juniors or seniors on our team. The Raiders really began to play their best basketball towards the end of the season as the young guys learned to play and compete at a higher level.  We have all returning starters coming back this season, with our oldest member being a junior this year.</em>"</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">PHD: How did the offseason go for your squad?</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"<em>The offseason went well, as almost all summer the boys were in the gym. We competed in a summer rec league throughout the summer, along with a  lot of open gym time.</em>"</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">PHD: Who are your top players to watch this season?</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"<em>[player_tooltip player_id='2263242' first='Spencer' last='Karstens'] has played varsity basketball since his 7^th grade year. We are looking to him to be our leader on both ends of the floor. He was our leading scorer and rebounder last year.</em>"</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"<em>[player_tooltip player_id='2263240' first='Preston' last='Karstens'] is also a returning starter this year as a sophomore. Preston is one of our bigs who we look to score inside and defend the other teams low post players. With a year of starting under his belt we also look see his growth this season as a player.</em>"</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">PHD: Who are some of your up-n-coming player to watch out for?</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"<em><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2263356' first='Nate' last='Selchert'] (2026) 6'3"</strong>, is a returning starter who we look to help guard the low post alongside Preston. Nate brings good size to our team.</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"<em><strong>Carter Barron (2026) 5'11</strong>, is coming up from our JV team and had a very good summer.</em>"</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"<em>We will look to Nate and Carter to be more of an offensive threat this season.</em>"</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">PHD: What style of basketball will your team play?</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"<em>We will play up-tempo half-court basketball. Our emphasis will be on half-court defense and keeping the ball out of the paint.</em>"</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">PHD: Have you set any team goals?</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"<em>2 main goals for our team: Communicating together as a team and to compete an entire season at a varsity level.</em>"</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">PHD: Who will be the top team in your Region?</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"<em>Viborg-Hurley looks to be a top team this season as they are returning a lot of their from their state tournament team.</em>"</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"style":{"typography":{"fontStyle":"italic","fontWeight":"800","fontSize":"30px"}}} --> <p style="font-size:30px;font-style:italic;font-weight:800">Best of luck to the Raiders this season!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":1399487,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/SD-1.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/SD-1.jpg?w=865" alt="" class="wp-image-1399487" /></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image -->