SUMMIT – Damon Opdahl is off to join the Mount Marty men’s basketball program next fall, but he has a bit of unfinished business to attend to first.

The Waubay-Summit senior led the Mustangs to a 10-0 start to the season before a clash with now-top-rated Aberdeen Christian interrupted the streak. Waubay-Summit is looking for a trip to the State A tournament after finishing fifth at the State B tourney last season.

“We’ve got a group of kids that have played together for a long time,” said Mustangs’ coach Mark Amdahl. “Since third grade.”

And the leader of the pack is Opdahl, a 6-2 guard who also happens to be Amdahl’s step-son and is intimately familiar with Amdahl’s coaching style.

“Damon has been around the game for a long time,” Amdahl said. “He was a waterboy for me back when I was coaching the girls. He’s got such a high basketball IQ. He’s a coach on the floor for us.”

Opdahl’s hard work has paid off, as he recently went over the 1,000-point plateau.

“Honestly, it feels good,” Opdahl said of reaching the career milestone. “It’s definitely a great accomplishment. It wasn’t a goal of mine to reach it. My goals have always been to win and to reach the state tournament, but it’s still good to know all the hard work paid off.”

And there was plenty of that, long days and late nights in the gym, putting up shots on days when the motivation may not have been as strong.

“I’ve always just strived to be the best at everything I can do,” Opdahl said. “I’m into sports, but basketball has always been my favorite. Wanting to be the best helped me to stay disciplined and go (to the gym) when you don’t feel like going.”

That work ethic has helped mold Opdahl into one of the team’s leaders both in games and in practice.

“I’ve always said a player-led team is better than a coach-led team, and we have that,” Amdahl said. “He’s a coach on the floor when it comes to practices. He’s the hardest worker in our drills.”

Still, there’s unfinished business on the table. Despite the 10-0 start and the state tournament appearance a year ago, Opdahl has bigger goals in mind before he calls it a high school career.

And he believes he has the team around him to get it done.

“We’ve been playing together our whole lives so I feel like our chemistry, we have that part down,” Opdahl said. “We just need to focus. … If we’re on, we’re pretty scary. We’ve got some guys that are hard to guard.”

Opdahl and the Mustangs head to Warner Friday for a showdown with the Monarchs.