CLARK – No one told the Clark-Willow Lake boys’ basketball team it was young.

The Cyclones, with a roster full of freshmen and sophomores and just a pair of seniors, have stormed their way into this weekend’s State A tournament, a place few expected them to be.

“I don’t think anyone’s told them they were super young yet and that they weren’t supposed to play as well as they do being as young as they are,” said Cyclone head coach Jerome Nesheim. “They just meet our expectations of how things are supposed to be done.”

Those expectations were set forth early in the season, and it all starts with a mindset.

“Earlier in the year we talked to the kids about if we want a different outcome, we have to have a different input,” Nesheim said. “Even as coaches, we had to change how we were doing things. It all started off, Emmerson Larson is only a junior, but he’s our team captain. He sets the tone about how hard we’re going to work. When he works super hard the rest of those guys just follow.“

Add in the energy trio of Griffin Musser, Jakob Steen and Joey Ries and the defensive length of Sullivan Felberg and Bo Begeman, and the Cyclones have a solid corps of go-to players.

“Griffin Musser is our senior,” Nesheim said. “He doesn’t score a lot, but he really brings extra energy. He’s our second-leading offensive rebounder this year, and he’s only 5-10, 5-9. He brings that extra energy. … He plays on the edge. Then you bring in Jacob off the bench, and Joey Ries comes off the bench, and they bring that exact same energy. We kind of rally around those three.”

Clark-Willow Lake is making its first appearance in a state tournament since making back-to-back Class B tournaments in 2018 and 2019. Prior to that, the Cyclones last made a State A tournament in 2015.

Nesheim said the fact that the team is included in this year’s field speaks to the Cyclones’ fortitude down the stretch.

“It is so hard to get (to the tournament),” he said. “Especially in Class A and Class B, you’ve got to play some regional games, and you’ve got to play three or four of them to get in and you’ve got to play well in all those games. You can’t have a down moment trying to get in.”

The Cyclones, however, stacked their schedule with a bevy of tough games, including contests against No. 1 Sioux Falls Christian and No. 2 Hamlin, in order to prepare for the stretch run.

“I think it’s really helped us, especially being able to play Hamlin and play Sioux Falls Christian,” Nesheim said. “Those two are two of the top favorite teams in Class A. We can measure where we’re at and what they do.”

Clark-Willow Lake is the six seed entering this weekend’s tournament, and will face Rapid City Christian in the opening round.

“We pair up to them pretty nicely,” Nesheim said. “They’re just a bunch of seniors compared to our bunch of freshmen and sophomores, that’s the only difference. They’re battle tested. They were there last year, so it’s going to be a really good test for us.”