The South Hardin boys basketball team finished the 2025-26 season 13-10 overall and 9-9 in the North Iowa Cedar League, placing ninth in a conference that produced three state qualifiers in Aplington-Parkersburg, Grundy Center and Union Community.
In the postseason, South Hardin opened Class 2A District 2 play with a 67-52 win over Woodward-Granger before falling to Kuemper Catholic 72-56 in a district semifinal.
Head Coach John Phillips says the level of competition across the NICL stood out throughout the winter.
“The competition level is just absolutely amazing,” Phillips says. “So just really proud of the boys and how they competed, getting some big wins against Denver and Union, just to name a couple, that we were able to hang in there.”
Phillips says the seniors helped shape the team’s identity and laid a foundation for the future.
“We have high standards,” Phillips says. “The players actually navigated that at the beginning of the season, especially the seniors. They wanted to leave a living legacy that can be passed down to all the other South Hardin Tigers coming through the program. Culture and standard over everything — that was their number one. And then two was the defensive identity and play really tough, sound defense.”
The Tigers will graduate nine seniors, including leading scorers Sam Benson, Jake Balvanz and Owen Larson. Preston Dolash, who ranked second on the team in rebounds, and assist leader Clayton Cable are also among the departing seniors.
