Orono boys and girls basketball have started the new season with great success.

The Orono Spartans boys basketball team made it to state last year and return the majority of their leading scorers. They have been ranked in the top 5 preseason poll and it’s easy to see why. With star players and depth the Spartans will be making noise come March.

The boys opened up their season at Monticello on Nov. 20. The Spartans started strong and never looked back. Leading the attack was junior forward, Sam Sustacek, who got 20 points.  Sustacek has been on the team since freshman year and is considered one of the top players in the state.

The Spartans then faltered, losing to Marshall 60-52. This was a sloppy game for the Spartans who turned the ball over a lot.

“Marshall is a good team, they made it to state last year,” senior point guard Matt Hirschberg said. “We beat ourselves though by missing easy shots and not taking care of the ball.”

The Orono boys then traveled to Monticello for a Thanksgiving tournament in which they met Rocori and Sauk Rapids-Rice. They took care of business winning easily.

The play of two seniors, Cole Hennings and Patrick Codute, both who have been the most consistent scorers on the team, has helped fuel the Spartans.

Hennings has averaged 19.5 points a game while Codute has 10.8 through four games.

The biggest game of the year will be on January 16 when the Spartans are hosting Holy Family.

The Holy Family Fire have a 6’11 center who is committed to play college at Northern Iowa.  The Spartans lost last year to the Fire for the third place game in the State tournament.

The girls basketball team only graduated three seniors last year and that’s why the Spartans are currently ranked in the top 5 for Class 3A. After three games, their record stands at 3-0.

The first game of the season was against DeLaSalle in the Hamline tournament. The girls were ready to play against a powerhouse.

The Spartans started slow, falling behind quickly. The first half ended and the score was in favor of the Islanders 33 to 22. The girls didn’t let up however, and went on a run. The Spartans put on a dominant performance and came up with the victory. The final score was 55 to 52.

Junior forward Dolly Jorgenson got a team high of 15 points. The Spartans were well balanced with three players scoring in double digits.

Up next for the Spartans girls was against the Lakeville North Panthers. Lakeville North was ranked number 5 in 4A.

Orono ended up smoking the Panthers. Backed behind 21 points from sophomore guard Tori Andrew and 16 from senior forward Rachel Heussner, the Panthers were no match for the Spartans. The final score was 78 to 57.

“Both teams we played are great. To do well this early in the season is impressive. We couldn’t have asked for a better start,” senior forward Rachel Heussner said.

The girls then defeated Providence Academy by a final score of 59 to 33.

The boys and girls basketball team are both ranked very high in the state and it will only get better as the season goes on.