Making contact: Kastern uses size, skill to lead Eagles

Apr. 6—SOLON SPRINGS — When Solon Springs boys basketball coach Marcus Besonen thinks about the ways junior Isaiah Kastern has improved since his sophomore season, he points to contact.

"He's put on a ton of strength, so being able to finish through a lot of contact that he wasn't able to finish through last year really helped his scoring average," Besonen said. "Last year there was a lot of times where he would get the ball in deep, he would make the right move, but just that little bit of defensive contact that is allowed would be enough to cause misses."

That wasn't the case during the team's 2022-2023 campaign. Kastern averaged 24.5 points and two steals per game and shot 63% from the field. He also grabbed 11.2 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.5 steals per game.

He led an Eagles team that was so close to a WIAA Division 5 state tournament berth they could almost taste it. They lost 58-56 in overtime of the sectional final to McDonell Central Catholic — the No-1 ranked team in Division 5. The Eagles finished their season 26-2.

For his contributions on the court, Kastern is the Superior Telegram's 2023 All-Area Boys Basketball Player of the Year.

The junior thanked coaches Besonen, Brandon Molina, Luke Smith, Jesse Soumis and Paul Spindler "for teaching, pushing and believing in me."

When asked about his willingness to push through contact, Kastern said that was one of his goals coming into the season.

"I did a lot of weight training in the offseason to try to get stronger. I tried using my body more and overpower kids to score," he said.

But Kastern is more than just an inside scoring threat.

"He can kind of do it all," Besonen said. "If he gets a slower body on him, he can pull him away from the basket and take them off the dribble. He's got very good secondary moves, so if he gets cut off, he's got good footwork ... He can shoot it from outside — you've got to respect him and be out on him tight."

The 6-foot 5-inch forward was quick to give credit to his teammates, who he knows can hit shots if an opponent tries to double-team him.

"I have very good players on my team," he said. "Dylan Taggart — he's a great shooter, so I know he can hit 3's, so if I draw a lot of attention inside, I can kick out to him."

In fact, being with his teammates is his favorite part of playing basketball.

"Being with all of them is so much fun and then playing in a game makes it 100 times better," he said.

Another area where Besonen saw growth was in Kastern's leadership abilities. That translated in a few ways on the court.

First, Kastern became more patient.

"The last couple of games he didn't really force things — he knew to play within himself, which I think helped the other players to realize how to play winning basketball," Besonen said. "Instead of just forcing things up, or forcing things that aren't there, we were able to stay a lot more patient."

He also tried to remind his teammates to avoid bad shots down the stretch.

And during the last two months of the season, he did it all with a cracked bone in his ankle.

Besonen said Kastern was injured on Jan. 9 when the Eagles played at Drummond, but it looked like a run-of-the-mill ankle sprain.

Kastern's ankle started to improve, but then plateaued. That's when he decided to get it looked at.

Rather than an ankle sprain, an X-ray revealed a crack in one of Kastern's ankle bones. The injury didn't require him to sit out because the bone was already 80% of the way healed, Besonen said.

"He had a bone cracked in there that he was playing through, so he's definitely a tough player," Besonen said.

In looking ahead to his senior season, Kastern said he wants to improve his on-ball defense and his lateral quickness.

Oh yeah — and check the one goal off his list the Eagles narrowly missed: A trip to the state tournament.

2023 — Isaiah Kastern, Jr., Solon Springs

2022 — Robert Olson, Sr., Superior

2021 — Monte Mayberry, Jr., Northwestern

2020 — Joey Barker, Sr., Superior

2019 — Mason Ackley, Sr. Superior

2018 — Jens Gehl, Sr., Solon Springs

2017 — Riley Stowers, Sr., Northwestern

2016 — Riley Stowers, Jr., Northwestern

2015 — Superior (starting five: Nick Mehlum, Connor Gray, Jake Libal, Brandon Myer, Brett Lozon)

2014 — Daniel Gengenbach, Solon Springs

2013 — Erick Tunell, Sr., Superior

2012 — Phil Larson, Sr., Solon Springs

2011 — Joel Lindberg, Sr., Superior

2010 — Joel Lindberg, Jr., Superior

2009 — Steve Tecker, Jr., Northwestern

2008 — Dustin Ritchie, Sr., Superior

2007 — Bart Bailey, Sr., Superior

2006 — Eric Thompson, Sr., Superior

2005 — Jimmy Glaeser, Sr., Northwestern

2004 — Jesse Taylor, Sr., Maranatha

2003 — Keith Ritsche, Sr., Superior

2002 — Alex Maas, Sr., Northwood