For the Millard South boys basketball team, walking into the locker room after a win is always a special feeling, but following the win at Bellevue East 71-29, the team had a little more to celebrate. The game marked the one-hundredth career win for head coach Tim Leuschen.

“It means a lot,” Leuschen said. “I have had a greatcoaching staff who have beenwith me for all these years,and just so many great kids and players over the years.”

“Going into the game, we didn’t really know that it could be the one-hundredth win,” junior Will Cooper said, “so winning that game and knowing that it was and celebrating was just really special.”

This season, the team faced a tough schedule with many injuries. Nine of their 15 losses in the season were lost by fewer than 10 points, making the one-hundredth win extra sweet.

“To get to celebrate with the group was special because a lot of times we didn’t get to celebrate a lot this season,” Leuschen said. “We were on the short side of a lot of games and had a ton of injuries. To see these guys go through all that and continue to compete through the year, to be able to celebrate with them, it made it really special.”

Now after 20 years of coaching at Millard South, the last nine years as head coach, Leuschen has made such an impact on this program and this school.

“Coach is one of those individuals who makes the people around him better whether they are his players or his coaching staff,” assistant coach Matthew Turner said. “To have a guy who’s been at Millard South for so long and really puts the kids first, this program and this school is so fortunate to have him,” he said.

“His tempo and the way he gets on us, he wants us to be the best athletes and people you can be,” senior Lance Rucker said.