Springville’s dynamic duo of Luke Menster and Rhenden Wagaman continues racking up wins

LISBON — The number is 74.

That is the amount of victories Luke Menster and Rhenden Wagaman have had in their four-year varsity basketball careers at Springville.

Number 74 came Monday night when the Orioles disposed of North Cedar, 92-57, in a Class 1A district game. Lisbon won the nightcap of this doubleheader, 64-32, meaning these Tri-Rivers Conference foes from Linn County will go after it in a district semifinal Thursday night at Lisbon.

Springville won the regular-season encounter between the two, 63-48.

A 6-foot-4 senior wing player, Wagaman went into Monday’s game leading Springville (18-4) in scoring at 21.7 points per game. Senior guard Menster was next at 17.5, the point guard engine that runs this team.

Wagaman poured in 34 against North Cedar, with Menster adding 21. It’s just what they’ve done all season.

Menster surpassed 1,000 points for his career in December. About a month later, Wagaman did the same.

It’s uncommon to have a kid reach the grand grand, if you will, in his career. To have two do it on the same team is something else.

“Yeah, it’s really cool,” Menster said. “We’ve been playing basketball together forever. It’s cool to share that moment in the same season getting that same milestone.”

“It’s good for him, good for me,” Wagaman said. “We’ve played everything together. Some Little League, some AAU, with each other, against each other. Lost to him a couple of times. But it’s been fun.”

Menster played more than Wagaman as a freshman, but they both began to make their marks as sophomores. They played key roles for an Orioles team that made it to the Class 1A state tournament for the first time since 1975.

Last season provided more success, as Springville went 22-3, losing a substate semifinal to New London. This season has been wins gallore some more, with the pair taking on more of a leadership role for a group that didn’t have a ton of returning experience.

Guys like Dylan DeMean (who averages a double-double) and Cade Sheda (who averages double figures in scoring) have stepped up into prominent positions.

“We lost a couple of guys and that always hurts,” Wagaman said. “But we’ve figured it out. Dylan’s a great rebounder. Cade is a pretty good outside shooter, and Brett (Kane) is a good rebounder. So I think we’re just about as good as we were last year.”

Menster was asked if he feels he and Wagaman have provided some sort of standard for the younger players in the program to live up to.

“I think it’s set pretty good,” he said. “The success is about hard work toward it. We’ve seen that a lot more with the underclassmen. They wanted to work, wanted to get better, which was nice to see.”

Interestingly, neither kid is going to play college basketball. Menster is going to be an electrician apprentice after he graduates high school, while Wagaman plans on attending a trade school.

“Most people don’t typically hit 1,000 points in a season clearly,” said Springville Coach Nick Merritt. “So I think that just shows the longevity of their presence in our program. I don’t think it’s any secret that the team has won the last three years, and they’ve been a big part of that.”

Tyson Scott scored 16 points for Lisbon (17-5) in its relatively easy victory. The teams ended the regular season against each other last week at Wyoming, with Lisbon winning handily.

Midland ended its season 4-18.

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