BY DANI TIETZ
dani@mahometnews.com
Being able to play basketball has been a means to something bigger for St. Joseph-Ogden‘s Payton Cain: building connections.
Cain started playing sports as a young boy with his dad and brother.
“(My dad) passed that love for all sports down to me and my brother,” Cain said. “(Basketball) just grew to be one of my favorite sports. I just stuck with it since I was a kid.”
Growing up with the same group of guys who thoroughly enjoy being around each other helped feed that love.
“It’s been fun,” he said. “Just growing the connections between each friend and the connections that we’ve built through basketball, going to tournaments every weekend with each other, it’s been awesome.
“It seems like we are always hanging out with each other. High school made us a little busy, but whenever we have a chance, we all try to hang out with each other. We do the most random stuff. We are all very close.”
That closeness has helped the Spartans come together for one common goal this season: taking everything day-by-day.
“This year we determined that we are not going to focus on long-term goals yet, we’re going to build day-by-day,” he said.
“We are going to set a goal individually each day, and a team goal each day, and when we complete each team goal every day, it will help us build towards the higher, bigger goals.”
Cain has been doing his part.
As the Spartans enter Friday’s home matchup against Prairie Central with a 13-6 overall record, Cain is hitting his stride.
The senior led the Spartans in scoring with 15 points as they collected their 13th win on Tuesday over Tolono Unity. Cain also matched Ty Pence’s 23-points in a recent 66-45 win over St. Thomas More.
While Cain has added to the total score throughout the 2019-20 season, his efforts on the boards have also been noted. Cain has led the Spartans in rebounds in six games.
But for the 6-foot senior, what he can do in the Spartans’ last 10 games leading up to postseason play is most important.
After all, seasons are built day-by-day.
