The Sioux Falls Christian boys basketball team relishes in competition, but can't get it as consistently as the players and staff may like.
So, they bring in teams from outside the state to make that happen.
The Chargers played Western Christian, from Hull, Iowa, and won 77-62 Thursday night, pushing their record to 14-1 with one more game against a team with a winning record on the schedule.
"I like playing this team at this time of the year," Sioux Falls Christian head coach Mike Schouten said. "It really forces you to have to play well against a pretty good team."
This matchup with Western Christian has become a yearly rivalry, with the Wolfpack defending their home court last year to hand Sioux Falls Christian its only loss of the season, 89-86.
The Chargers remembered that after winning a Class A state title in the 2024-25 season and a loss to unbeaten West Central this season, and were out for revenge Thursday night.
"Last year we lost to those guys, and going into this year that was something we were really emphasizing," senior guard Carson Nickles said. "This was a game we had marked on our calendars that we really wanted to beat those guys. They're a really hard team, great coach."
This rivalry provides the Chargers with an opportunity to get a good game in late in the regular season and forces the players to adjust to some unique challenges. Thursday, that was playing while star junior Brant Wassenaar faced double- and triple-teams and multiple players were in deep help defense to prevent the 6-foot-4 combo guard from getting into the paint.
"It was definitely more difficult than others, especially when you're getting double-teamed and help defense inside," Wassenaar said. "We have so many guys that can knock down shots and step up in that role playing area. Finding guys, trying to get assists, trying to screen away for them, I felt like once we started doing that it opened everything up for other people."
That forced other players to step up, and a bunch of guys had their moment.
— Paul Cifonelli (@PCifonelli) February 13, 2026
Nickles was the first to play big, scoring eight of his 12 points in the first quarter. He knocked down a triple and had an and-one, then had another bucket through contact in the fourth that iced the game.
"Brant's a great player, no one can really guard him," Nickles said. "Whenever I can I just want to be his partner. I need to always be able to step up when he's getting shut down. That's something that I really try to work on and I want to be able to be that guy when I'm needed."
Ryan Dieleman scored 15 points for Sioux Falls Christian, with all coming before the fourth. Mitchell Hofer added 12 with two 3-pointers and 10 points coming after halftime and Canyon Prins scored 10 points, with eight after the break.
"Our team has good depth, and you need that if you're going to compete at a high level in any class," Schouten said. "It was really important that our other kids, other than Brant, stepped up and took on that challenge of taking on some scoring on their own and playing good defense."
Despite all the pushback, Wassenaar still finished with a game-high 21 points.
And here’s Brant Wassenaar for two as @SFCBoysBball has pretty much wrapped this one up. 71-56 with 2:43 left. @ArgusSportspic.twitter.com/mawsQ5bTz6
— Paul Cifonelli (@PCifonelli) February 13, 2026
Western Christian also challenged Sioux Falls Christian in a more traditional sense, as the Wolfpack led 17-16 after a quarter, trailed 36-33 at halftime and were behind 49-48 late in the third before the Chargers went on a 7-0 run to close the frame.
"I'm really proud of them for doing that because it could've gone the other way," Schouten said. "Could've lost confidence and Western could've chipped away and gotten a lead, but our guys responded really well."
Sioux Falls Christian is now 3-0 against Iowa schools this season, and has a chance to go 1-0 against Minnesota when it travels to face Marshall on Feb. 24.
The Chargers' final game against a team with a winning record before the postseason is at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Corn Palace against St. Thomas More in the DWU Classic. St. Thomas More is 12-4, and Sioux Falls Christian is ready to get one last big test before attempting to defend its Class A state title.
"St. Thomas More is a great team. They've got some great players," Wassenaar said. "At the Corn Palace is always tough, too, so we're going to have to come out and play our best basketball."
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Sioux Falls Christian boys basketball topples Iowa's Western Christian