Madison’s Abundant Life Christian School sits one win away from reaching the summit of what boys basketball coach Mike Thies described as the biggest mountain the team has ever had to climb.
Abundant Life faces Sheboygan Lutheran Friday morning at 10:45 am. in the semifinals of the WIAA state basketball tournament at the Kohl Center in downtown Madison.
If they win, Abundant Life will return to the state championship game for the second consecutive year after losing to Columbus Catholic in 2024. The third-seeded Abundant Life will take on second-seed Sheboygan Lutheran in the second Division 5 semifinal after top-seed Cochrane-Fountain City takes on fourth-seed Turtle Lake at 9:05 am.
Coming into the 2025 season, Thies and his senior-laden team were focused on returning to state and righting the wrong of last year’s loss.
But tragedy struck Abundant Life Christian School and the greater Madison community on December 16, 2024, when a 15-year-old student fatally shot two people and injured several others before taking her own life.
Basketball didn’t seem important anymore in the immediate aftermath, and Thies wondered if it was right to place such value on games when his players had witnessed such devastation and violence.
“We took a three-week break from playing games,” Thies said. “That was a weird time. Basketball was the least important thing in the world. That was our feeling at times.”
Gradually, the team began to practice and play games. With each passing game, basketball became more important. Winning games made the community feel good. Playing hard made the kids feel good. Watching his kids reach deep inside themselves to come together as a team made Thies feel good.
“We prayed a lot during our practices. We made ourselves available to talk to kids,” Thies said. “We were keeping a special eye on people who weren’t doing well. We gave kids who needed it a day off with no questions asked. But we really got the feeling the kids needed a place to let their minds get away from it. We said, ‘You can come talk to us anytime, but from now on we’re going to focus on basketball and we think that will be good for your mental health.’”
(Photo by Nicholas Garton)
Full Circle
Madison College’s Redsten Gymnasium was empty and quiet in the late afternoon when Bill Kegler, a former head basketball coach at Madison College and a member of the Athletics faculty, unlocked the gym doors so Abundant Life Christian School’s team could practice.
Abundant Life was one of several schools making use of the college’s facilities to prepare for the state tournament beginning less than 24 hours later.
If March Madness was in the air, it certainly had fully blown over Madison College’s campus. The school was on spring break and dropping a pin would have echoed throughout the building. Freezing rain and blowing wind could be heard from the enclosed gym’s bleachers.
Kegler remembered the pomp and noise that accompanied Abundant Life’s team the last time they were in this gym.
“They played their first home game here right after the shooting,” Kegler said. “I remember going over to Coach Thies and he was just exhausted.”
The community and local media came together for Abundant Life as they defeated Johnson Creek that night.
Back then, the coaches’ and players’ minds had been numb. Now, however, they were sharp and focused on playing as hard as possible in the state semifinals.
Senior Conner Whitaker was the first player to arrive. He made small talk with assistant coaches before getting dressed and ready to warm up.
Whitaker was on the team during its 2024 run to the championship game but says this year’s run is completely different.
“I feel like this year, we’ve had to overcome a lot more adversity than last year,” Whitaker said. “But even through everything we’ve still been able to stick together and keep pushing and fighting for where we want to go.”
Teammate Mo Aeschlimann agreed.
“It will all be good at the end,” Aeschlimann said. “So it’s just like facing adversity and being there for your brothers all the time.”
Players gradually filed in. All spoke of how this season’s journey is different from any other they have been on.
Most mention The Tragedy. The words hang in the air each time a player says them.
For their part, the coaching staff feels like this is a special group of players. Abundant Life features nine seniors, many of whom have played on the varsity team for the majority of their scholastic careers.
Thies points to Jonah Koon, one of his best players. Koon has played in 113 high school games. His twin brother, Jacob, has played in 111.
“We’ve just been in big games,” Thies said. “We know what it takes to win in the playoffs.”
Having two of his best players be twins only elevates the team chemistry.
“There isn’t a situation they haven’t seen,” Thies said. “It’s so fun to coach. There’s nothing left I can teach them.”
Abundant Life began its tournament run last weekend with an 83-28 victory over Madison Country Day.
They breezed through the early rounds of the tournament winning their games by 44 and 29 points before playing tight regional and sectional games.
Abundant Life is playing the role of underdog against Sheboygan Lutheran. The team will hang its hat on the toughness it has displayed to get this far.
“It’s just been a cool journey, just seeing how God’s worked through our school, our community and rallying behind the basketball team,” said Josh Vaughn, an assistant coach with Abundant Life. “Going back to state again just speaks to the resiliency of this group.”
Thies believes the team’s spiritual faith and one another have been the sources of that resiliency.
“We have an inner joy that you can’t take away from us because of Christ,” Thies said. “The community has really needed a win, so to speak, and the boys basketball team has really provided that for us.”
