Van Prihoda Leads Shorthorns to New Heights

The Schulenburg boys basketball team is having a special year. They went 23-9 in the regular season, were district champs and won eight in a row – and a big reason why is the player Van Prihoda.

“He’s a senior and he’s a leader,” said Schulenburg head boys basketball coach Richard Hoogendoorn. “He’s a beast on the boards. He had 18 rebounds against Bloomington. We’re not tall so everybody has to do their job, and he leads our group in that. He goes to the boards very, very well. He can hit an occasional outside shot and finish inside.”

Prihoda played a key role in Friday’s important win over district rival Flatonia. He scored nine of his 11 points in the pivotal fourth quarter that helped the Shorthorns hold onto a 57-45 win.

We’re proud to honor Prihoda as this week’s Fayette County Athlete of the Week. We caught up with him just moments after that win over Flatonia Friday.

“We’ve been practicing for this game all week long .. and I think Coach Hoog got us right this week. He put this team together. He knew how to get the win – and we got it,” Prihoda said.

Prihoda praised the leadership of Hoogendoorn, who is in his 26th season heading the Shorthorns basketball team, and has won 897 career games as a boys head coach.

“Coach Hoog is a special person. He made this a brotherhood. He made this a family,” Prihoda said. “We thank God for him every single day.”

Prihoda is one of four seniors on the Shorthorns team, including Jayse Janda, Jamison Bennett and Tavondrick Ellison. Prihoda said that senior leadership has been key to this team’s success.

“We’ve been playing together for four years and we know each other really well,” Prihoda said. “They all have a special talent and are pretty good players individually.”

Prihoda is involved in a lot of things besides basketball. He’s also been part of the Schulenburg state qualifying golf team, he’s been honored at the state level of Future Farmers of America (FFA) and even caught a calf at the calf scramble at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

After graduation he plans to go to Texas State Technical College to study plumbing.

But before that, he’s got a busy final spring semester of his senior year, one he hopes includes a long playoff run for him and the Shorthorns.

“I come to basketball practice early in the morning, 5:30, and then after school it’s everything else I have to take care of – golf, FFA. Everything matters but basketball comes first,” Prihoda said.