Cody Volmer spends his days at Presho Livestock Auction and nights at Lyman Gardens. 

Volmer is currently in his first season as the Lyman High School head girls basketball coach and has guided the Raiders to a 12-5 record, surpassing last season’s win total of seven games. 

All while doubling as cattleman and coach. Volmer is owner of Presho Livestock Auction, a family-owned sale barn with his father, Ron. 

“As a business, we have a lot of stuff going on and I wanted to make sure that it was alright with everybody around me, my dad and other people and it seemed to be alright,” Cody Volmer said. “So I stepped away from that a little bit and stepped into coaching and it’s been a lot of fun. I enjoy the girls and I enjoy their work.”

While it’s his first season as head coach, Volmer coached many of the current Raiders during their elementary years. But despite his familiarity with the Raiders, things got off to a rocky start and they lost their first four games. 

“I played under really good coaches in college and in high school,” said Volmer, who was an all-stater at Lyman and played collegiately at South Dakota State. “So winning was something that was already instilled in me and I thought I knew how to get it to happen. But it took us four games to figure it out and the girls to figure it out, but after that it seemed like every win has gotten easier.”

The Raiders rattled off 10 straight wins after their 0-4 start and they’re coming off a 44-40 win over McCook Central/Montrose at the DWU/Culver’s Classic on Feb. 10.

“We took it one game at a time,” Volmer said. “We never looked forward past the next game and I told them to never dwell on the game — whether it was a win or loss — you don’t dwell on the one you just had. You have to look at the next one and that’s what we are going to do from here on out.”

Lyman's Cody Volmer is in his first season coaching the Lyman girls basketball team. (Rodney Haas / 605 Sports)

Volmer also has a pair of playmakers to help ease his coaching transition. The Raiders are powered by junior guard Skyler Volmer, Cody’s daughter, and freshman center Mak Scott. 

The duo have both logged big games this season and Volmer recently scored her 1,000th career point. 

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Cody Volmer said about coaching the pair. “We can put them in situations that your average high school player wouldn't be able to handle and they handle them just fine.”

Cody is also handling the father-daughter coaching dynamic. He said he leaves the basketball talk with Skyler at the gym and the two won’t discuss much hoops at home. 

“If I want to talk about it, I will wait until the next day at the gym,” Cody said. “But Skyler has been a treat for me to coach in the regard that she gives me a lot of effort all the time. I don’t ever have to get after her about her effort and so that makes it a lot easier.”

Skyler Volmer has her father’s hops on the court, too. At 6-foot-6, Cody Volmer was a high-flyer and hammered a host of slam dunks. Skyler, who was a state placer in the hurdles, high jump, triple jump and long jump, is a bouncy 5-foot-9 college women’s basketball prospect. 

If she plays at the next level, Skyler would join her father as college basketball hoopers. At SDSU, Volmer played for current Wright State University coach Scott Nagy. 

Cody tries to pattern his coaching style after Nagy and his high school coach Cooper Garnos. Albeit if they have different demeanors. 

“Cooper has a lot of energy and coach Nagy always paced the sidelines,” Cody said. “But he wasn't quite like Cooper. But he was very demanding. Coach Nagy was very demanding with what he expected out of you. He was very clear on what your job was and that he expected that and if you wanted playing time, you did that. I kind of incorporated that in with my girls.”

Lyman plays at Wall on Feb. 14 and hosts Jones County on Feb. 16 to finish the regular season. 

Alec Squires sets Sioux Valley dunk record

Alec Squires set the Sioux Valley boys basketball record for most career dunks. 

The 6-foot-10 junior center currently has 44 career dunks and set the record against Parker on Feb. 11. He broke the previous record set by Zach Hanson (43). 

Collin Kramer (42) and Ryan Burggraff (40) also both threw down 40 or more dunks as Cossacks. 

Sunshine Bible Academy teams snap losing streaks 

The Sunshine Bible Academy basketball teams both snapped long losing streaks this past week.

On Feb. 6, the Sunshine Bible Academy girls team defeated Mitchell Christian, snapping its 73-game losing streak dating back to the 2018-19 season. 

On Feb. 11, the Crusaders boys basketball team defeated Sioux Falls Lutheran for its first varsity win in three seasons.