Sam Stensgard said the feeling has been palpable at practice lately. As the Simley boys’ basketball team heads into its final stretch of regular-season games, it’s the realization that his final season playing for the Spartans is starting to wind down.

“That’s kind of been the theme at our last couple practices — just looking at this stretch run and the playoffs coming up,” he said. “We just want to [keep it going] as long as we can.”

For Stensgard, the season’s end will not only mean wrapping up a varsity career that started as an eighth-grader and has seen him top the 1,000-point milestone. It also will mean the end of a run with a group of teammates he has played with since fourth grade, including his younger brother Jack.

The 13-7 Spartans have eight seniors on their roster and just one junior — Jack Stensgard — in their rotation. The Stensgards lead Simley in scoring; Jack averages 16.1 points per game while Sam averages 15.3 points.

Winners of eight of their past 11 (excluding Friday’s matchup at North St. Paul), Simley has four regular-season games left before section play begins.

“It’s kind of tough to think about right now,” Sam said. “But, at the same time, it’s pretty exciting to see where it goes.”

Growing up on the court

Jack Stensgard remembers always being smaller than his older brother as they grew up. One-on-one matchups in the driveway “were tough,” he said, but have finally evened out now that both are about 6-foot-3.

Jack is the Spartans’ point guard. Sam is a versatile guard who can play anywhere from the two spot to the four, depending on the night. Both are great shooters, handle the ball well and have good court vision, coach Ben Bushow said.

“When you have two guards that can play like that, it makes it really hard for other teams to match up,” the coach said. “You take one away, and we still have the other.”

The Stensgards have posed matchup problems for teams since Sam was 10 and Jack was 9 — the first year they played on the same team. Since then they’ve had just one winter season not on the same court, Sam’s eighth-grade year when he was called up to varsity.

“It’s been such a great experience,” Jack said of playing with his brother. “He’s always been one of the better players, and to have him to play with and practice with — I know it’s made all the difference for me.

“And we’re really close, so it’s fun to just have that together.”

Final run

Jack said he can’t imagine what next season will be like. Channeling his brother, he’d prefer not to.

“Everyone kind of looked at this year as a great chance to really make a [playoff] run, and we’re just really focused on that,” he said. “It’s our last year all playing together, and everyone wants that run.”

“It’s just kind of on everyone’s minds right now,” Sam said. “We’re just trying to get together as a team and get in a position to play our best basketball at the end.”