Keaton Riley’s busy summer schedule shows that basketball’s pulse in Cook County isn’t just strong, it’s thriving. I spoke with him shortly after the two-day youth camp wrapped up and just days after his team celebrated a successful run in the summer boys basketball league.
In just a few hours, Riley would be busy with the alumni game tip off, and the next day would bring Hoopin’ in the Harbor during Grand Marais’ Fisherman’s Picnic weekend.
“Yeah, it’s a busy one,” said the Cook County varsity boys basketball coach, now heading into his fourth year leading the team.
Riley coached Cook County’s team in the Twin Ports Summer League, which features six dates where teams travel to a host site and play two teams in one day. It’s something the players look forward to every summer.
“We ended up going eight and four this year,” Riley said. “In our four losses, I think we lost by a combined thirteen points. We’re super competitive. We’re super happy about it.”
That performance earned Cook County the best record in the small school division of the Polar League, a big milestone for the team’s summer efforts.
Riley described the summer league as a relaxed space where the focus is purely on the joy of basketball. “It’s a really fun environment,” he explained. “It’s fun to just go and really play basketball without the added pressure of the actual game.”
Most of the varsity team stays involved throughout the summer, making it a key period for growth and development. This extended time on the court gives players a chance to sharpen their skills, build chemistry, and prepare for the challenges of the upcoming season.
Riley acknowledged the challenges of keeping the whole team involved during the summer.
“Sometimes there’s a little bit of different kids that can come based on, sometimes the kids are on vacation or they have to work,” he said. “But I try to make my varsity ready. It’s such an important time, especially for us losing eight seniors. So, figuring out who’s ready to make that jump from JV to varsity? What does a kid struggle with? What are some of his assets?”
Summer practice and play create a foundation the team can build on during the season.
“I think not having that going into next season, it would be really hard to play catch up,” Riley explained. “It’s really fortunate we can do this in the summers.”
By the 2025-2026 season, the team’s strengths, both individual and collective, will be clear.
“It’s a turning of a page,” Riley said. “We lost some kids that played a ton of varsity minutes for us in the last four years. Now we’re gaining some people that we’ve helped develop in a junior varsity level and now they’re getting varsity time. Sometimes they surprise you. They’re so far ahead from where they used to be.”
The team plays what Riley calls a “good team brand of basketball.” He explained, “The ball moves really fast, they play aggressively, they play together. There’s no arguing they truly love each other out there. It was refreshing to see a lot of that.”
Success over the summer, despite losing eight seniors, has boosted the team’s confidence and raised expectations for the coming season.
“A lot of these guys have played together at the JV level and they’ve had a lot of success on that level,” Riley said. “We do a lot of stuff over the summer, like three on three and offseason league. They play together and it’s kind of like they know they already knew they’d be pretty good. I think this team plays really well with each other. They know each other inside and out.”
Riley went on to say that the team’s chemistry goes a long way in supporting each other and enjoying their time together.
“It’s not like we’re the best shooting team, or the best dribbling team, or the best defensive team out there,” he said. “But I truly think knowing each other and truly feeling like your teammate has your back lets you play as hard as you can. I would be hard pressed to find another team that plays as hard as we do.”
While there will be comfort with experience, Riley acknowledges there will also be growing pains.
“I’m not coming into the season expecting to be champs of anything, and I don’t think that should be the message here,” he said. “I think there’s a message of you show up, you work hard, you dedicate yourself to something, there’s a chance to be good. Sometimes all you really need is that chance and you get a taste of success, then you can build off of it. We have to build off of what we did this summer and can’t expect to walk in and just beat anybody. Quite frankly, it should be a really competitive season for a lot of teams.”
The players’ willingness to dedicate so much time to basketball throughout the summer is something Riley really appreciates, especially since many juggle multiple sports.
“Kids have really sacrificed their time in the offseason to get to things,” he said. “It’s very easy to just show up and play a sport for a season. It’s really hard to play for twelve months of the year.”
Progress is being made not just on the court but among the coaching staff as they coordinate to support multi-sport athletes.
“Things are building here,” Riley said. “It takes a long time. But things are building in the right direction here.”
Youth interest in basketball is one of the positive trends taking shape. The 2025 Annual Fisherman’s Picnic Youth Basketball Camp, held July 30th–31st, was a skills-based program for boys and girls entering grades 4 through 9. Now in its third year, the camp has seen exponential growth.
Riley recalled the camp’s humble beginnings two summers ago, stating, “We started this two summers ago and I remember having eight kids. I think we had seventeen last year. Now we have twenty-seven this year. Really proud of how that’s grown, and I hope to have over thirty next year.”
Parents say their kids had a blast at the camp and many are eager to return next year, which bodes well for future teams in the community.
For a small school, developing youth skills is vital to success. Riley says the camp wouldn’t be where it is without the support of Community Ed Coordinator Jens Jacobsen.
“He’s been a huge asset to the growth of this, as well,” Riley said.
Assistant coach Will Sandstrom and varsity players help run the camp, making it easier to organize groups by skill and experience. The event also serves as a fundraiser for the basketball program.
Another fundraiser Riley is involved with is the Cook County Basketball Alumni Game, held during Fisherman’s Picnic weekend. Now in its second year, the event has officially become an annual tradition.
The event was a hit last year, with twenty men showing up for the game. Though they couldn’t form a full team for the women’s game, some high school players stepped in to fill the roster. When I reached back out to Riley after the event he advised that this year they had 18 men and 10 women participate.
“It was great!” he reported.
Referees for the game included Scott Steinbach, who retired from the elementary school last year after more than twenty years coaching JV and elementary teams, and Rob Hackett, a current varsity player who also helps officiate JV games.
Also happening during Fishermen’s Picnic weekend was Hoopin’ in the Harbor, a 3-on-3 tournament held in downtown Grand Marais, an event the coach says has been around “long before my time.”
I wished Riley good luck with the busy weekend ahead and hoped he’d still have some energy left after all the fun.
With a laugh, he admitted, “I think about how long I can keep this up. I don’t know but it’s kind of fun and it sure helps. We just raised quite a few funds on the youth camp alone. It’s fun and gives people an opportunity to play basketball. And I think that bodes well for what we’re trying to do with our program.”
