It was Christmas week a year ago and I was looking for a story to help inspire and bring hope to others.

In a hallway at Roncalli Gym, I ran my idea past Mark Senftner, whose Sully Buttes girls’ basketball team had just finished playing. Senftner was battling brain cancer and told me he was leaving the next morning for a medical appointment.

While the timing was rushed to say the least, I told him we could meet at halftime of the boys’ game and do a quick interview if that worked for him.

As I waited to interview a Roncalli player, I saw Mark and his wife, Lynn, talking down the hallway. Mark soon returned and agreed to meet so we could do the interview and have a story.

Mark lost his battle with cancer this past week, but that moment encapsulates what he was all about: doing whatever he could to help improve the lives of others.

During that brief interview, Senftner talked about his future, his love for his family and his trust in God.

“I’m just in the hands of the good Lord and whatever he decides for me, I guess that’s what I’ll have to live with,” he said.

Ever the fierce competitor, Senftner was not about to let his illness serve as an excuse to lower expectations on the court.

“Wins aren’t as big, don’t mean as much, then on the other hand they do, because the kids put in the same amount of effort,” he said. “To me, it’s probably a little bit different. Staying alive is the number one thing for my family.”

Senftner’s extended family reached far beyond the small community of Onida.

As word got out of his passing, tributes and condolences have been pouring in from all across the state. That support started as soon as he was diagnosed with cancer.

“Everybody always asks how come you live in South Dakota and now I can tell them,” Senftner said that late December evening. “The outreach was tremendous. It brings tears to my eyes.”

Through the years the Senftner ‘family’ continued to grow as Mark made a lasting impact on those around him, players as well as opposing coaches.

About 15 years ago, an up-and-coming coach got to meet Senftner at a coaching clinic in Aberdeen.

“I was a young and inexperienced coach at that time, so I was so excited to sit down and talk basketball with him,” said Mark Amdahl, now the boys’ basketball coach for Waubay-Summit. “I studied him from afar and noticed how well his teams were coached. They were always poised and confident, never cocky. That was a direct representation of the person he was. We modeled our team in Summit based off things he was doing at Sully Buttes.”

Soon, Amdahl was molding the Summit girls’ program into a Class B power, just like Sully Buttes already was. It was only a matter of time before the two collided in a state tournament.

That moment came in the semifinals of the 2008 tourney in Huron in a battle for the ages. Sully Buttes won the epic contest by six points, the closest game for the Chargers en route to winning the state championship, one of four by Senftner-coached teams.

Summit would go on to win state titles in three of the next four seasons (including a win over Sully Buttes in the 2012 final). That semifinal game cemented a long-lasting friendship.

“We had a mutual respect even more for each other after that game, and it wasn’t long after that we would talk on the phone about basketball and life,” Amdahl said.

Senftner’s coaching numbers speak for themselves: more than 500 girls’ basketball wins, 14 state tourney appearances, four state championships; more than 100 football wins and three trips to the state title game.

But Senftner’s legacy goes way beyond the athletic arena and school banners.

“What I will remember most is that he always asked how my family was doing when we talked. He would ask about our family farm and seemed so interested,” Amdahl said. “Lynn and Mark send cards to my kids randomly. They are so kind and thoughtful, and always put others before themselves.”

Just like the scene that played out last December in that back hallway at Roncalli Gym.