MARTENSDALE, Iowa — In the small town of Martensdale, there is a prevailing theme.
"Family doesn't fight alone, be a family."
"We're literally brothers."
That is only natural when there are less than 1,000 people in town.
"Oh yeah ... everybody knows everybody."
Inside the high school gym, the Blue Devils are having a historic season.
"It's an incredible feeling. It's not just this year, it's been a 10-year process," Martensdale-St. Marys Head Coach Joe Franey said.
A group of guys that grew up playing together are now in their second straight state tournament, but they will take the floor on Monday, as they have all season, one player short.
"We'd love to have him here and it sucks he can't be here, but we really take that as a chip on our shoulder to do better this year and get it done for him," senior Carson Elbert told Local 5.
He is Brooks Trom. Trom is on the roster, but he does not stay for practice.
"All you have to do is look at him and say 'Yep I've got to go give everything I've got because that's what he would do,'" Franey said.
Trom was diagnosed with Leukemia late last year. He spent his senior season watching from the hospital bed and the sidelines, while his brothers went to work.
"I didn't have to say anything because the kids took it on right away and said 'We are going to do this for him,'" Franey said. "Since our first day of practice it was about, 'We are doing this for Brooks. We are getting to the state tournament for Brooks.'"
"He's never sad about it. He's never like 'Oh poor me.' He's not that type of kid," Elbert said. "He attacks his life one day at a time and that's really inspirational and motivational for us."
Monday, the Blue Devils begin the charge for their first state title, as a family, with 15 on the bench and one in the stands.
"They're more of an inspiration to me than I am to them," Trom said. "They go out there every night playing for me and it means a lot to me and I don't know what I would do without them."