Widely-considered the top team in Class B, the De Smet Bulldogs have paid no attention to the hype.
“We don’t really talk about it much. Our focus this year is to just be 1-0 and we just went 1 game at a time,” Head Coach Jeff Gruenhagen said. “There are a lot of good teams out there in Class B this year. There is just a bunch of talent and every game is different for us, and every preparation is different.”
It’s that mentality by the Bulldogs that has led to such a great season, even against a tough schedule. The Bulldogs faced a tough trio of teams to start the year, Deubrook Area, Clark/Willow Lake and Dell Rapids St. Mary, but walked away with a victory in each game.
“We had a great season this year. We started off early playing some good teams over Christmas break there and our guys came out right at the start ready to play and it’s just been fun,” Gruenhagen said. “And we were fortunate to come out on top.”
The tough schedule didn’t stop there. De Smet suffered their only loss of the season against Class A State Qualifier Sioux Valley on December 31st, but instead of focusing on the loss, the Bulldogs turned their focus back to being 1-0 in every game, and won a huge victory against Class B State Qualifier Viborg-Hurley just two days after the Sioux Valley loss.
“It made us realize that there are nights we can get beat, and the guys didn’t enjoy that, they don’t like to lose. We got some great opponents early on and you just have to be ready to go from the start,” Gruenhagen said of the Sioux Valley loss. “We put our focus on ‘hey we just need to make sure we’re taking care of everything and getting better every day at practice.”
The Bulldogs picked up momentum as the season went on, getting wins against Howard, Canistota (Class B State Qualifier), Hamlin, Platte-Geddes, Elkton-Lake Benton, Flandreau, and others. But perhaps no win was bigger, or more defining, then their nine-point victory on February 13th over #3 White River.
“That was a good win for us. They play fast-paced and wide-open,” Gruenhagen said. “That was a good win that kind of tested us cause we played 32 minutes where they keep coming at you and you have to defend and keep rebounding. We did a great job that night of sticking together and kept on battling.”
The Bulldogs will bring experience back into the state tournament. Many of the players were around in 2019, when De Smet reached the championship. The top-rated Bulldogs were poised to return last season, but a cancellation of the tournament stole away the opportunity to play. Now, the Bulldogs are back to finish what they started.
“In 18-19 when we got to the championship game, that kind of got our focus for the next season to get back there and then when we never had that opportunity,” Gruenhagen said of the cancellation. “When they finally cancelled it, it remind us that it’s a hard thing to get to the state tournament every year, and to be in one that they’re not going to play is hard to get over and hard to get past, and I think they kind of carried that this year.”
The road back to the championship won’t be easy, as the Bulldogs face a tough Lower Brule (16-7) team at noon today.
“They are a really good team and they have three guards that can really put points on the board fast,” Gruenhagen said.”
But even with a difficult opponent in the way, the Bulldogs will remain focused on the “1-0 mentality” to reach the championship. And that strategy has worked out for De Smet before, as the school holds six state championships to its name…with #7 possibly on the way.
