Final Top 10:
In South Dakota, only 3 teams can hold the trophy, but that doesn’t take away a great season. We looked at the entire season of work to decide who should be in the top ten.
1. Roosevelt 17-5
High-end talent with maybe only one college basketball player? But add some D1 football players and an elite baseball player, and you have a championship team. Feldcamp put 3 great games together, and Large was impossible to stay in front of. Phillips was also dominant, and sophomore Ashley might be their best basketball player…When you bring a 6’3 D1 WR that can shoot, off your bench, you know that team has talent.
2. Yankton 20-4
Mors and co. shot poorly in the 1st round against Mitchell, but advanced, and in the semis against Roosevelt they shot 2-19 on 3s. Roosevelt was the better team, but it would have been nice to see if the Bucks could have made it a game after the Mors dunk cut the lead to 6, but we will never know. Besides the tournament, the Bucks put together a great season, defeating Mitchell (2x), Washington, SC East, Roosevelt, O’Gorman and a couple of great teams from Wyoming.
3. SF Christian 20-5
After losing Van Donkersgoed before the state tourney, a lot of people didn’t think the Chargers could compete. All they did was insert 6’9 junior Nathan Koole and the rest is history. Seniors Van Beek and Prins were awesome throughout the entire tourney. The Chargers were 12-22 on 3-pointers in the championship and forced Sioux Valley to shoot 6-28 on 3s, and that equals a 34 -point championship win.
4. DeSmet 25-1
DeSmet was by far the heavy favorite to win class B. Their 6 playoff margins of victory were 32, 20, 26, 27, 12 and 16, and with what they have in returning players, a repeat is highly likely.
5. O’Gorman 17-7
The Coach Robey machine keeps grinding. After starting the season 3-4, OG then went 14-2 before running into Roosevelt in the championship. They beat SF Washington 3 times in the last month, with a great 4th quarter comeback semi-final night to make the championship.
6. SF Washington 17-4
Washington claimed the top spot in AA a month into the season, then ran into their nemesis in OG on Friday night.
The Warriors also finished a great season with a historic moment:
7. Sioux Valley 23-2
The Cossacks not only avenged their only loss of the season to Dakota Valley, they rallied in the 4th quarter, out scoring the Panthers 21-10, to advance to the championship. The Cossacks ran into a hot shooting team in SF Christian, but what a great season for Sioux Valley.
8. Dakota Valley 23-3
The Paul Bruns era came to an end this past weekend, as the 2000-point scorer and UND commit helped Dakota Valley to a 3rd place finish. Now, it’s Isaac’s turn to lead to Panthers
9. Brandon Valley 16-8
This senior class finished their career with a 6th place finish. They helped win state as sophomores and would have had a good shot last year. Coach Brent Deckert coaches his last game, and we wish him the best as he continues to inspire us with his battle and journey.
10. Vermillion 23-2
Going into the state tourney 22-0 was an incredible feat. Then, a great steal and layup by Dobney to take the lead only to have Landon Ruesink hit the game winner as time expires. Total Heart Break. This Tanagers team will be remembered as one that took the state by storm.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Class AA player of year: Yankton’s Matthew Mors
Class A player of the year: Vermillion’s Jacob Dobney
Class B player of the year: DeSmet’s Kalen Garry
ALL-STATE ANY CLASS
Matthew Mors, Yankton
Jacob Dobney, Vermillion
Kalen Garry, DeSmet
Paul Bruns, Dakota Valley
Isaac Bruns, Dakota Valley
Tyler Feldkamp, Roosevelt
Caden Hinker, Mitchell
Connor Libis, Dell Rapids St. Mary
Joe Sayler, White River
Micah Swallow, Rapid City Central
