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Full Court Press: Three major questions that will define the 2022-23 South Dakota basketball season

landon dierks, the daily republic, mitchell, s.d.
·7 min read

Dec. 20—MITCHELL — While the weather has slowed the advance of the 2022-23 South Dakota prep basketball season, it's also provided time to ponder the long season ahead while having the benefit of a few results to draw from.

This week in the Full Court Press, we consider three major storylines to monitor with the season set to resume and kick into high gear following the holiday season.

Four of the six classes started the season with the defending state champion as the No. 1 ranked team in the South Dakota Prep Media basketball polls.

The two that did not: Sioux Falls Roosevelt (Class AA boys) and De Smet (Class B boys), the most dominant programs in South Dakota prep basketball over the past two seasons.

Both programs are winners of two-straight state championships in their respective classes — Roosevelt won 35 straight games (including a 24-0 season in 2021-22) on the way to back-to-back titles, while De Smet posted a pair of 25-1 seasons, with neither loss coming against Class B competition — but in both cases, the graduation of top talent is expected to end their reign.

The Rough Riders had 10 seniors on last season's roster, while the Bulldogs' starting lineup included four seniors, including a pair of future college basketball players in three-time player of the year Kalen Garry (South Dakota State) and first-team all-state talent Rett Osthus (Dakota Wesleyan).

So, then, who is expected to dethrone Roosevelt and De Smet?

In Class AA, the heir apparent isn't far away, as Roosevelt, which was not ranked in the top five of the polls to start the season but checked in at No. 5 in the Dec. 19 poll, has (at least for the moment) ceded its place at the top to fellow west side school, Sioux Falls Jefferson. The schools squared off in the season opener, with Jefferson overcoming a slow start to pull away for a 73-61 win.

While the Cavaliers bring back a plethora of talent from last season, at this point, a state basketball title doesn't feel nearly as inevitable as what Jefferson accomplished on the football field this season.

At No. 2 in the rankings, Sioux Falls Lincoln also returns several top contributors, highlighted by 7-footer J.T. Rock, a junior being courted by many of the best college programs in the country. Jefferson pushed past Lincoln, 71-57, on Tuesday night for another massive early-season result.

And it's far from a two-horse race to unseat the Riders, with no less than seven more programs — No. 3 Pierre, No. 4 Yankton, Mitchell, Sioux Falls Washington, Harrisburg, Brandon Valley and O'Gorman — likely feeling that they can compete at the top of Class AA.

In Class B, White River is ranked No. 1 and boasts one of the best backcourts in the state with South Dakota State commit Joe Sayler and Nicolas Marshall, but De Smet didn't fade in the rankings like Roosevelt did, maintaining a place at No. 2 in the polls.

Behind the Tigers and Bulldogs lies a mess of contenders and hopefuls, including No. 3 Aberdeen Christian, last season's runner-up and fourth-ranked Lower Brule, No. 5 Castlewood, Gregory, Howard, Canistota, Wall and Faith.

All three defending girls champions started the season as the top-ranked team in their respective classes.

But with that level of expectation comes an undeniable, and sometimes unendurable, amount of pressure.

Of the three preseason No. 1s from 2021-22, two of them made the state tournament and none won a state title. Sioux Falls Washington and Aberdeen Roncalli carried impressive regular seasons into the tournament as the No. 1 seed, only to be upset by the No. 8 seed in the quarterfinals.

This season, that burden falls on O'Gorman, St. Thomas More and Viborg-Hurley, which will each have to stave off a deep field of challengers to repeat as state champs. But in the case of all three, they have the benefit of having one of the best players in the class to lead the charge — guard Mahli Abdouch (O'G), forward Reese Ross (STM) and forward Coral Mason (V-H). Abdouch is a South Dakota State pledge, while Ross will be headed to the University of Utah.

There always seems to be at least one team that exceeds preseason expectations on the way to a high seed and successful postseason run.

Last season, the Wagner girls fit the bill, as the Red Raiders started the season with only three votes in the polls but rocketed up the rankings and entered the postseason as the No. 1 seed.

Most teams have played once or twice despite the season entering its third full week due to a litany of weather-related game cancellations, which makes evaluating and comparing teams at this juncture difficult. However, the Lakota Nation Invitational provided an early platform for one team to establish its early candidacy for a Wagner-esque climb.

Rapid City Christian took down the LNI boys championship with a 79-77 win over Class B No. 1-ranked White River, improving to 5-0 on the season. Behind four wins in four days at the event, the Comets entered the Class A boys poll. RCC had not received a single vote in either of the first two South Dakota Prep Media polls this season but garnered 12 this week and now sits just outside the top five.

And it's only a matter of time before more programs across all three classes of boys and girls hoops join the Comets. Within the next month, events such as the Hoop City Classic and Hanson Classic will provide a proving ground for top contenders and up-and-comers alike, as postseason hopefuls get ample opportunity to challenge ranked foes looking to bolster their positions.

The best part? There are still 10 weeks to enjoy until March.

* Isaac Bruns, Dakota Valley: The South Dakota commit poured in 39 points as the Panthers rolled to an 89-53 win over Minneapolis North (Minn.).

* Spencer Karstens and Preston Karstens, Gayville-Volin: The Raiders notched a win over Andes Central/Dakota Christian behind Spencer's 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists alongside a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double (with five assists) from Preston.

* Boston Katzer, McCook Central/Montrose: As the Cougars picked up a win over Bon Homme, Katzer shot 13-of-19 from the field, scoring 30 points to go with four rebounds, three assists and two steals.

* Benson Kieffer, Rapid City Christian: On his way to winning tournament MVP at the Lakota Nation Invitational, Kieffer put up 28 points in the championship game upset of Class B No. 1 White River, including the game-winning jump shot in the final seconds.

* Kris Meeter, Tiospaye Topa: Just a sophomore, Meeter broke the LNI tournament record with 145 points across four games, an average of 36.3 per contest. The 6-foot-3 guard topped the previous record of 137 points held by White River's Louie Krogman, the leading scorer in South Dakota prep history. Meeter's highlight of the week came in a 54-point eruption against Santee (Neb.), where he went 15 for 25 from the field with seven 3s and 17-of-22 from the free-throw line.

* Jace Mohr, Wall: An early candidate for game of the year, Wall outlasted McLaughlin in triple overtime at the LNI behind a 31-point effort from Mohr, who pushed the game to a third overtime with a late 3-pointer in the second extra period.

* Kyle Virtue, Custer: As the Wildcats eked past Todd County at the LNI, Virtue posted 25 points and 12 rebounds, including a banked-in 3-pointer as time expired that completed a five-point comeback in the final 20 seconds.

* Abby Aslesen, Howard: Aslesen powered the Tigers to a win over Freeman, recording a 32-point, 11-rebound double-double.

* Tyrianna Hawk Bear and Tylene Hawk Bear, Wakpala: On the strength of a pair of double-doubles, with Tyrianna notching 26 points and 21 rebounds and Tylene added 19 points and 14 rebounds, Wakpala defeated Takini at the LNI.

* Ava Lingemann and Marissa Storm, Ethan: The Rustlers topped Freeman Academy/Marion, as Lingemann and Storm combined to score 50 points (28 and 22, respectively).

* Coral Mason, Viborg-Hurley: Mason once again stuffed the box score in the Cougars' win over Irene-Wakonda, putting up 23 points, four rebounds, five assists, six steals and three blocks.

* Julissa Shaw, Todd County: As the Falcons soared to a win over Pine Ridge at the LNI, Shaw dropped in 33 points along with four rebounds and seven steals.