What you need to know about Watertown's girls, boys high school basketball teams

Let's be frank when talking about the 2022-23 Watertown High School basketball teams and just know that it's likely the girls are in position for a better season this winter.

Chad Rohde takes over as the head coach of a girls team that returns three starters and a number of other regulars off a team that went 9-12 last winter, the program's best record since 2012.

"It's like I said last summer when I took over with Pat (McClemans) certainly getting the ball rolling with a lot of things,: said Rohde. "With that and the fact that we have a lot of returning players, there's truthfully a lot of excitement for us. The girls are having fun and practices have been pretty energetic."

McClemans is still involved in Arrow basketball, just in a slightly different capacity this winter. After 20 years as a head girls basketball coach in South Dakota, including two stints with Watertown, he is getting ready to begin his first season as a boys head coach with Watertown's boys.

The Arrows' entire starting lineup and most of its offensive production, including All-State player Drew Norberg, has departed.

"We're going to have to do the little things, or fundamental things, extremely well," he said. "We're going to have to take charges, get on the floor for loose balls and make sure that every time a shot goes up we're making contact with somebody and not giving up offensive rebounds."

The Watertown teams each open their seasons tonight (Friday) against Brookings. The girls will host the Bobcats and the boys will head to Brookings for 7 p.m. games.

Here's a look at each of the Arrow squads:

Watertown Girls

• Head Coach — Chad Rohde, first year as head coach. He replaces Pat McClemans, who led the Arrows to a 15-27 record the past two seasons.

• Assistants — Tia Hemiller, Stacey Hendricks and Mackenzie Buelow.

• 2021-22 Record — 9-12 overall, 6-2 in the Eastern South Dakota Conference.

• Top Returnees — Jaida Young, 5-foot-8 sr. guard-forward (team-leading 11.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.1 steals per game, All-ESD selection); Maddy Rohde, 5-7 sr. guard (7 ppg and 3.2 rpg, 32 3-pointers); and Kendall Paulson, 5-9, sr. forward (6.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg).

• Others to Watch —Miranda Falconer, 5-7, jr. guard (3.4 ppg); Emery Thury, 5-10, so. forward (3.1 ppg); Grace Corey, 5-9, so. forward (3.1 ppg, 2.9 rpg); and Jade Lund, 5-8, jr. forward-guard (4.2 ppg). Addi Johnston, a 5-6 jr. guard, and Avery Munger, a 5-11 jr. forward-center, each appeared in 15 games.

• Conference-Class AA — The Arrows made a run at their first ESD championship since 2011 last winter, starting 6-0 before losses to Pierre and Aberdeen Central allowed Brandon Valley to claim the title with a 7-1 record. Brandon Valley should contend again this winter along with Harrisburg, Pierre, Huron, Aberdeen Central and Watertown.

Defending state champion Sioux Falls O'Gorman is rated No. 1 in the preseason Class AA poll, followed by Sioux Falls Jefferson, Sioux Falls Washington, Brandon Valley and Pierre.

• Schedule — The Arrows girls have nine home and 11 road games scheduled for the regular season. They will also host Douglas (Dec. 17) and Tea (Jan. 17) as part of girls-boys doubleheaders with other remaining home games against O'Gorman (Jan. 6), Huron (Jan. 24), Sioux Falls Lincoln (Jan. 31), Sioux Falls Jefferson (Feb. 7), Aberdeen Central (Feb. 14) and Harrisburg (Feb. 23).

The Class AA SoDak 16 state-qualifying games are set for Friday, March 3 with the state tourney slated for March 9-11 at Sioux Falls.

• Season Outlook — The Arrow girls have qualified for state since 2009 and appear to have the pieces to at least challenge for a top 8 seed and earn the chance to play a SoDak 16 state-qualifying game at home for the first time.

Young, who recently committed to play college basketball at Dakota Wesleyan, and Rohde, a recent University of South Dakota track and field commit, are each three-year starters and Young also saw action as a freshman. Paulson also started some games as a sophomore and is a three-year starter. Munger and Madisyn Grimsrud, a 6-1 sophomore, add some size to the lineup.

"A lot has been missing in Watertown girls basketball these last 10-12 years. Our girls are pretty focused and determined to certainly give the effort that is needed," said Coach Rohde. "This is a group of girls that is determined to rebuild the tradition and the culture of Watertown girls basketball that has been missing since the late 2000s."

Watertown Boys

• Head Coach — Pat McClemans, first year. He replaces Zach Wevik, who led the Arrows to a 34-50 record in four seasons.

• Assistants —Matti Kranz, Tommy Mattingly and Zach Toben.

• 2021-22 Record — 6-15 overall, 3-5 in the ESD.

• Top Returnees — Kohen Kranz, 5-11, jr. guard (3.5 ppg); Jake Olson, 6-1 jr. forward (2.8 ppg); and Marcus Rabine, 6-1, jr,. forward (1.4 ppg).

• Others to Watch — Jack Heesch, a 5-11 sr. guard; Dalton Baumberger, 6-0 sr., guard; and Izack Redfield, 6-4, sr., center, also saw varsity time last winter. Baumberger appeared in seven games, Heesch five and Redfield four.

• Conference-Class AA — Mitchell went 7-1 to win the conference last year and Aberdeen Central, Brandon Valley, Harrisburg and Yankton each tied for second at 5-3. Pierre, which is rated fifth in the preseason Class AA poll, is among the teams to beat in the conference this winter along with Mitchell, Brandon Valley, Harisburg and Yankton.

Sioux Falls Roosevelt capped a perfect 24-0 season with a second-straight state Class AA title last March but lost a number of key players to graduation. Sioux Falls Jefferson is rated No. 1, Harrisburg No. 2 and Sioux Falls Lincoln and O'Gorman each tied for No. 3 in the preseason poll.

• Schedule —The Arrow boys have 10 home and 10 road games on their schedule. They will host Douglas (Dec. 17) and Tea Area (Jan. 17) as part of boys-girls doubleheaders and also will host Mitchell (Dec. 13), Pierre (Dec. 20), Brandon Valley (Jan. 3), Aberdeen Central (Jan. 10), Yankton (Jan. 13), Sioux Falls Washington (Feb. 3), Sioux Falls Roosevelt (Feb. 10) and Huron (Feb. 17).

The Class AA SoDak 16 state-qualifying games are set for Saturday, March 4 with the state tourney slated for March 16-18 at Rapid City.

• Season Outlook — It's kind of the same-old story for the Arrows, who basically have a team of guards and small forwards and lack the same size as many of the state's other AA teams.

"Length, at times, you just can't do anything about it. You predominantly don't get a lot of easy shots and rebounding becomes more of an issue," said McClemans. "If you don't have an anchor in the middle to deter shots, it just gets hard."

Norberg scored 21 points per game last winter on the way to earning Class AA All-State first team honors, but now is the chance for some others to step up.

McClemans knows the odds are long, but he feels the Arrows have a number of players who can make key contributions this winter.

"While it's certainly nice to have someone who has the potential to go out and get 20 points, I'd just as soon have seven guys who can get you eight," said McClemans. "I do think we have to the ability to do that and the potential to have a balanced team that can maybe spread the wealth around."

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Watertown basketball teams to meet Brookings in season openers.