Top three Class B boys teams, No. 3 Class A Sioux Valley earn region wins

The state's top three-rated Class B boys basketball teams (No. 1 Aberdeen Christian, No. 2 De Smet and No. 3 Lower Brule) and No. 3 Class A Sioux Valley each won their opening games in their respective region tournaments on Tuesday.

Semifinal games in Region 1B, 2B, 6B, 1A, 2A and 6A are all scheduled Friday. Winners of those games advance to SoDak 16 state-qualifying games on Tuesday, March 7.

Here a breakdown of Tuesday's region games:

Region 1A

No. 1 seed Waubay-Summit (18-3) 56, No. 8 Sisseton (1-19) 20: Damon Opdahl tallied 19 points, seven rebounds and six steals; Jonathan Johnston 12 points and seven rebounds, Jackson Wohlleber 10 points and six rebounds, Jared Purdy nine points and Brady Lindholm six points and five assists for Waubay-Summit. Colter Hanson's six points paced Sisseton.

No. 2 Groton Area (15-5) 72, No. 7 Webster Area (4-16) 28: Lane Tietz surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career by scoring 30 points for the Tigers. Jacob Zak contributed 14 points, five rebounds and four steals; Cole Simon 11 points and Tate Larson eight. Matthew Mount scored 12 points for the Bearcats.

No. 3 Milbank (14-7) 56, No. 6 Redfield (8-13) 28: Milbank advanced with 18 points and six rebounds from Yohana Ajwanga and 11 points from Justus Osborn. Joe Schulte contributed seven points and Garrett Mertens and Jaxson Wildung six each. Wildung also collected six rebounds. Jerron Haider and Justin Ratigan each finished with six points for Redfield.

No. 4 Tiospa Zina (10-10) 37, No. 5 Aberdeen Roncalli (9-12) 34: Storm Sierra scored 11 points, Reondre Greeley nine and Mike Smith seven to lead the Wambdi. Maddox Miller's 10 points and Aiden Fisher's eight topped Roncalli.

Friday's Semifinals: Tiospa Zina at Waubay-Summit, 7 p.m. in Summit; and Milbank at Groton Area, 6:30 p.m.

Region 2A

No. 1 Sioux Valley (19-2) 79, No. 8 Elkton-Lake Benton (7-15) 40: The Cossacks scored 18 unanswered points to start the game and cruised behind 18 points from Alec Squires, 14 from Patrick Carey, 12 from Oliver Vincent, 10 from Maverick Nelson and eight from Hudsyn Ruesink. Boden Schiller added eight rebounds and Squires six. Vincent had six assists and Carey and Maxwell Engebretson each five. Ryan Krog's 16 points paced the Elks.

No. 2 Hamlin (17-3) 59, No. 7 Great Plains Lutheran (9-12) 22: Hamlin raced to a 22-2 lead after the first quarter on the way to the victory. Tyson Stevenson scored 13 points, Brennan Keszler 12, Evan Stormo 10, Zac VanMeeteren eight and Jackson Wadsworth six for Hamlin. Austin Rubendall and Myles York led GPL with nine and seven points, respectively.

No. 3 Clark-Willow Lake (15-5) 63, No. 6 Florence-Henry (10-11) 35: Tyson Huber scored 15 points, Kaplan Felberg 14, Trey Huber 13 and Cole Brenden six for the Cyclones. Carson Vavruska led the Falcons with 13 points. Peyton Roe added seven and Mehki Keller and Tegan Sumner each six.

No. 4 Deuel (13-8) 72, No. 5 Estelline-Hendricks (11-10) 47: Trey Maaland produced 20 points; Braydon Simon 16 points and 11 rebounds; Gavin Benck 19 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four steals and Ronnie Begalka seven points for Deuel. Braxton Saathoff scored 15 points and Joe McAninch, Wyat James and Braxton Pravecek eight each for the Redhawks. James also hauled in seven rebounds and McAninch six.

Friday's Semifinals: Deuel at Sioux Valley and Clark-Willow Lake at Hamlin. Times to be determined.

Region 6A

No. 2 Miller (12-9) 64, No. 7 Stanley County (3-18) 52: No other details were reported.

No. 3 Crow Creek (10-11) 91, No. 6 Cheyenne-Eagle Butte (2-19) 61: No other details were reported.

Other Games: Two games at McLaughlin, No. 8 North Central (1-19) vs. No. 1 McLaughlin (10-8) and No. 5 Dupree (4-15) vs. No. 5 Mobridge-Pollock (10-10) were postponed to Friday.

Region 1B

No. 1 Aberdeen Christian (19-2) 55, No. 8 Britton-Hecla (3-18) 17: Malek Wieker recorded 13 points and six rebounds, Ethan Russell and Kaden Clark each 10 points and Jackson Isakson eight points for the Knights. Three players scored three points for Britton-Hecla.

No. 2 Northwestern (16-5) 78, No. 7 Langford Area (4-17) 38: Quintin Fischbach led the way with 23 points for the Wildcats, who also received 16 points apiece from Lincoln Woodring and Chase Neiber and eight from Jude Ortmeier. Neiber grabbed nine rebounds and Nathan Melius and Ortmeier seven apiece. Melius dished out eight assists and Neiber five. Kassen Keough scored 12 points, Rennan Bruns nine and Jesse Keough eight for Langford Area.

No. 3 Warner (14-7) 56, No. 6 Waverly-South Shore (10-11) 45: Hunter Cramer poured in 25 points and Levi Scepaniak 19 to guide the Monarchs. Troy Kneeland had 16 points and Landon Maag 14 for the Coyotes.

No. 5 Hitchcock-Tulare (11-10) 45, No. 4 Leola-Frederick Area (11-10) 44: Hitchcock-Tulare advanced with 12 points from TJ Salmen, 10 from Riley Fliehe and eight from Landon Puffer. LFA's Noah Kippling tallied 17 points, Brayden Sumption 10 and Hans Lapka nine.

Friday's Semifinals: At Webster Armory, Hitchcock-Tulare vs. Aberdeen Christian at 6 p.m., followed by Warner vs. Northwestern at 7:30 p.m.

Region 2B

No. 1 De Smet (18-3) 77, No. 9 Oldham-Ramona-Rutland (2-20) 20: The Bulldogs used 14 points from George Jensen, 13 each from Kasen Janssen and Kadyn Fast, 10 from Damon Wilkinson and eight from Trace Van Regenmorter to roll to the win. Caden Hojer recorded eight points for ORR.

No. 2 Castlewood (16-5) 79, No. 7 Flandreau Indian School (6-15) 46: The Warriors rolled behind 27 points from Lane Tvedt, 22 from Joe Decker, 15 from Bryon Laue and seven from Quincy Thu. Booker Schooley and Laue each collected seven rebounds. Malik Longie garnered 19 points, L'Trell Brother of All 14 and Payton Palmier seven for FIS.

No. 3 James Valley Christian (17-4) 60, No. 6 Deubrook Area (7-13) 47: The Vikings prevailed by getting 17 points from Landon Wager, 12 from Landon Wallman, 11 from Jerrad Wallman and eight from Ethan Bartholow. Jake Jorenby's scored a game-high 25 points for Deubrook Area. Cooper Holmlund and Colton Trooien each followed with six.

No. 4 Wolsey-Wessington (16-5) 60, No. 5 Iroquois-Lake Preston (9-12), 29: No other details were reported.

Friday's Semifinals: At Madison High School, Wolsey-Wessington vs. De Smet at 6 p.m., followed by James Valley Christian and Castlewood at 7:30 p.m.

Region 6B

No. 1 Lower Brule (18-3) 84, No. 8 Potter County (4-18) 61: No other details reported.

No. 2 Highmore-Harrold (14-7) 58, No. 7 Sully Buttes (6-15) 53: Mason Knox tallied 23 points to lead Highmore-Harrold. Landon Hepker had 19 and Marshall Wittler 15 for Sully Buttes.

No. 3 Ipswich (14-6) 67, No. 6 Faulkton Area (9-12) 52: Trevor Heinz notched 17 points and Ian Beyers and Carter Geditz 15 apiece for Ipswich. Chet Peterson chipped in with eight and Tyler Hettich seven. Layne Cotton scored 22 points, Roman DiMaria 11, Charlie Deiter eight and Spencer Melius six for Faulkton Area.

No. 5 Herreid-Selby Area (13-8) 69, No. 5 Lyman (13-8) 67, OT: Brenden Begeman's field goal with 11.5 seconds remaining lifted HSA to the overtime win.

Friday's Semifinals: Herreid-Selby Area vs. Lower Brule and Ipswich vs. Highmore-Harrold, sites and times not available.

North Dakota

Region 1B: The Tri-State at Maple River play-in game was postponed from Tuesday to Thursday.

District 5B: Ellendale downed Griggs-Midkota 77-49 to qualify for the Region 3B tournament March 6, 7 and 9 at Jamestown. No other details were reported.

Minnesota

Section 3A North Girls: Top-seeded Lac qui Parle Valley advanced to the Section 3A North championship with a 56-38 win over fourth-seeded Russell-Tyler-Ruthton on Tuesday. The Eagles (25-3) were led by Camryn Lee with 21 points, 14 rebounds and six blocked shots and Taylor Shelstad with 12 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals. Rylee Lund added 10 points and six rebounds and Jayln Lee seven points and 10 rebounds. Allyson Nelson scored eight points for RTR.

LqPV takes on No. 2 seed Montevideo in the Section 3A North championship at 6 p.m. Friday at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall.

Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on Twitter @PO_Sports.

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Semifinal games scheduled for Friday in six area Class A, B regions.