Watertown's girls basketball team will be remembered for ending state drought
There's at least one big thing that the 2022-23 Watertown High School girls basketball team will be remembered for and that's ending what was easily the longest state-tournament drought in the nearly 50-year history of the program.
The Arrows went 12-12 and qualified for the state Class AA tournament for the first time in 14 years. The state-tourney drought was more than double that of the next longest in program history (starting in 1975).
"We have to start somewhere on getting the girls back to where the tradition of Watertown comes into play," said first-year Watertown head coach Chad Rohde.
"It certainly has sparked a lot of fire, just with the young kids. After our SoDak 16 win, you saw a bunch of elementary girls watching our varsity girls cut those nets down. It was pretty important with what has happened and tt's kind of the first step in rebuilding the program."
The Arrows' quest to return to the state tournament ended with a 38-36 SoDak 16 state-qualifying win over Sioux Falls Lincoln in a game that went down to the wire. It was the first time Watertown hosted a state-qualifying game since the SoDak 16 system was started in 2018 and it paid off.
Watertown followed by dropping all three of its games in the state Class AA tournament at Sioux Falls, falling to eventual champion Sioux Falls Washington 48-24 in the first round, Mitchell 48-37 in the consolation semifinals and Rapid City Stevens 53-51 in the seventh-place game.
It wasn't what Watertown wanted, but making it back to state made the season a memorable one for the Arrows.
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Senior guards Jaida Young and Maddy Rohde, both four-year regulars, teamed with classmate Kendall Paulson to provide the leadership for a team that also included juniors Jade Lund, Miranda Falconer, Avery Munger, Addi Johnston, Neely Johnson and Ady Huyvaert and sophomore Emery Thury, Grace Corey, Molly and Emma Hendricks and Madisyn Grimsrud.
Young, who will take her talents to Dakota Wesleyan University, earned All-Eastern South Dakota Conference and Class AA All-State second team honors after leading the Arrows with 12 points per game and 130 rebounds, 90 assists and 57 steals. Rohde, who will compete in track and field at the University of South Dakota, added 9.6 points per game to go along with 72 rebounds.
Other key contributors included Thury (6.3 ppg and 102 rebounds), Falconer (5.7 ppg), Lund (5.3 ppg), Corey (4 ppg and 88 rebounds) and Paulson (3.5 ppg and 75 rebounds).
Like Watertown's boys basketball team, the Arrows were outsized most nights but still found ways to win games. The Arrows went 6-4 at home, 6-5 on the road and 0-3 at a neutral site (state).
"We didn't have to live and die by the 3-pointer," said Rohde. "I think we were able to create some offense and win games when the 3 wasn't falling. Even though we didn't have a 6-foot girl, we were still able to draw up a game plan each night and the girls did the best they could with it."
Obviously, the Arrows still have some work to do to move up the ladder in the state's Class AA ranks. They finished as the No. 8 seed in the 19-team class and went 0-9 against teams seeded above them, 11-2 against teams seeded below them and 1-1 against Class A foes.
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Losing the three seniors won't help the cause.
"I've worked with these girls since they were 6 and 7 years old. We won't only miss their leadership, their attitude and their athletic ability but also more importantly how they are as people," Rohde said. "They are some remarkable young women. What they've done and the leadership they put out there has certainly given the younger kids something to look up to."
Thury and Falconer started most of the season and will return to lead the way for the Arrows next winter along with Lund and Corey. Those four will play even bigger roles along with some of the other reserves if Watertown hopes to continue its resurgence.
Rohde, who was assisted by Stacey Hendricks, Tia Hemiller and Mackenzie Buelow, said he plans to continue to serve as the team's head coach. Hemiller was announced Thursday as the new head girls coach at Rapid City Central.
"Every year it gets tough to replace the seniors but I hope were able to find people to mirror the leadership next year," said Rohde. "This team certainly showed a lot of heart and fire. In all honesty, they showed they could play with anybody in the state."
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on Twitter @PO_Sports.
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: 2022-23 Arrows made state AA tourney for first time since 2009.
