Most Surprising Teams This Season
Photo via twitter @SUXSports
The season is almost over for most teams in SD, for the seniors, its the last handful of games most will play again. As for teams as a whole now is the time where you see what your team is made of. For some, it was a great season compared to the beginning of the season and for others, it has taken a turn for the worst. In this, we look at some of the biggest surprises of the season with their play and their record up to this point.
Dakota Valley – 12-3
With only five games left, the Panthers are sitting in a great position to get a high seed come postseason time. According to 605hoops, as of yesterday if the top 2 from each region got in Dakota Valley would be looking at a sixth seed. For losing a good portion of their team last year, the Panthers have put together a pretty good season from the play of 6’3 senior guard Jack McCabe, who recently announced he is going to continue to play at Morningside. He’s been impressive this year with multiple 20 point games, other players have also stepped up as freshman Paul Bruns had a team-high 18 points in a win against Vermillion Tuesday night. They still have to play Dells Rapids on Feb 9, and No. 2 ranked Madison on the 13th, but if they can win out they will be looking at a potential top-five seed.
https://twitter.com/605Hoops/status/960911416298483712
Flandreau 11-5
Four of the Fliers five losses have come to the top teams in Class A this year, with an exception to the first time they played Sioux Valley, the Fliers have played each of the four teams tough. With five losses, don’t count out the Fliers come postseason time. They are a very deadly team to be playing in March. Flandreau’s biggest win of the season so far would have to be the 68-67 win over defending State A Champs Tea Area at the Corn Palace a couple weekends ago. 6’6 senior Dylan LeBrun, who is the No. 4 rated prospect in the 2018 rankings, had 32 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists against the Titans. They will probably finish at the three spot in Region 2 behind Sioux Valley (16-2) and Madison (15-1).
Bon Homme 13-2
The Cavaliers of Bon Homme have many people surprised at their record so far this year, but many may not know is they are one of few teams this year to shut down Vermillion’s star guard A.J. Plitzuweit. He is averaging more than 30 points a game this year and the Cavaliers defense held him to a season-low 13 points in the 51-50 win. Bon Homme went 14-8 last year and are on pace this year to get a top seed come postseason time. They have been holding teams to an average of 44.5 points per game, playing in your face man-to-man defense. With four players at 6-foot-2 or taller, the Cavaliers have plenty of length and speed to put constant pressure on the opposing team. Two-sport standout Bryce Scieszinski, a 6-foot-4 senior, and 6-foot-3 junior, Joey Slama handle the scoring duties on offense. Scieszinski has had several double-figure scoring games including a season-high 25 point performance against Wagner on Jan. 5. Slama, on the other hand, has record three double-doubles this season along with several double-figure performances as well. This defense will be tough to score come postseason time, they will make you fight for every bucket.
Vermillion 10-6
After losing most of their team, except for Plitzuweit, coming into this season most people didn’t expect much from the Tanagers. Well after a rocky start Plitzuweit and the Tanagers have shown everyone they are a team to be taken seriously. They do have a couple bad losses on the season but put together a nice streak of wins in January to be at 10-6 with only a few games left before the postseason. The Tanagers lost 75-53 to Tea Area, but that was after Plitzuweit brought them back to within reach before fouling out with 30 points early in the fourth quarter. Vermillion was down by 23 in the fourth quarter before they put together a string of baskets to make it a seven-point game in the final minute of regulation. Plitzuweit led all scorers with 35 points and sophomore guard Sam Ward added 16 points for the Tanagers, including back-to-back 3s that made it a seven-point game late in the fourth quarter. With arguably one of the most prolific scorers in South Dakota history, Plitzuweit makes the Tanagers an extremely dangerous team come March.