Hardwood Classic Preview
This weekend the annual Hardwood Classic will be played in Sioux Falls and PHD gives you a quick look at what you could see this weekend.
Overview: The Hardwood Classic has been an annual event in Sioux Falls for as long as we can remember. Games will be played at the Sanford Pentagon and Augustana with both boys and girls competing at ages 11u up through 17u. The boys side of the event has 88 teams in the six divisions.
17U. The 17u event has three teams have been competing this spring, three high school teams, one South Dakota team playing in their first event (that we know of), and there is one Minnesota program. High school teams have done traditionally well in this event including Washington who has been a regular. The Warriors lost a strong senior class so this is an event that the Warriors will be using a crew of guys that needs varsity experience. Roosevelt also has to build some experience and they have a solid player in Tucker West to build on. Also in the event is Lennox led by Josh Arlt and Quincy Ihnen among others.
From the 17u level of play South Dakota Venom (8-4) has had a really strong spring and likely enters this event as the event favorite. With Solomon Bach, Kade Stearns, Dawson Paulsen, Mason Ritter, and Jackson Miller leading the way the Venom should have the most talent. Sacred Hoops McVey (4-3) has played in a pair of events while South Dakota Crush (1-3) is playing for the second time. From there the Southwest Slam has played in a number of Minnesota lower level events while the Dakota Niners Select is playing together for the first time.
16U. This mixed bag of teams is the following: 3 Minnesota teams, 3 South Dakota High School teams, 2 SD 16u teams playing their first even, and 2 SD 16u teams that have played already. BBA Force Maschino (5-4) and Sacred Hoops Larsen (1-6) have the edge of playing in two events but both are looking for a weekend of play to push them heavily into the summer with a weekend of wins. The Minnesota teams (the Heat, Lakers, SW Slam) all haven’t played in many big events yet so this is a big weekend for them. The local high school teams are Brandon Valley, St. Thomas More, and SF Roosevelt and will have underclassmen from last year’s younger level teams. Dakota Tarheels and Niners Select will be playing in their first events.
15U. A dozen teams competing in three different pools. The field is very similar to the others with BBA Force, Sacred Hoops, South Dakota Venom, Dakota Niners, SW Slam, SF Roosevelt, SF Washington, and Brandon Valley all having teams at the 15u level.