South Dakota Preseason Rankings: 2019-2020
The regular season gets kicked off this week with most teams opening up on Friday night. With that being said, there is no time like the present to examine the three classes in South Dakota. Here are the preseason rankings…
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Continue ReadingThe regular season gets kicked off this week with most teams opening up on Friday night. With that being said, there is no time like the present to examine the three classes in South Dakota. Here are the preseason rankings for teams in all three classes.
Class AA:
Let’s stick the defending champs at #1. New season (I know) however they return lots of experience and a solid PG in Jackson Hilton. Add Northern State commit and big man Gavin Terhark to the mix and Brandon Valley will be tough once again. SF O’Gorman checks in at #2. They are led by the D2 commitment combo fo Jack Cartwright (USF) and Akoi Akoi (Augustana). Another Northern State commit, Kobe Busch, leads Huron into the #3 spot alongside Teegan Evers and loads of upperclassmen. #4 is Yankton – they have some kids named Mors. Rounding out the top 5 is SF Roosevelt who again gets one year older and will have great guard play.
Rank Team Record W's of Note L's of Note Last Week
1 SF Roosevelt 17-5 OG (x3), BV (x3), Harrisburg, RCS, AC, Mitchell, Yankton SFW (x2), Huron, RCC, Yankton 3
2 Yankton 20-4 OG, AC, SFR, Mitchell, RCC BV, SFW, Harrisburg 2
3 SF O'Gorman 17-7 SFC, SFL, RCC, RCS, AC, STM, SFW, Mitchell, SFW (x2), Harrisbug SFR (x3), Yankton, Tea, BV, Harrisburg 4
4 SF Washington 17-4 SFR (x2), Yankton, Harrisburg, BV, Tea, Mitchell, AC (x2) SFOG (x3), Yankton 1
5 Harrisburg 17-7 RCC, Yankton, SFOG, AC, Mitchell SFW, SFR, Mitchell, BV, SFC, AC, SFOG 6
6 Brandon Valley 16-8 Yankton, SFOG, AC, Harrisburg, RCC, Mitchell SFL, SFR (x3), Mitchell, SFW, AC 7
7 Mitchell 15-9 RCC, SFL, BV, Harrisburg, AC SFC, Pierre, SFR, SFOG, Yankton, SFW, Yank, BV, Harrisburg 5
8 Aberdeen Central 13-11 RCC (x2), SFL, BV, Harrisburg RCS, Yankton, Tea, BV, SFOG, SFR (x2), Watertown, Harrisburg, Mitchell, SFW 8
9 Watertown 8-13 RCC, RCS, AC SFW, Yankton, SFR, SFOG, BV (x2), Mitchell (x2), Harrisburg, BV 9
10 Rapid City Central 11-9 Huron, SFR Mitchell, AC (x2), SFOG, Harrisburg, Watertown, RCS, Yankton, BV 10
New to Poll (this weeks ranking): N/A
Leaving Poll (last weeks ranking): N/A
Players to watch: Hilton, Terhark, Cartwright, Akoi, Busch, Evers, Mors, Tyler Feldkamp, Sam Fawcett, Max Burchill, Andrew Bergan, Reece Burckhard, Mason Steele, Grey Zabel, Cooper Cornemann, Eli Williams, Andrew Walter, Caden Hinker
Class A:
The dominant reign of Tea may be over, however they found some more players and will be good. On paper, St. Thomas More looks like it could be a favorite. That being said, the top 5 or so teams are all loaded with talent and will have to battle all year long to get to the state tourney. St. Thomas More checks in as the preseason #1 team behind Ryder Kirsch (Black Hills State commit), Connor Hollenbeck and Ryan Wojcik. Dakota Valley at #2 will be solid again and may have the most talented kid in Class A – Paul Bruns. Sioux Falls Christians returns a bunch of talent once again and sits at #3. #4 to start the year is Dell Rapids who made a run into the state tourney last year and return a bunch plus a solid transfer big man. Sioux Valley is at #5 with the Dakota State commit duo of Max Nielson and Ryan Schuster.
Rank | Team | Record | W's of Note | L's of Note | Last Week |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sioux Falls Christian | 20-5 | Lennox, WC, STM, DR (x2), Mitchell, Madison, Tea,Harrisburg, Vermillion, SV | SFOG, Vermillion, SV, Flandreau | 4 |
2 | St. Thomas More | 21-3 | Douglas, Tea, DR, Madison, Chamberlain, Vermillion | SFC (x2), SFOG | 5 |
3 | Vermillion | 23-2 | TV, Tea, VH, SFC, WC, DR, DV, Madison, Flandreau, Winner | DR, STM | 1 |
4 | Sioux Valley | 23-2 | CWL, Sisseton, Tea, DeSmet, Parker, Flandreau, SFC, Chamberlain, DV | DV, SFC | 3 |
5 | Dakota Valley | 22-3 | Tea (x2), WC, SV, MP, DR (x2), Winner | SFC, Vermillion, SV | 2 |
6 | Dell Rapids | 16-6 | Tea, DRSM, WC (x2), Madison, RCC, Vermillion | SFC (x2), Vermillion, Flandreau, DV (x2), STM | 7 |
7 | Chamberlain | 18-6 | Flandreau, TZ, VH, PC. MP, Madison, PG, Winner | Winner, Hanson, Lyman, WC, STM, SV | 9 |
8 | Winner | 20-5 | LX, Chamberlain, PG, MP (x2) | WC, White River, Vermillion, Chamberlain, DV | 6 |
9 | Tea Area | 14-8 | Madison, SFOG, AC, WC | DV (x2), DR, SV, Vermillion, STM, SFC, SFW | 8 |
10 | Mobridge-Pollock | 15-6 | PC, GA, Ellendale | DV, TZ. Chamberlain, Winner (x2), LB | 10 |
New to Poll (this weeks ranking): N/A
Leaving Poll (last weeks ranking): N/A
Players to watch: Kirsch, Hollenbeck, Wojcik, Bruns, Nielson, Schuster, Carter Nelson, Xavier Van Beek, Zach Witte, Ramsey Heinecke, Logan Ellingson, Kayden Verley, Josh Arlt, Stone Burke, Max Mayer, Gabe Glanzer, Tyler Tappe, Brady Fritz, Luke Wells
Class B:
It will be a fun and exciting year in Class B as they talent level is high and lots of teams will be contending near the end of the season. The #1 team we tabbed to start is DeSmet. Lead by the super sophomore duo of Kalen Garry and Rhett Osthus, this team is ready to be a major factor for years to come – including this year. Viborg-Hurley returns a ton including Grant Mikkelsen as they check in at #2. Region 5 foe Canistota slides in just behind their rival at #3. Dell Rapids St Marys is the #4 team behind high scoring guard Connor Libis and company. Sully Buttes will be led once again by Nick Wittler as they round out the top 5.
Rank | Team | Record | W's of Note | L's of Note | Last Week |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | DeSmet | 25-1 | CWL, DR-SM, VH (x2), Arlington, Howard, Canistota, PG, ELB, Flan, WW, WR, AC | SV | 1 |
2 | Aberdeen Christian | 20-5 | Hanson, PC, WSS (x2), W/S, LA, DRSM, WR | Warner, Ipswich, Howard, VH, PG, DeSmet | 8 |
3 | Dell Rapids- St. Mary | 19-4 | WR (x2), Chester, ELB (x2), Howard, Hansonm VH | DeSmet, DR, ELB, Canisota, AC | 3 |
4 | White River | 19-6 | PG, Winner, Lyman, Canistota, LB | TZ, Howard, DR-SM (x2), Canistota, De Smet | 7 |
5 | Canistota | 22-4 | BE (x2), ELB, FA, Hanson, WR, Parker, DRSM, Howard, WS, LB | DeSmet, VH, AC, WR | 2 |
6 | Elkton-Lake Benton | 18-5 | LA, DR-SM, Howard | Canistota, DR-SM (x2), Howard, De Smet | 4 |
7 | Howard | 18-4 | Chester, WR, BE, AC, ELB, PG, VG | DeSmet, DRSM, Canistota, ELB | 5 |
8 | Viborg-Hurley | 18-7 | BE, Hanson, Canistota, AC, Lyman | DeSmet (x2), Vermillion, Chamberlain, Howard, Madison, DMSM | 6 |
9 | Platte-Geddes | 16-6 | Sisseton | DeSmet, WR, Chamberlain, Howard, Winner, AC | 9 |
10 | Lower Brule | 17-9 | FA, WS, MP, PC, Lyman | TZ, WR, Winner, WW, SC, DeSmet, WR | NR |
New to Poll (this weeks ranking): N/A
Leaving Poll (last weeks ranking): N/A
Players to watch: Garry, Osthus, Mikkelsen, Libis, Whittler, Max Herber, Zach Clemens, Noah Dickson, Andrew Rohrbach, Nick Sayler, Joe Sayler, Tyson Iyotte, Tisyn Spader,