South Dakota Playoff Central – Sweet 16s are set, Class AA State is Next
Who is headed to the Sweet 16? That was answered last night. The Class AA State Tournament? That’s tonight!
The Big Stage. Brandon Valley vs Aberdeen Central. You have the defending state champions in Brandon Valley at 13-7 going battling an 11-9 Aberdeen Central squad that BV defeated 52-33 earlier in the season. Gavin Terhark dominated the Central bigs in the first game with 21. Tonight you will either see the defending champs fall missing the state tournament, or you will see the state’s lone D1 signed player (Andrew Bergan) fall and not make the state tournament. The game is at 5pm at Brandon Valley High School. Everything is on the line.
Upset City! Elkton-Lake Benton over Hanson. The Elks had been close to beating a ranked team all year losing to Arlington, Canistota, and Howard by three scores. It’s a 15 team that went into last night’s game with 4th ranked Hanson confident because of a team balance that has taken the to those 15 wins. A team with only two seniors has been growing all year and last night their balance overwhelmed Hanson for a 66-46 victory. Leading the way was junior pair Marcus Harming (6’0 guard) and Matthew Nibbe (6’4 forward), two of the four Elks in double figures.
Right on Schedule. Paul Bruns gets a lot of ink, press, coverage, etc and it’s quite deserved. Not many guards/wings can go into a playoff game against a good opponent and not only score 28 points but also grab 20 of his team’s 31 defensive rebounds! Bruns knocked down 10 of 22 shots and all of his foul shots but he also ended Tea Area possessions by clearing the defensive glass repeatedly. It wasn’t just boards in his area after a box-out hit, it was also rim clears in groups, chase downs, and out of area collections. Led his team to a 72-65 getting help from Isaac Bruns and Drew Addison among others.
Tip of the Hat to the Career. There were a lot of players that ended their standout careers last night and we decided to go with two important names:
- Josh Arlt of Lennox averaged 21 points a game shooting 47 percent from the field and 40 percent at the arc. Likely the most talented senior that saw his season end last evening.
- Reggie Slaba scored his 1,000th point in the Hanson loss meaning a big time moment for him was also bitter sweet.
Sweet 16 Class A Match-Ups.
St Thomas More (1) vs Clark/Willow Lake (16)
Sioux Valley (2) vs Parker (15)
Sioux Falls Christian (3) vs Millbank (14)
Crow Creek (4) vs Custer (13)
Dakota Valley (5) vs Mobridge-Pollock (12)
Tiospa Zina (6) vs Pine Ridge (11)
Dell Rapids (7) vs Vermillion (10)
Madison (8) vs Red Cloud (9)
Sweet 16 Class B Match-Ups.
De Smet (1) vs Colman-Egan (16)
Aberdeen Christian (2) vs Warner (15)
Viborg-Hurley (3) vs Elkton-Lake Benton (14)
Platte-Geddes (4) vs Timber Lake (13)
White River (5) vs Lyman (12)
Marty (6) vs Faith (11)
Sully Buttes (7) vs Herreid/Selby Area (10)
Arlington (8) vs Canistota (9)