South Dakota Playoff Central – Class A
The Class A field is set! And it’s the field everybody expected it to be when everybody started talking about this tournament. Playoff Central breaks it down…
The Big Stage. Drew Van Regenmorter has been a man of March. And Dell Rapids is headed to the state tournament because of it. Make no mistake the Quarriers are a balanced team, but the 6-foot-2 wing does so much for the team he is the headliner. He’s ending possessions on both sides of the court: missed only two shots scoring a high of 13 points plus dished out five assists on the offensive end, played a solid defensive game and grabbed a load of defensive boards the other way (nine boards total). Dell Rapids beat Vermillion in the Sanford Pentagon and Van Regenmorter stood the tallest on the big stage.
Upset City. There was no lower seed knocking off the high seed so we look at the 8-9 game, the 50-50, 51-49 split. And in that game Madison defeated Red Cloud 68-62, and in that game Madison junior Carter Bergheim made a name for himself statewide. Carter made the net dance seven times from behind the arc scoring 25 points plus created shots for five other buckets (assists). Tyler Tappe put the game away from the foul line and he deserves a big nod for that as well. But Carter Bergheim is a name that many will remember when the state tournament is played next week.
Right on Schedule. Max Nielson not only put his Sioux Valley team in the state tournament, he put his name in the record books with 10 threes made in one game. Not just ten shots behind the arc going through the net but ten shots through the net that put his team in the state tournament (10 of 14 total). Sioux Valley is the two seed entering the state tournament.
Tip Of the Hat to the Career: Charles Schrader of Pine Ridge. Scored 16 a game this year making 44 percent of his shots at the arc this year. Made 55 percent of his shots from the field and 70 percent of his foul shots. Schrader was a big part of a 15-8 season.
March 19!
(1) St. Thomas More vs (8) Madison, 3pm at Barnett Arena.
(4) Crow Creek vs (5) Dakota Valley, 7pm at Barnett Arena.
(2) Sioux Valley vs (7) Dell Rapids, 3pm at Ice Arena.
(3) Sioux Falls Christian vs (6) Tiospa Zina, 7pm at Ice Arena.