The Tuesday Night Elite – A Night of Stars
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So far this week it’s been the Stars of Stars showing out in big ways. PHD honors the best of the best. You want to talk about a guys stepping up big when the spotlight was on in a big…
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Continue ReadingSo far this week it’s been the Stars of Stars showing out in big ways. PHD honors the best of the best.
You want to talk about a guys stepping up big when the spotlight was on in a big game? That’s Jakob Dobney Jakob Dobney 6'0" | PG Vermillion | 2021 State SD . This senior guard looked across the floor at the favorite for Class A Player of the Year ( Paul Bruns Paul Bruns 6'4" | SG Dakota Valley | 2021 State SD ) and went right at him and the rest of his teammates for 32 points! Vermillion not only defended their undefeated record and their number one spot in state, they put everybody on notice that right now they are the king of the hill. And we’ve said it before and we will say it again, Dobney is a First Team All State player. Not only that, he has thrown his hat into the “Player of the Year” ring as well, and did it with some swagger. Big time performance.
As far as stat stuffers go, we look to number one ranked De Smet’s Kalen Garry Kalen Garry 6'3" | SG De Smet | 2022 State SD . In a 77-52 victory on Monday, Garry put up 29 points on 11 of 18 shooting and six of those makes came from behind the three point line. When Garry wasn’t scoring, he was controlling the defensive glass and pushing the ball the other way. Kalen cleared out everybody as he grabbed 11 d-boards (a dozen total) and went the other way amassing six assists. When Kalen sat down early with a big lead, at that point he had contributed to 70 percent of the offense through his scoring or playmaking with the pass. Then, 24 hours later, Garry led his team to a nine point win over Flandreau with 21 points! And in this game he became his school’s all time leading scorer!
Tea Area went down to Nebraska and hammered an opponent 80-31. It was a big night for several Titans but Cael Lundin Cael Lundin 6'3" | SG Tea Area | 2022 State SD was the headliner.Cael had 18 points, five boards, and three assists. Lundin is averaging just under 20 points a game and five boards a night as a 6’3 shooting guard and he’s starting to hear a lot from Northern State as well as North Dakota State.
Junior guard Tyler O’Neill and his teammates slept well last night. It was a win his team needed to have and the 6-foot-1 junior from Clark/Willow Lake battled Hamlin through three overtimes and came out on top 80-78. Tyler was the game high scorer with 25 points and almost all of his points came off the beautiful touch of his right hand. O’Neill’s stroke was on last night and it was most important late in regulation when he hit a top of the key three to tie the game at 62. In all O’Neill hit SEVEN threes and his team needed every one of them for the win.
It was a big night for big time players. Another big time player that made a game winning play was Joe Sayler Joe Sayler 6'4" | SG White River | 2023 State #295 Nation SD of White River. After scoring 35 points and his team was down 67-68, Sayler went baseline to the opposite arc. As Sayler moved from wing to wing the defense moved to cover his area so Joe whipped a pass to Colbe Scott in the corner. Scott, a senior, was nothing but net giving 7th ranked (Class B) White River a one score win over 6th ranked Winner (of Class A). Sayler scored exactly half of his team’s points but when his team needed playmaking the most he drew the defense and deliver to his fellow scorer, and Scott was true.