50 Games Open the Basketball Season
The South Dakota High School Basketball season kicks off Friday night with 50 games being played across the state. It’s a big opening night tip-off in a big way. What should you watch for? PHD lets you know.
The Top Individual Draws.
Best Underclassmen. Want to see Freshmen standout Matthew Mors and Yankton kick off their season? They are at Huron Friday to start the year. Huron starts the year ranked tenth but very soon Mors will be leading his team into the rankings regularly. Will it be soon, or later?
Moving on from Mr. Vincent. Tayton Vincent is now playing college basketball for Augustana. The many years of him at guard have now passed. In his place as senior leader is another future Augustana talent Trevor Hanson while in the backcourt taking up the playmaking is Trevor Olson. Sioux Valley is at Howard tonight.
Number 1 for Many Reasons. Aberdeen Central is the preseason number one and Cole Bergan is the guy that collected the most D1 offers in this strong senior class (he is headed to Northern State though). Cole and his teammates will have a target on their backs and they are playing at Pierre on night one so the tests are coming quick.
AJ Plitz! AJ Plitzuweit of Vermillion is the most explosive player with the ball in his hands in the state right now. He can attack you on all levels and he will be worth the price of admission. Game one for him and his team is at Bon Homme.
Tough Test. When it comes to finishing at the rim explosively it’s tough to beat Dylan LeBrun. The future Augustana wing is one of the most fun players to watch in transition and his Flandreau team has a big test on opening night when they host Chester Area.
Heading West. Expectations have swung from Stevens to Central this year and a big reason for that is Kallieb Walton-Blanden. Central is a top ten team to start the year and they have back to back games in Wyoming tonight and Friday night.
State’s Best Teams
Defending Champs. Noah Freidel and Tea Area begin their title defense with Dakota Valley. People are talking about a slip at DV this year, will that be the case? The four sophomore Tea title starters are now upperclassmen.
Lincoln vs Brandon Valley. Barrow, Gatlauk, Bwanye. They came together at Lincoln and have the potential to make great things happen. Will they? Brandon Valley, ranked sixth to start the season, hosts Lincoln on night one. Does this senior group have what it takes for a run?
Friday’s Best Sleeper. SF Christian at Lennox has the potential to be the sleeper game of the night. Lennox has a chip on their shoulder with something to prove led by Holdyn Breck and Quincy Ihnen. The Chargers have a load of talented seniors led by Koln Oppold, Lincoln Unruh, and Will Garnaas plus the junior class is strong led by Mitchell Goodbary. Watch out for 6-foot-7 sophomore Zach Witte.
Top Five Hosting. Fifth ranked White River is hosting Jones County on Friday night opening their year. Donnie Yackley is now a senior and the rotation around him is going to have a strong junior/sophomore presence.
Other Class B top Schools. Arlington is at Elkton-Lake Benton, Canistota is at Centerville, and Colman-Egan hosts Castlewood.