Tuesday Night Match-Up: South Dakota
***Photo was turned in as from the Rapid City Journal
South Dakota has a big night of Tuesday night action and we look at five of the contests in Tuesday Match-Up.
Watertown at Aberdeen Central. The Arrows opened the season with a win at Brookings while number one ranked Central knocked off Pierre. Central’s first game was not offensively smooth as they struggled to finish possessions but their defense forced 22 turnovers and took Pierre out of their game.
Central struggled to finish from the arc but 6-3 wing Jonah Dohrer crashed the offensive glass and gave his team the early edge. Dohrer and Cole Bergan each hit a pair of threes and Bergan was close to a double-double at 14/8. Watertown had a much similar first game struggling to find an offensive rhythm but holding Brookings under 40 percent shooting for the game.
The frontcourt battles should be pretty good tonight as Cole Bergan, Andrew Bergan, and Jonah Dohrer will mix it up with Max Sonne, Corbin Chilson, and Solomon Bach. Bergan is a face-up threat that can put the ball on the deck and finish with his size. Watertown doesn’t have the length that Central does but they do have some fighters. Bach and Dohrer each had great openers scoring 17 and 18 respectively.
Sturgis Brown at Belle Fourche. The Scoopers kick off a season of high expectations this evening against a Belle Fourche team that fell to Hill City 64-29 in the first game of the season. Sturgis Brown should handle their opponents tonight by a wide margin but this is their first game. Connor Crane should have a big night as he will have four inches on all of his opponents at least and the Broncs only have one senior.
Pierre TF Riggs at Harrisburg. Pierre opened their season last week with an offensive nightmare turning the ball over 22 times and then when they did get shots off the Govs made just 11 of 44. Tonight the Govs try and right the ship against a Harrisburg team playing their first game.
Peyton Zabel did just about everything for his team bringing the ball up the floor, grabbing 14 rebounds, making all of his foul shots, but having to create a lot of shots for his team to score the 49 they did (Peyton had 23). Ace Zorr will be needed to match-up with Zabel although Ace will likely get help in creative ways.
Chase Altenburg and Brady VanHolland are among the big wings that the Tigers have bringing experience against Pierre who got some good play from Grey Zabel, a sophomore who played in his first varsity game last week, but little else. Carson Tschetter of Pierre and Nick Hoyt of the Tigers will likely see a lot of each other. The Tigers are ranked fourth in state and this is a game they should win strong at home.
Tri-Valley at Madison. The game of the night puts sixth ranked Tri-Valley on the road against Madison, the second ranked squad working to bring home a state title they felt belonged to them a year ago. Madison knocked off EPJ 52-35 while Tri-Valley is 1-1 with a win over Garretson but a blowout loss to Garretson. The Mustangs are traveling straight into the junkyard and the Bulldogs are mean.
Tri-Valley has received solid play up front from Will Kulzer, a 6-foot-5 junior, and undersized bigs Jacob Kasowski and Chase DeWitt, who play their role fighting around the basket. . These are the guys that will have to deal with South Dakota State signed Aaron Fiegen who will not only be the biggest player on the floor but one of the most agile and skilled. Fiegen opened his season with 20 points.
Can Tri-Valley defend the Bulldog backcourt? Jaxon Janke and Jadon Janke are big guards/wings that can handle, score, and play a few different spots as skilled athletes with strength. Austin Mader has been good in creation for Tri-Valley and he will need to be great tonight. Mader and Dylan Huwe will have to slow the Jankes and they are coming off a game where Sisseton’s backcourt far outplayed them. What’s scary? Madison forced the EPJ guards into 23 turnovers over the weekend with Jaxon totaling 11 points, ten boards, and five steals.
St. Thomas More at Douglas. Douglas crushed Alliance out of Nebraska in the opener while St. Thomas More got crushed by Sioux Falls Washington to start the season. Things will be a bit more even this evening.
Douglas has 11 seniors on their varsity and they used that experience the other night to hold their opponents scoreless for nearly a quarter. The Cavs on the other hand scored only six teams from the field against Washington in their opener. Douglas, they are young. The Cavs, hey only have a couple seniors and half of their dozen man roster is underclassmen.
The Cavs are big with Ryder Kirsch and Michael Eastmo having 6-5/6-6 size plus Kale Landguth was one guy who had an okay opener (he’s one of the few seniors). The Cavs will have problems with Russell Morton and Dylan Pourier in the backcourt.