State Tournament: Thursday’s Top Performers
Mason Archambault (RC Stevens, 6-ft-0, Jr, PG). Dealt with foul trouble the entire first half but made a second half impact getting into space with dribble separation and knocking down shots at the arc. Central did not have a defender…
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Continue ReadingMason Archambault (RC Stevens, 6-ft-0, Jr, PG). Dealt with foul trouble the entire first half but made a second half impact getting into space with dribble separation and knocking down shots at the arc. Central did not have a defender that could laterally adjust with his separation so Mason was able to get into space to complete at the arc for three makes. Also knocked out all four foul shots and made a second half impact after fouls took away the first 16 minutes of his night.
Preston Arity (St Thomas More, 6-ft-2, Jr, Wing). Arity is a physical wing that has guard listed next to his name but the way he attacks reads stronger than that. His basket attacks were down hill and the Winner defense was not able to rotate into position so their contests did nothing but put him on the foul line where he made nine of ten attempts plus the six field goals he made in traffic or from mid-range. Preston scored 21 battled for nine boards playing bigger than his 73 inches of height and the Cavs are moving on.
Anthony Bachmeier (Aberdeen Central, 6-ft-1, Sr, SG). Falling to Stevens was not the way Bachmeier saw things playing out but everyone respected his effort as he walked off the floor. Attacked the basket for five scores, he created shots for others getting five assists and greatly helped Cannon Hannigan catch and hit comfortably with his feet set for four treys. Battled defensively too forcing Stevens players to work for their attempts and had four steals.
Seth Friesz (Chamberlain, 6-ft-2, Jr. Wing). Determination, execution, and effort win basketball games and this is precisely why Chamberlain is moving on over Sioux Valley, why Seth is regularly considered one of the best players in the state, and why guys get labeled as winners. Sioux Valley had more talent, bigger players and Seth went at all of them and totaled his 24 points plus out fought bigger players for boards (9 total) plus made 8 of 11 foul shots. The kid wins.
Dejay Fykstra (SF Christian, 6-ft-6, Jr. SF). Fykstra looks every day like a better prospect for what he does on both ends. Yesterday in the Chargers blowout win he had a big hand in limiting Roncalli to 29 percent shooting as Fykstra’s lateral agility cut off angles and made the Roncalli shooters go over the top and they had a lot of trouble doing that. Fykstra also made good use of his six field goal attempts scoring 14 points with five of six free throw shooting plus he grabbed six boards and jumped passing lanes for steals and deflections. An overall outstanding day for Fykstra.
Evan Hieber (SF Lincoln, 6-ft-4, PF). Evan’s effort embodied what has happened at Lincoln this year. A team of mostly seniors that didn’t find their varsity grove until about seven weeks ago and now they are a game away from playing for a state title for the second straight season. Evan controlled the glass with strong hits to clear and collect boards plus made half his field goals for 11 of his team’s 52 doing a great job of facing, making contact to bump off opponents, and finish in space. The numbers weren’t huge but the effort on both ends was as Hieber’s decision making was consistent grading out at over 90 percent.
Gabe King (Irene-Wakonda, 6-ft-6, Sr, SF). If there was a ever a mismatch in a state tournament it was Harding County trying to defend Gabe King. The skilled forward was quicker that the smaller players that were on him and Gabe was able to go by the first defender and then go over the top of the help defenders. He scored inside and out in the most dominating individual performance of the day totaling 26 points and 15 rebounds before taking an early season for the nigh.
Isaac Kortemeyer (St. Thomas More, 6-ft-8, Jr, PF). The players from Winner got under Isaac and pushed him off the block keeping him from getting the position he wanted. That physical play may have taken away his low post game but it also put several fouls on Winner and Isaac went to the foul line where he showed his nice touch making ten of a dozen and scoring a dozen for the game. Winner tried to take Isaac out but their game plan did not account for his excellent foul shooting and you don’t see that type of foul shooting from bigs as often as you would like but Isaac completed.
Rease Logan (Potter County, 6-ft-9, C). The Battlers senior center continues to receive double takes for what he is doing putting 26 points and 14 rebounds on White River moving his team to the second round. A player this big who is comfortable facing up and getting results is a rare thing and Coach Bryce Hall’s inbox and listed school numbers is going to start getting thicker with calls and interest.
Andrew Martian (RC Stevens, 6-ft-1, Sr, PF). The physical undersized frontcourt player was the individual story of the day scoring 22 points on just ten field goal attempts and grabbing seven boards. Facing a much bigger frontcourt Martian used his strength to stay on balance to finish play despite attention from bigger players. The biggest part was his ability to knock out every one of his ten foul shots.
John Prochello (Dakota Valley, 6-ft-7, Jr, C). On a day where bigs state wide did not have the impact in the paint needed, John Prochello responded from an early sitting because of foul trouble to come back in the game and score the majority of his 15 in front of the rim to put away Mt. Vernon. Prochello and fellow big Jayce Kettler finished everything at the rim pushing their team up 27 points at one time as their opponents couldn’t move John out of position and he did a great job moving on the backside to get to position to complete and he caught and touched in a pair of putbacks. A nice 15/7 playing half the game made for a good night.
Michael Rogers (Warner, 6-ft-10, Sr. C). Rogers did what 6-foot-10 talented bigs do, he dominated De Smet. Pulled ten boards off the glass, scored 20 points on quality touches turning to face the rim and shoot over the top of the defense. Did a great job maintain position and once Rogers established the middle Ethan Wesby and Tyler Rozell were able to get their 16 and 13 respectively. Warner is still undefeated and unless somebody is able to move Rogers off the block they are going to stay that way.
Erin Severyn (Pierre, 6-ft-0, Sr, PG). The Rough Rider guards simply couldn’t keep Erin in front when he attacked down hill or when he caught away from the ball and attacked a poor positioned defender. Erin saw lanes all night and attacked them viciously to put the Governors through to the next round. He struggled early to finish but as the game moved on Erin Lived at the foul line taking contact from help defenders and scoring 20 to move his team to the next round. It was a veteran performance recognizing space and getting into it for not just the foul shots abut the two makes at the arc. Also had a game high four assists.
Sam Siganos (Washington, 6-ft-2, Sr. PG). This is the type of game Sam controls. His pace, decision making per possession, and execution are simply at another level from anybody in South Dakota still playing and that is why the Warriors are still playing. Central was aggressive but Sam never let the game energy or the momentum sway his choices to attack or pull back and punish the opponent with 30-40 seconds of offense. Scored a game high 14 points on just eight shots plus dished out six assists and more importantly knew when to pull out of a possession, knew when to attack gaps, knew when to swing the ball for shots at the arc or to direct a reversal that became a post entry. Runs a game as well as anybody and his team still hasn’t lost this year when he was at full strength health wise.