South Dakota Boys state basketball tournament scoreboard
Class B
Saturday, March 18
Seventh place: Faith 75, Ethan 56
Fifth place: Castlewood 46, Viborg-Hurley 41
Third place: Aberdeen Christian 70, White River 65 (OT)
Championship: De Smet 62, Lower Brule 48
Friday, March 17
Consolation semifinals
Castlewood 59, Faith 49
Viborg-Hurley 56, Ethan 42
Championship semifinals
Lower Burle 57, White River 49
De Smet 46, Aberdeen Christian 31
Thursday, March 16
Quarterfinals
No. 1 Lower Brule 67, No. 8 Castlewood 55
No. 5 White River 72, No. 4 Faith 56
No. 2 Aberdeen Christian 57 vs. No. 7 Ethan 47
No. 3 De Smet 51, No. 6 Viborg-Hurley 47
Class A
Saturday, March 18
Seventh place: Hot Springs 65, Mount Vernon-Plankinton 60
Fifth place: Sioux Valley 34, Rapid City St. Thomas More 33
Third place: Hamlin 53, Elk Point-Jefferson 40
Championship: Dakota Valley 54, Sioux Falls Christian 48
Friday, March 17
Consolation semifinals
Sioux Valley 65, Hot Springs 52
Rapid City St. Thomas More 65, Mount Vernon-Plankinton 57
Championship semifinals
Dakota Valley 77, Hamlin 63
Sioux Falls Christian 75, Elk Point-Jefferson 51
Thursday, March 16
Quarterfinals
No. 1 Dakota Valley 80, No. 8 Hot Springs 47
No. 5 Hamlin 72, No. 4 Sioux Valley 65
No. 7 Elk Point-Jefferson 53, No. 2 Rapid City St. Thomas More 50
No. 3 Sioux Falls Christian 83 vs. No. 6 Mount Vernon-Plankinton 55
Class AA
Saturday, March 18
Seventh place: Sioux Falls Roosevelt 58, Sioux Falls Washington 56
Fifth place: Pierre vs. Harrisburg, 1:45 p.m. MT
Third place: Sioux Falls Jefferson 65, Sioux Falls Lincoln 56
Championship: Yankton 65, Mitchell 61
Friday, March 17
Consolation semifinals
Harrisburg 65, Sioux Falls Washington 55
Pierre 56, Sioux Falls Roosevelt, 1:45 46
Championship semifinals
Yankton 69, Sioux Falls Jefferson 66
Mitchell 61, Sioux Falls Lincoln 59
Thursday, March 16
Quarterfinals
No. 1 Sioux Falls Jefferson 53,. No. 9 Harrisburg 41
No. 4 Yankton 58, No. 5 Sioux Falls Washington 51
No. 2 Sioux Falls Lincoln 56, No. 7 Sioux Falls Roosevelt 48
No. 3 Mitchell 60, No. 6 Pierre 51
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Semifinals: De Smet pedigree, poor shooting doom Aberdeen Christian’s title hopes
Championship pedigree goes a long way.
Two-time defending Class B champion De Smet used solid defense, timely scoring and an unwavering confidence to knock off second-seeded Aberdeen Christian 46-31 and advance to the state title game.
“Our guys are just always locked in, and it’s so good to know that believe in each other,” said De Smet head coach Jeff Gruenhagen after Friday’s semifinal. “They’re always pushing each other to play better. It’s just fun to watch this group come through over the past two, three years and see us win these games. We play a really hard schedule, and these guys just know what it takes to win.”
Bulldogs hold Knights to season-low 31 points
Much like during the quarterfinal game, shots did not fall early for the Knights. Christian made just seven of 27 from the field on the night. The Knights scored only 17 points in the first half and 31 for the game, both season lows.
“Definitely not ideal to shoot like that,” said Christian head coach Matt Rohrbach. “We just have to give the utmost respect to how (De Smet) played defensively. (Kadyn) Fast was great on Malek (Wieker), (Damon) Wilkinson on the defensive boards. Really, the respect has to go to De Smet … Yes, we wanted to have a better start (offensively), but the reality is sometimes that’s just not in the cards.”
Wilkinson, the Bulldogs’ 6-foot-9 big man, used his height to an advantage. He scored eight points in the first half and established a low post presence that caused Christian problems early. Along with those eight points, Wilkinson added 11 rebounds and generated five fouls on the Knights.
“It’s tough, it’s tough. I mean Kaden (Clark) and Joey (Johnson) were just fighting so hard (defensively) against him, Rohrbach said. “They did everything they could, and really I thought we limited his points in the second half. He just demands so much attention, and that can lead to some open looks at threes”
The Knights did make a run in the third quarter, capitalizing on three straight defensive stops. Clark scored four points during a 6-0 run to cut the lead to five, 27-22. Andrew Brennan found a cutting Jackson Isakson to make it a 28-24 deficit late in the third.
“You get that momentum shift that you’re finally waiting for, and then things just kind of fizzled out for us a little bit,” Rohrbach said. “Whether that’s legs or maybe wanting to do a little too much, either way, it’s just the reality from a group of guys who just wanted to make plays. We played our hearts out and really played for each other. This group has played like brothers all year and that didn’t change tonight.”
De Smet would respond early in the fourth, using a 6-2 run to make it a 38-28 lead with 6:18 to go. A Kasen Janssen corner three-pointer would boost De Smet’s lead to 41-28 with 3:53 left in the game.
Christian was held to a single field goal until the 2:13 mark in the fourth quarter when Clark scored on an offensive put-back.
De Smet, Lower Brule again meet in championship game
The Class B championship game will be a rematch from last year. De Smet and Lower Brule play at 7:45 p.m. at the Barnett Center.
“We said (defense win championships) last year going into the championship game,” Gruenhagen said. “We shot two for 20 from the three-point line, but still held (Lower Brule) to 26 points last year. This year, when someone’s not shooting well or with confidence, if you keep getting a hand up, keep the pressure on them, don’t let them get free, it’s just hard to get out of that mode.”
The Knights will play White River for third place at 6 p.m.
“Hey, we’re still excited to play White River tomorrow,” Rohrbach said. “We want to send these seniors out on a high note, hopefully with a win. We’ll be up and ready to go tomorrow. Obviously, there are tears shed for losing that last milestone that you wanted to hit, but it was such a great season. To go into a state tournament with only two losses to (Class) A schools, there’s just so much to be proud of.
Christian survives poor shooting to slip past Ethan in quarterfinals
Survive and advance.
That’s the popular phrase this time of year and one Aberdeen Christian took to heart the night of Thursday, March 16, at the Barnett Center.
The Knights, seeded second in the Class B boys state basketball tournament, held off seventh-seeded Ethan 57-47 to advance to the semifinals.
“We always talk about whatever it takes to win a game,” said Christian head coach Matt Rohrbach. “If that means rebounding or just cheering on your teammates, that’s what we do. Hearing that buzzer go off and seeing what we gave (on court) tonight was definitely thrilling, but at the end of the day, we understand we have a job to do.”
MORE: What to know about all 8 State B basketball teams
It was a slow start to the quarterfinal for both teams as they struggled to hit shots. Christian began 0-5 from the field before Kaden Clark’s layup at the 5:59 mark
The Knights would use a 6-1 run to lead 15-9 after the first quarter.
Rohrbach said he was not concerned about his squad’s inconsistent start.
“Sometimes that’s just basketball,” he said. “We talk about it in the locker room. We don’t need to shoot great to win games. In my opinion, that’s an underdog mentality. We go into each game thinking, ‘If the shots fall, great, If not, don’t worry, we’re still going to keep taking them.”
Defense steps up as Aberdeen Christian offense struggles
That mentality helps when your defense does its job. The Knights shooting woes carried into the second quarter, however, they held Ethan to just six points and led 25-15 at the half.
“Holding a team to 15 points in a half is special,” Rohrbach said, “And I attribute that to everyone on our team. Andrew Brennan was chasing (Ethan’s Riley Endres) all night. Kaden Clark is our vocal leader, and I thought he did a great job calling out screens. It’s a team effort and we couldn’t be more excited with the crew we have.”
MORE: 3 Aberdeen Christian 1,000-point scorers hope to win State B title
In the third quarter, Christian senior Malek Wieker started to heat up, hitting back-to-back three-pointers to push the lead to 37-24. Andrew Brennan added another three, and the lead was 16 with just over three minutes to go.
The Rustlers, however, were not finished.
“We knew (Ethan) wan going to be aggressive, and we tried to match that and I thought we did,” Wieker said. “In the first half, I let some (three-pointers) fly and they felt good when I let them go, but they didn’t fall, but that’s always good when you’re a shooter because you know at some point they will. I mean, shooters are gonna shoot, and I have full confidence in my teammates and myself. They may not go down early, but I know we’re gonna hit them.”
Ethan trimmed the lead to five in the closing minutes, but a Jackson Isakson three-pointer gave the Knights some extra breathing room before they finished things off at the free throw line.
Wieker finished with a team-high 16 points.
The Knights shot just 39% from the field, but the Rusters were a step step behind at 33%.
Christian (22-2) will play De Smet in the semifinals at 7:45 p.m. Friday, March 17. The Bulldogs have won the last two Class B state championships.
