"AA" Boys Players to Watch in 2011-12

First, Congrats to all the boys state champs in "B" "A" & "AA" last weekend. I didnt have time to blog about the tournaments like I had hope but there were some fun games in all of the classes. Congrats to Derek Robey and the O'Gorman Knights for winning the schools 4th title in six years. Its beginning to look like O'Gorman is becoming a basketball power (also the girls basketball team was in the title game) instead of a football power. We will see what the future holds. Also congrats to Corsica-Stickney and St. Thomas More for winning a state championship for their school.

As the season comes to an end I am excited for what the future holds for boys basketball in "AA". Here is a list of players that I feel could have an impact next season. The state is loaded with a great "junior" class, here are a few underclassmen that could have a great season in 2011-12 season. I will start with teams that made the "AA" state tourament.

OGorman Knights: Connor Schaufbaur and Sam Wallin
Mitchell Kernels: Jade Miller, Tucker Volesky and Matthew Henriksen
Sioux Falls Lincoln: Trey Naasz, Scott Mulder and Nick Goeman
Sioux Falls Washington: Joey Habtemariam and Tyler Shetterly
Pierre: Lane Severyn and Zach Hanson
Brandon Valley Lynxs: Ben Schultz and Chase Marso
Rapid City Central: Jake Lewis and Mike Norberg


Others that didnt make the state tournament:

Sioux Falls Roosevelt: Tyler Howard and Tom Nugteren
Brookings: Tanner Odegaard and Landon Busch


I know I am missing a lot of players. Those are just a few that I am excited to watch next season. Please leave me your comments about players you feel will make waves next season. Continue to listen to ESPN 99.1. Thanks for reading my blog.

"AA" Girls Basketball Players to Watch in 2011-12 Season

On the verge of the boys state tournament starting tomorrow I first wanted to blog about the future of "AA" girls basketball for 2011-12 season and some players to watch out for next year! I'm going to start with the teams that were in the tournament this past weekend! Here is where I want your feedback! If you know of someone please post something about that person! I'm going to stay in "AA" basketball. I know there are a lot of players I am missing that I want to hear from you about. My favorite player not in "AA" is a girl from Scotland, she lead her team to a disappointing season this year and hopes to bounce back next year as a junior is Aisha Abbink. I might be a little bias because she is related to me but she is a great basketball player and an awesome person! Now onto "AA" basketball:

Yankton: Chloe Cornemann and Emily Fedders
Mitchell: Macy Miller and Kerri Young
Sioux Falls Washington: Ellie Benson, Kelsey Knecht, Sydney Koel, Hannah Nieman
Rapid City Stevens: Margaret McCloud, Katie Klapprodt, and Alexis Kruse 
Rapid City Central: Taylor Bauer and Tori Holt
Aberdeen Central: Megan Jorde, Brynn Flakus, and Kelcy Schaunaman
OGorman: Chandler Nielsen, Alyssa Brazil, Tori Langin
Brandon Valley Lynxs: Heidi Hoff, Allison Koehn, Brynne Rist, Lexi Hoover

Some others that didn't make the state tournament this year:

SF Roosevelt: Sydney Rome, Anja Cucak
Watertown: Tia Hemiller
Lincoln: Daurby Hagunin, Mica Standsoldier, and Cera Ledbetter
Huron: Brittany Steffen and Caitlin Abbink (another bias on my part but has the potential to be really good) Her strength is in track and Cross Country.
Pierre: Hallie Getz and Stevie Clausessen

There is my list for the future! I cant wait for the season to start! What is yours? Listen to ESPN 99.1 for complete coverage of the "AA" state boys basketball tournament starting at 1pm with #1 seed OGorman Knights and #8 Brandon Valley Lynxs!

Girls "AA" State Tournament Recap

What a great day on championship Saturday! First I want to thank everyone for reading my blog. Hope some of you got a chance to hear me on ESPN 99.1 at the state tournament! I had a blast doing that and to top it all off we have a first time ever champ! Congrats to Mark Stadem and the Brandon Valley Lynxs as they beat the OGorman Knights in the championship game! It was a fun game that went back and forth the whole way!

For those of you that know me I worked at both schools and on the radio couldn't show who I was rooting for in the game. I was hoping for a great game and I got it! I was hoping one school could get their first school title but I was also hoping one coach could get his first title as a coach.

In the game itself it was a battle of wills! No team ever had a big lead as it was close the whole way. The great play of Heidi Hoff and Allison Koehn for Brandon was keep close by Alisa Brown and Chandler Nielsen of O'Gorman. The game was decided in the last moments by a block on a three that Hoff got on Brown to secure the victory and the schools first ever title for Brandon.

In the 3rd place game it was Aberdeen Central and RC Central. It was Aberdeen Central winning by 1 as Kelcy Shaunaman hit 2 freethrows in the closing seconds of the game.

In the 5th place game it was the Washington Warriors behind Spirit of Sue winner (and well deserved) Rachel Walters 15 point effort to end her senior season on a great note by beating RC Stevens 58-46. Now she can get ready for next year playing for the Jacks! Hope she enjoys them being in the NCAA Women's Tournament. Good Luck next year Rachel, your a great basketball player but an even better person!

In the 7th place game it was the Mitchell Kernels beating the Yankton Gazelles 69-36.

I cant believe the girls season is over and only one more week left for the boys! It was a great weekend and I cant wait to do it again really soon! Congrats to all the teams, players, coaches for a great season. There is great young talent coming up across the state of South Dakota and I look forward to watching you next year!

Thanks for reading my blog! If you heard me this past weekend on ESPN 99.1 or KSOO give me a comment about it here on my blog. Looking forward to the boys state tournament coming up this Thursday. Listen to ESPN 99.1 for complete coverage starting at 1pm with the #1 seed O'Gorman Knights taking on the #8 seed Brandon Valley Lynxs.

Championship Saturday

What a great day two at the state tournament in Brookings! In our first game it was the Washington Warriors trying to bounce back after their tough loss the night before. They got a great bounce back effort from future Jackrabbit Rachel Walters as she guided her team to the 53-42 victory over Mitchell. They will take on RC Stevens in the 5th place game starting close to 2pm.

Stevens beat Yankton 54-52 to earn their a date with the Washington Warriors. Stevens was lead by Margaret McCloud with 21 points. Her teammates Shelby Shorb and Katie Klapprodt also played well and scored 12 and 11 points.

In our first semi-finals game of the night it was the Brandon Valley Lynxs behind the strong play again from Heidi Hoff leading her team in the second half to an impressive victory over the RC Central Cobblers 57-40. The Lynxs are back in the championship game (where they were in 2009) going for the schools first title. A person that will get over looked in the box score is Andrea Hanson. She played great helping her team get to the title game tonight vs the Knights of O'Gorman.

The night cap of semi-finals night was just as good. Aberdeen got off to a great start and built an 11 point lead in the 3rd quarter but the great play of Alisa Brown and Meg Townsend lead the OGorman comeback and Chandler Nielsen hit a huge basketball to give the momentum back to the Knights and they hang on in an exciting finish to set up the game with the Brandon Valley Lynxs.

ESPN 99.1 will have coverage of the 5th place game with Washington and RC Stevens starting close to 2pm and then we will have the championship game with Brandon and O'Gorman starting close to 8pm. Can the Lynxs get their first school title or can the Knights win #2, their 1st since 1995?

Stay tune to the answer and listen to complete coverage of the "AA" girls state tournament on ESPN 99.1 

AA Girls State Tournament Day One Recap

What a fun and interesting day one at Frost Arena for the state "AA" girls basketball tournament! We had some great individual performers to help their team advance to day two in the tournament. In the first game of the day it was the top seed Washington Warriors taking on RC Central. I don't think anyone but the RC Cobbler team and fans had them advancing to the next round but they pull out the surprise of the tournament by knocking off the #1 seed and the Washington Warriors 52-51. Central got great play from Chelsey Biegler as she had 19 points to help her team advance to the semi-finals tonight against Brandon Valley.

Brandon Valley and Mitchell played the second game of the day. The way the game started out it looked like a track meet broke out at Frost Arena. It was back and forth the whole quarter. As both teams settled in for the rest of the game it was a game Heidi Hoff will remember for a long time, the junior scored 34 points and had 14 rebounds to lead her team into the semi finals tonight vs RC Central.

In the 3rd game of the day it was the O'Gorman Knights taking on the RC Stevens Raiders. OG jumped on them early and played great defense on Margaret McCloud, as she had to work hard for her 11 points and 12 rebounds. OG was lead by Alisa Brown and her 17 points and 13 rebounds. Chandler Nielsen also chipped in 9 points to help lead OG pass Stevens 52-38. They will play Aberdeen Central in the last game on Friday evening.

In the late game it was Aberdeen holding on for a 45-39 win over Yankton to advance in the state tournament. Three players lead the way for the Golden Eagles. They were Kelcy Schaunaman, Brynn Flakus,  and Kelsey Hannigan. They will take on the Knights in the the semi-finals starting around 8:45pm. For Yankton, Emily Fedders lead the way with 17 points.

Join ESPN 99.1 at 1pm as the Washington Warriors look to rebound from the first day and take on the Mitchell Kernels. In the night session join us at 7pm as the Brandon Valley Lynxs look to get pass an upset minded RC Central team and at 8:45pm its the OGorman Knights taking on the Aberdeen Central Golden Eagles. Good Luck on day two to all the players, coaches and fans attending the state tournament.

Thanks for reading and keep listening to ESPN 99.1 FM

Girls "AA" State Tournament March 10th-12th, 11 at Frost Arena in Brookings

Its time to kickoff the 2011 "AA" Girls basketball tournament as the last four teams made their way to state last night. In the surprise of the night it was the Lynxs knocking off the Riders behind great play from Heidi Hoff's 30 point night and Jessie Peterson timely 3's and her 16 points to make the Lynxs the #4 seed facing the #5 seed Mitchell Kernels in the first round of the state tournament on Thursday afternoon at 2:45pm. In the other region action last night it was the Yanton Gazelles over the Brookings Bobcats 40-37 to earn the #3 seed in the tournament. They will play Aberdeen Central in the late game on Thursday night as the Golden Eagles beat the Spearfish Spartans 65-42 to earn the #6 seed in the tournament. The last team to get in was the RC Stevens Raiders. They beat Huron 62-43 to earn the #7 seed and a first round game with the #2 seed  O'Gorman Knights. The first game of the tournament slates the reigning state champs, the #1 seed Washington Warriors vs the #8 seed RC Central Cobblers.

I will break down the brackets and tell you who I think will win and why hoping to get your opinion and comments on the girls state tournament. In the first game of the day at 1pm its the #1 Washington Warriors and the #8 RC Cobblers. After watching the Warriors play all season and  Mercede Stotesbery going down at the end of the season and is now back from a foot injury and playing well I feel that it would take a really bad shooting night on their part to knock them off. When Mercede went down it was other girls stepping up and that gives them more confidence going into the tournament. I would be surprised if the Warriors were not in the title game but that's why they play the games.

If anybody can knock off the Warriors I feel that two teams have the chance. The first team that I believe can is the #4 seed Brandon Valley Lynxs. They take on the #5 seed Mitchell Kernels at 2:45pm in the second game of the day. Brandon's coach Mark Stadem has done a nice job of getting the team playing with confidence at the right time. Heidi Hoff and Jessie Peterson are playing really well and Allison Koehn is playing great on the inside. It will be an interesting match up with the Kernels because they know each other so well by being in the ESD and playing twice already this season. Brandon won both times by ten so we will see if the Kernels make any adjustments for this game. I see BV getting pass this game and making it to the semi-finals.

In the night session starting at 7pm its the #2 seed O'Gorman Knights taking on the #7 seed RC Stevens Raiders. I believe the other team that could beat the Warriors are the Knights because of their two headed monster of Chandler Nielsen and Alisa Brown but as Chris Clark of the Roosevelt Rough Riders found out that if you stop those two someone else will step up like Tori Langin or Alyssa Brazil did in the district one Championship. If the Knights want to have success in the first round of the tournament they will have to stop 6'2 junior Margaret McCloud. O'Gorman beat the Raiders 60-44 on Jan 7th in their only other match up of the year. I think OG wins and moves on to the semi-finals on Friday night.

The last game of the night puts the #3 seed Yankton Gazelles and the #6 seed Aberdeen Central Golden Eagles facing off in another ESD battle for the right to move to the semi finals on Friday night. Yankton won both season match ups 39-32 and 48-39. I watched Yankton play O'Gorman earlier this year and they gave the Knights a great game. I was impressed with junior guard Chloe Cornemann, she is a great point guard that can get the ball to the right person and she makes their team go.  Again its going to come down to which team makes the right adjustments from the previous games. I think the Gazelles will get out and run and make it an up tempo game; something that Dawn Seiler and her team hates to do. They are a slow it down and run some offense type of team. We will see what style wins out.  I see Yankton taking the first round game in a really close game.

I am really excited and can't wait for Thursday to get here! It should be a great tournament! ESPN 99.1 will have coverage of the tournament starting at 1pm with Brad Peterson as the defending state champs Washington Warriors take on the RC Central Cobblers. I will also have updates from the tournament as well so anything you want to know about or have a question for me don't be afraid to send me a comment or feedback! I voiced my opinion on the tournament, now I want yours!

Good Luck to all the teams, players, refs, and coaches in  B, A and AA state tournaments across the state of South Dakota.

"AA" Boys Basketball on 3/4/11

Congrats to the Knights, Kernels, Patriots and Cobblers as they punched their ticket to the state tournament in Sioux Falls on March 17-19th. In district one it was the Knights holding on for the 58-46 win over the Arrows from Watertown for the right to defend their title next week. It was the Bobcats putting an end to the Riders season 64-57.

In district two in what I thought was the best game of the night was the Lincoln Patriots and the Brandon Valley Lynxs. The Lynxs coming off their best game of the year by knocking off the Washington Warriors on Monday looked to do it again. They almost did, coming up a point short 49-48 to the Patriots. Lincoln will head to the state tournament next week. In the 3rd place game it was the Washington Warriors ending the Yankton Bucks season 55-37. Washington will head to Watertown on Monday for a right to get to the state tournament on March 17-19th.

In district three it was the Mitchell Kernels hanging on for a 53-48 win over the Pierre Govs. It was a close game throughout and Mitchell made some free throws at the end to seal the win. In the 3rd place game it was the Huron Tigers ending Aberdeen Central Eagles season 66-50.  Pierre will host the RC Stevens Raiders on Monday and Huron will host Sturgis for the right to go to state.

In district four it was RC Central beating Sturgis 59-49 and Stevens ends Spearfish season 65-38 after getting off to a 20-2 lead after one. Sturgis travels to Huron and Stevens will travel to Pierre for the right to go to state.

We have four teams in the state tournament. The rest to be determined on Monday night. Can OG repeat or does Mitchell find some magic at the state tournament? How about Lincoln, can they cut down the nets and end a possible back to back state championship run. Stay tuned to ESPN 99.1 as we will have complete coverage of the state tournament with Brad Peterson. Please send me feedback on how I can make this blog even better. Your comments welcome! Good luck all the teams at state.

"AA" Boys Basketball for 3/4/11

Now that the girls have half the teams set for the state tournament in Brookings, its time to get four team in for the boys state tournament on March 17-19th at the arena in Sioux Falls. Can the Knights repeat or does Mitchell have what it takes to knock them off? How about Lincoln, can they surprise everyone and make a title run? It starts tonight to see who can earn a trip to state.

In District one its the Knights taking on Watertown. The knights are playing well so I don't see Watertown coming to Sioux Falls to pull the upset. In the 3rd place game its the Riders playing host to Brookings. It should be a close game but I see the Riders pulling it out in the end.

In District two its not the Washington Warriors who everybody had in the championship game. Its the Brandon Valley Lynxs playing the Lincoln Patriots for the Championship and a right to go to state at the Patriots gym. The game can be heard on ESPN 99.1 with Brad Peterson starting at 7:20pm. I see the Pates beating the Lynxs to earn a trip to state. In the 3rd place game its the Washington Warriors and the Yankton Bucks. I see Washington coming out on top and playing in a region game next week.

In District three its the Mitchell Kernels hosting Pierre and Huron hosting Aberdeen Central. I see Mitchell earning a trip to state and Huron beating Aberdeen Central for a right to play next week.

Out west in district 4 its Central hosting Sturgis and RC Stevens hosting Spearfish. I see Central getting to state as there girls did last night and Stevens beating Spearfish to play on Tuesday night for the right to go to state. Those are my picks tonight. What are yours? Listen to ESPN 99.1 for complete coverage of Lincoln and Brandon Valley for the right to go to state and all other scores from around the state. Thanks for reading my blog, comments and feedback welcome!

"AA" Girls Basketball from 3/3/11

What a night of "AA" girls basketball from around the state of South Dakota! Congrats to the Knights, Warriors, Kernels and Cobblers for all punching their ticket to the state tournament in Brookings on March 10-12th. In District one it was the Knights taking control late and beating the Riders 66-55 to earn a trip to state. The surprise of the night was the Bobcats from Brookings upsetting the Watertown Arrows on their home court 55-47 to earn a region game on Saturday.

In District two it was the Washington Warriors earning a trip back to state to defend last year's championship as they won going way 62-32 over the Yankton Gazelles. The Warriors will be the #1 seed at the tournament. Yankton will host the Brookings Bobcats on Saturday. It was the Brandon Valley Lynxs putting an end to the Lincoln Patriots season 45-32. The Lynxs will play at Roosevelt this Saturday, March 5th for a right to go to the state tournament.

In District three it was Mitchell earning a trip to state by beating Aberdeen Central 63-51 and Huron ended the Pierre Lady Govs season 71-34. Aberdeen will host Spearfish on Saturday and Huron will travel to RC Stevens for the right to go to state.

In District four RC Central beat RC Stevens 58-47 and Spearfish edges Sturgis 39-35 to end their season. Again Stevens host the Huron Tigers and Aberdeen Central host Spearfish on Saturday for the right to go to state.

It was a fun night of basketball! Congrats to the teams, players and coaches that made the tournament! Let's do this all over again on Friday night to get the "AA" boys to state. Listen to 99.1 with Brad Peterson covering the District Two Championship game between the Lincoln Patriots and the Brandon Valley Lynxs. Thanks for reading my blog, comments and feedback welcome.

"AA" Girls Basketball District Championships & 3rd Place games on 3/3/11

The wait from Monday night is almost here! Time to crown 4 districts champs and qualify 4 teams to the state tournament at Frost Arena in Brookings. In District one you have the O'Gorman Knights, lead by Alisa Brown and Chandler Nielsen taking on the Roosevelt Rough Riders. Each team won on the others home court during the season. Can the Riders do it again or can the Knights win and get to state? Anybody that knows me knows who I want to win this game tonight! Some even say that I bleed blue since I did work and coached at one of the schools.  I have seen both teams play and I am (surprise, surprise) going to take OG. In the third place game I will take the Watertown Arrows to end the season of the Brookings Bobcats.

In district 2 its the defending champs, Washington Warriors taking on the Yankton Gazelles at the Warrior gym. Even though Yankton beat Washington for one of its two loses, (The Riders beat them at Roosevelt in the fire alarm game for its other loss) I don't see Washington losing this game tonight. They are playing well and Mercede Stotesbery looks great from her foot injury she suffered earlier in the season. In the 3rd place game, which can be heard on ESPN 99.1 at about 7:20pm, its the Lincoln Patriots and the Brandon Valley Lynxs. BV is lead by Heidi Hoff and Jessi Peterson. (no relation to our very own Brad Peterson who does play by play for ESPN 99.1) The Pates are lead by Daurby Hugunin and Cera Ledbetter. I see the Pates winning on the Lynxs home floor because before they played Washington on Monday night they were 10-4 in their last 14 games.

In district 3 its the Mitchell Kernels and Aberdeen Central Golden Eagles from the Corn Palace. In my surprise pick I will pick a mild upset and go with the Golden Eagles beating the Kernels tonight. In the 3rd place game I was already told the Huron Tigers would win and play Saturday by a follower of my blog so I will go with that as well and say that the Pierre Lady Govs are a young team that will be good in the not so distance future, plus they are coached by Lisa Kanegiater-Bahe, who coached the Brookings Bobcats to a state championship a while ago.

In district 4 its the RC Stevens Raiders(home of Becky Hammon) hosting the RC Central Cobblers for the right to go to state. I will pick the Raiders and no not because of Becky Hammon but because of Margaret McCloud who is a junior and to much for Central to handle inside. In the 3rd place game I will go with Sturgis to beat Spearfish for the right to play Saturday in a region game.

Good Luck to all the teams, coaches and players tonight. Listen to ESPN 99.1 for complete coverage of Lincoln and Brandon Valley from the Lynxs gym starting at 7:20pm with Brad Peterson. Who's going to be playing in the state tournament on March 10th-12? We will have four teams after tonight! Send me your feedback and comments on who you think will get there.

Thanks for reading my blog and keep listening to ESPN 99.1

"AA" Boys First Round games on 3/1/11

What an interesting night of hoops on Tuesday night in "AA" boys basketball! I wasn't as lucky with my picks this time around as I was with the girls the night before! (Thanks Brent Deckert and the BV Lynxs!) I will start in district one where there were no surprises. OG wins going away over the Bobcats and the Arrows beat the Riders in Watertown.

District two is where it gets interesting. Brandon Valley goes to Washington and upsets the Warriors by two (42-40) giving the Lincoln Patriots a home game this Friday in the District two Championship as they played really well and thumped Yankton 72-41. By the way, thanks Trey Naasz for reading my blog. Good Luck in the championship game on Friday night witch can be heard on ESPN 99.1 with Brad Peterson starting at about 7:20pm.

I was right in district three as Mitchell handles Aberdeen Central 69-46 and Pierre in a close game beats Huron 53-46. Mitchell and Pierre meet at the Corn Palace on Friday night for the district 3 championship.

In district four it was RC Central beating Spearfish 76-61 and Sturgis edges RC Stevens 61-59. I was wrong on my Stevens pick but glad to see it was a close game.  RC Central and Sturgis will meet for the right to go to state on Friday night.

Who is going to take the next step and get to the state tournament on Friday? Do the Lynxs have another upset in them or will the Pates head to state? How about the Knights, can the Arrows slow them down and pull off the huge upset?  Listen to all the coverage of the championship game between Lincoln and the Lynxs on ESPN 99.1 starting at 7:20pm this Friday. We will also have up to the minute scores to see who the four teams are who punch their ticket to state.

Comments and feedback welcome! Thanks for reading and keep listening to ESPN 99.1

Boys "AA" Districts March 1st 2011

Now that the girls have taken a couple of days to prepare for the next round on Thursday its now time to see if I can go perfect for the boys "AA" first round games starting tonight (March 1st) around the state of South Dakota. We will start in District one where the defending champs open up at home against the Brookings Bobcats. I think OG is up to the challenge and beats Brookings tonight. Sioux Falls Roosevelt travels to Watertown tonight as they hope to upend the Arrows. I see both home teams prevailing tonight in District 1.

In District 2 The Warrior Boys host the Lynxs and Lincoln host Yankton. I also see both home teams winning the game tonight. Lincoln and Yankton will be on ESPN 99.1 tonight starting at 7:30pm.

In District 3 The Mitchell Kernels host the win less Golden Eagles from Aberdeen and Pierre host the Huron Tigers. Again in this district I see both home teams coming out with the win although I see Huron giving Pierre a good game.

Last in District 4, where all four teams come into the tournament with a losing record,  RC Central host Spearfish and Sturgis host RC Stevens. I'm going to go with Central to beat Spearfish and a little upset I will go with Stevens to upset Sturgis tonight.

Those are my picks for tonight. What are yours? Please Listen to ESPN 99.1 for high school coverage of Lincoln and Yankton starting at 7:30pm with Brad Peterson.