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South Dakota Boys Basketball

In this week’s blog I’ll mention my impact player for each class. This is the player I expect to shoulder the load for their team and take over games to lead their team to victories in the post-season.

In my last edition of the Class AA power rankings I give Lincoln the top spot. It seems that the Patriots almost get the top spot by default. They have been the most consistent team despite not having a true star. O’Gorman and Mitchell both could make an argument for that top spot but their inconsistency kept me from putting them at the top. O’Gorman lost their last home game of the year to Washington and Mitchell lost last week to Brookings.

Mitchell could be the deepest and most talented team in the field but I believe one player, Tucker Volesky could have the biggest impact on the post-season. Volesky hasn’t had a big of a scoring year as his junior season but he’s sharing the ball with better talent around him while seeing tougher defenses geared toward stopping his deadly jumper. But this March Volesky should unleash that scoring streak and lift the Kernels to a deep playoff run. ‘

South Dakota Class AA Power Rankings

1. Lincoln             Beat Brookings

2. O’Gorman      Lost  to Washington Tuesday

3. Mitchell           Lost to Brookings last week

4. Pierre

5. Brookings

In Class A district 6 is the deepest group with Dell Rapids, Garretson and Sioux Falls Christian fighting to get to the regions. But my impact player for the class is Shayne Gottlob, he’s been overshadowed by a lot of talent in this class but has put up points in bunches this year. He’s a terrific athlete who has scored over 18 ppg and can rebound as well. He has been dominant at times. He went for 25 points and 14 rebs recently over McLaughlin and he can carry McCook Central/Montrose to the state tournament.

Watch out for district 2 in Class B. Langford, Warner, Leola Frederick, Hitchcock Tulare all 12-7 or better. Langford can be dominant but has to be careful if they are to get out of their district. My impact player is junior Wyatt Krogman. I believe Krogman is the best leader in the class who can control games either passing, shooting or driving.