Class AA

The Class AA State Touranment always seems to have the most parity. Last season the 8 seed beat the one seed in the opening game. This year the same type of mentality exists. Each team has at least 3 losses and has their strengths and weaknesses. The Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls will host what should be an electric three days of basketball. Below are team capsules and at the bottom is a look at the leaders in this tournament. 

Washington Warriors

Seed:1

Record: 18-3

Big Wins: Consecutive wins vs. Pierre, O’Gorman and Jefferson Jan 7-12

Tough Losses:  Harrisburg 40-39 on Jan 17; Jefferson 52-47 on Jan 26; Brandon Valley 58-50 on Feb 7.

Coach:Jamie Parish

Leaders:

Brooklyn Harpe 16.5 ppg , 7.7 rpg, 2.4 apg, 2.1 spg

Grace Peterson 11.4 ppg, .357 3FG%, 4.0 rpg, 1.5 spg

Hannah Harpe 5.6 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 4.3 apg, 2.0 spg, 1.1 bpg

Taylor Thompson 4.0 ppg, 1.2 bpg, 5.1 rpg

Alexus Motley 3.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.1 spg

Tournament Outlook:

The seniors on this team have gone 60-7 over the past three seasons including a championship in 2021 when the tournament was last played at the Sanford Pentagon. 

“We have had a very good season. Our girls have been tested often throughout the season against great teams. We have been very solid defensively throughout the year. We held our opponents to 40 or less in 16 of our games,” said Coach Parish. Washington came in second in points against this year in Class AA with 38.1. 

Quarterfinal Opponent: Watertown 11:00 CT; Washington won 49-36 on February 3

 

Pierre T.F. Riggs Governors

Seed:2

Record: 18-3

Big Wins: Beat O’G, Jefferson, Harrisburg

Tough Losses: Washington 57-49 on Jan 7; Brandon Valley 75-69 on Jan 19; Bismarck (ND) 54-36 on Feb 10

Coach:Kirk Beebout

Leaders:

Remington Price 13.6 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.8 spg

Reese Terwilliger 12.0 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.5 spg

Ryann Barry 8.7 ppg, 3.9 apg, 1.6 spg

Lennix DuPris 7.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.2 apg, 2.2 spg

Ayvrie Kaiser 6.9 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.4 spg

Tournament Outlook:

Pierre has qualified for their first state tournament in six years and they’re a true threat. They secured a big victory in the last game of the regular season defeating Jefferson 65-58 to secure the #2 seed. They are the leading scoring team in Class AA at 57.3 ppg and fifth in point against at 41.5

Quarterfinal Opponent: Stevens 5:00 PM CT, played opening night and Pierre won 58-46 on Dec 6

 

O’Gorman Knights

Seed:3

Record: 17-4

Big Wins: Harrisburg, Jefferson

Tough Losses: Washington 2x, St. Michael Albertsville (MN), Pierre

Coach: Kent Kolsrud

Leaders:

Mahli Abdouch 16.9 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 4.4 apg, 3.3 spg, .355 3FG%

Kira Mentele 9.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 2.2 bpg

Lucy Moore  7.0 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.9 spg

Padyn Pederson 5.2 ppg, 1.7 apg

Julia Eggert 4.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.7 spg

Tournament Outlook:

The season started with four losses against teams with .800 winning percentages or better but things changed as O’Gorman got close to the playoffs. The week of February 13 the Knights went to Aberdeen, Harrisburg and Jefferson in a four day period and came away with three important wins on the road. “I think that gave our kids some confidence that they could beat good teams,” said Coach Kolsrud. The Knights have the number one scoring defense in the class yielding just 38.0 ppg and they are the #2 scoring team with 54.6 ppg. Last season they came in as the two seed and won three in a row to hoist the state championship trophy to win their third title in school history. 

Quarterfinal Opponent: Harrisburg 7:45 PM CT, defeated Harrisburg 49-43 on Feb 14

 

Jefferson Cavaliers

Seed:4

Record: 17-4

Big Wins: Harrisburg, Washington

Tough Losses:  Tea Area 61-55 on 12/20; Washington 46-42 on 1/12; O’Gorman 47-43 on 2/16, Pierre 65-58 on 2/27

Coach: Shaunteva Pruett

Leaders:

Cierra Watkins 13.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.7 apg, 2.2 spg

Jaidyn Dunn 10.2 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 1.7 apg, 2.4 bpg, 2.6 spg

Aliyah McGovern 9.8 ppg, 2.4 apg, 2.2 spg

Ashlen Johnson 8.1 ppg, 2.4 rpg

Kassidy Larsen 5.9 ppg, 1.7 spg

Tournament Outlook:

Jefferson spent much of hte year at number one in the rankings. They surprised the tournament last year by upsetting the #1 seed Washington in the first round. This year with so much experience back the expectations remain high. This team will get after you with 12.6 steals per game and 3.3 blocks per game. Their turnover margin is really good at -9.4.

Quarterfinal Opponent: Mitchell 1:45 PM CT, defeated Mitchell 56-47 on 1/31

 

Mitchell 

Seed:12

Record: 9-12

Big Wins: Spearfish, Brandon Valley 53-49 March 3

Tough Losses : 6-game losing streak before SoDak 16 win

Coach: Dave Brooks

Leaders:

Sawyer Stoebner 13.9 ppg, 11.1 rpg, 3.7 apg, 3.4 spg

Addie Siemsen 10.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg

Lauren Van Overschelde 7.5 ppg, .363 3FG%

Allison Meyerink 5.0 ppg, 3.7 rpg

Carsyn Welch 4.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.0 apg

Tournament Outlook:

The Kernels broke a six-game losing streak with a huge win in Brandon to punch their ticket to the state tournament. They rebounded well and shot 44% from three against the Lynx. If they can keep turnovers low and keep finding buckets it will be key for a Mitchell run this week, “If we keep our turnovers at 15 or less and we need to be able to score around 50 points each game to have a chance to win,” said Coach Dave Brooks. Mitchell is undersized with just one player 5’10” or taller. They lost Taylor Giblin early in the season to injury so much of the senior leadership falls on Sawyer Stoebner who has had a phenomenal year. This young squad has no pressure as the only double digit seed to qualify for the tournament and that could be dangerous. 

Quarterfinal Opponent:  Jefferson 1:45 PM CT, lost to Jefferson 56-47 on 1/31

 

Harrisburg Tigers

Seed:6

Record: 16-5

Big Wins: Washington, Tea Area

Tough Losses:  Bishop Heelan (IA), Jefferson, Pierre, O’Gorman, Brandon Valley

Coach:Nick Mayer

Leaders:

Abby Flanagan 10.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.4 spg

Jaylee Hofer 9.4 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.0 apg

Hannah Eide 8.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg

Kayleigh Hybertson 5.3 ppg, 5.9 rpg

Mehrman 5.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.6 apg

Tournament Outlook:

No 6-footers on this team but strength and tenacity isn’t a problem for these Tigers. They’ve out rebounded teams by an average of 4 per game and had 13 more blocks than opponents. If there’s one team ready for playoff basketball it may be Harrisburg they have won two games on buzzer beaters and have won nine games by five points or less. 

Quarterfinal Opponent:  O’Gorman 7:45 PM CT, lost to O’Gorman 49-43 on Feb 14

Rapid City Stevens Raiders

Seed:7

Record: 14-7

Big Wins: Campbell County (WY), Spearfish 

Tough Losses:Pierre, Jefferson, O’Gorman, BV, Harrisburg, RC Central, Washington

Coach:Adam Dannenbring

Leaders:

Taaliyah Porter 17.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.2 spg

Macey Wathen 7.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.2 spg

Hailey Oswald 6.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg

Finley Love 6.1 ppg, 0.9 spg

Isabell Higgins 6.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 1.4 apg

Brittany Jones 3.9 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.9 apg, 1.4 spg

Tournament Outlook:

This team got off to an 11-2 start but found some things to work on in the second half of the season, “We struggled to shoot the ball. Then we started playing better the last weekend of the regular season when we lost at Washington and then beat Lincoln,” said Coach Dannenbring. The Raiders may be the most undersized team in the class, they don’t play anyone consistently over 5’9”. Overall they shoot 28.2% from three but they’re a different team the games they can get over 35% from beyond the arc. 

Quarterfinal Opponent:  Pierre 5:00 PM CT, played opening night and Pierre won 58-46 on Dec 6

Watertown Arrows

Seed:8

Record: 12-9

Big Wins: Tea Area, Lincoln in SoDak 16

Tough Losses: Harrisburg by two, Jefferson in overtime

Coach:Chad Rohde

Leaders:

Jaida Young 12.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 4.0 apg, 2.5 spg

Madysen Rohde 9.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.4 spg

Emery Thury 6.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.3 apg, 1.2 spg

Miranda Falconer 6.0 ppg, 1.5 apg

Jade Lund 5.5 ppg, .348 3FG%

Grace Corey 4.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg

Kendall Paulson 3.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 10 blocks

Tournament Outlook: 

2009 was the last time Watertown has been to a state tournament and they won it. They have changed the culture under coach Rohde, “We have used our team motto of ‘Choose your Flight’ to get the culture of girls basketball back as a priority for the Watertown Arrows. ‘Choose your Flight’ is basically how you react to your surroundings, what you can control to the situation you're in.” They have now won five of their last six and took Jefferson to overtime before that. This is a scary team that has the talent to play with anyone.

Quarterfinal Opponent:  Washington 11:00 CT; Washington won 49-36 on February 3

 

Class AA State Tournament Leaders

PPG 

Taaliyah Porter, Stevens 17.1

Mahli Abdouch, O’Gorman   16.9

Brooklyn Harpe, SFW   16.5

Sawyer Stoebner, Mitchell   13.9

Remi Price, Pierre   13.6

Cierre Watkins, Jefferson   13.3

Reese Terwilliger, Pierre   12.0

Jaida Young, Watertown   12.0

Grace Peterson, SFW   11.4

Jaidyn Dunn, Jefferson   10.2

Addie Siemsen, Mitchell 10.2

 

RPG 

Sawyer Stoebner, Mitchell   11.1

Brooklyn Harpe, SFW   7.7

Jaidyn Dunn, Jefferson   7.3

Reese Terwilliger, Pierre   6.7

Kayleigh Hybertson, Harrisburg   5.9

Hannah Harpe, SFW   5.8

Kira Mentele, O’Gorman   5.8

Ayvrie Kaiser, Pierre   5.7

Jaida Young, Watertown   5.4

Lucy Moore, O’Gorman   5.2

 

APG 

Mahli Abdouch, O’Gorman   4.4

Hannah Harpe, SFW   4.3

Lennix DuPris, Pierre   4.2

Jaida Young, Watertown   4.0

Ryann Barry, Pierre   3.9

Sawyer Stoebner, Mitchell   3.7

Macey Wathen, Stevens   3.1

Cierra Watkins, Jefferson   2.8

Sadie Mehrman, Harrisburg   2.6

Ayvrie Kaiser, Pierre   2.6

BPG

Jaidyn Dunn, Jefferson   2.3

Kira Mentele, O’Gorman   2.2

Karsten Schlimgen, O’Gorman   1.6

Taylor Thompson, SFW   1.2

Hannah Harpe, SFW   1.1

Julia Eggert, O’Gorman   0.9

Awang Akoi, O’Gorman   0.9

Taryn Larson, SFW   0.8

Brooklyn Harpe, SFW   0.7

Allison Meyerink, Mitchell   0.7

SPG 

Sawyer Stoebner, Mitchell   3.4

Mahli Abdouch, O’Gorman   3.3

Jaidyn Dunn, Jefferson   2.6

Jaida Young, Watertown   2.5

Cierra Watkins, Jefferson   2.4

Lennix DuPris, Pierre   2.2

Brooklyn Harpe, SFW   2.1

Hannah Harpe, SFW    2.0

Aliyah McGovern, Jefferson   2.0

FG% 

Reese Terwilliger, Pierre   .569

Awang Akoi, O’Gorman   .543

Julia Eggert, O’Gorman   .485

Kira Mentele, O’Gorman   .489

Brooklyn Harpe, SFW   .470

Allison Meyerink, Mitchell   .457

Remi Price, Pierre   .454

Grace Peterson, SFW   .450

Sawyer Stoebner, Mitchell   .448

Isabell Higgins, Stevens   .448

3FG% (min. 18 3FG)

Remi Price, Pierre   .491

Ashlen Johnson, Jefferson   .409

Jaylee Hofer, Harrisburg   .386

Lauren Van Overschelde, Mitchell   .363 

Hannah Eide, Harrisburg   .363

Grace Peterson, SFW   .357

Mahli Abdouch, O’Gorman   .355

Jade Lund, Watertown  .348