Just as was the case with the girls state basketball tournaments last week, all three defending state champions and 16 of last year’s 24 state qualifiers return for the boys state events set for Thursday through Saturday.
The Class AA and A tournaments will be played in Rapid City while Aberdeen will host the Class B tourney. Brandon Valley is back to defend its Class AA title, Sioux Falls Christian hopes to repeat in Class A, and Castlewood is the defending Class B champ.
Brandon Valley faces an uphill battle this year as the seventh seed. The other returnees to this year’s Class AA field include top-seeded and unbeaten Sioux Falls Lincoln, which placed third a year ago and won state titles in 2015 and 2016; fourth seed Harrisburg was fourth and is the #4 seed; and Huron placed sixth and is the number three seed. Sioux Falls Roosevelt was not in last year’s field but holds down the #2 seed and won state championships in both 2021 and 2022.
Sioux Falls Christian has made a habit of playing in the Class A state championship game, making five appearances in the final contest in the past six tourneys and also winning in 2021. With its unbeaten 21-0 mark and #1 seeding the Chargers are favored to get back there again. SFC defeated Hamlin in last year’s title game 61-51 and Hamlin downed SFC the year before in the championship affair. Hamlin is the fourth seed and a rematch of last year’s title matchup is a possibility in the semifinals.
Other teams returning to this year’s field from a year ago are unbeaten and two seed West Central, fifth a year ago, Groton Area placed seventh last season, and Clark-Willow Lake was eighth.
A potential rematch of last year’s Class B championship contest is also a possibility in semifinal play. Castlewood rolled past Viborg-Hurley 52-31 a year ago. The defending champs are the five seed and Viborg-Hurley the one seed, both with 20-3 records. Two other recent champions are also in this year’s field. Sully Buttes won in 2018 and De Smet won three straight years from 2021-23.
Other teams returning from a year ago are Wall, fifth last year; Freeman, this year’s #2 seed was sixth; and Aberdeen Christian was seventh.
First round matchups in the Class AA tournament are #1 Sioux Falls Lincoln (21-0) vs. #9 Tea Area (13-8) at noon, #4 Harrisburg (16-5) vs. #5 Watertown (16-5) at 1:45 p.m., #2 Sioux Falls Roosevelt (17-4) vs. #7 Brandon Valley (13-8) at 6 p.m., and #3 Huron vs. #6 Sioux Falls O’Gorman (13-8) at 7:45 p.m.
Class A pairings are #1 Sioux Falls Christian (20-1) vs. #8 St. Thomas More (17-5) at noon, #4 Hamlin (20-3) vs. #5 Groton Area (18-4) 1:45 p.m., #2 West Central (22-0) vs. #7 Cheyenne-Eagle Butte (20-3) 6 p.m., and #3 Clark-Willow Lake (20-2) vs. #6 Stanley County (20-2) 7:45 p.m.
In Class B #2 Viborg-Hurley (20-3) vs. #8 Lyman (17-6) 11 a.m., #4 Aberdeen Christian (20-3) vs. #5 Castlewood (20-3) 12:45 p.m., #2 Freeman (21-2) vs. #7 Sully Buttes (18-5) 5 p.m., and #3 De Smet (19-4) vs. #6 Wall (19-4) 6:45 p.m.
