Winter Campaigns Begin

(Editor’s Note: See the Journal’s Winter Sports Preview inserted in this week’s paper for a full preview of the upcoming seasons.)

Winter sports begin in earnest this week.

The Britton-Hecla wrestling squad opened its 202223 campaign last Saturday, but this week Britton-Hecla and Langford Area boys and girls basketball teams and the B-H gymnastics squad all swing into action.

Tiospa Zina comes to Britton for a doubleheader with the boys and girls basketball teams on Friday with the boys JV game in the Arena and the girls JV’s in Amacher Auditorium at 5 p.m., followed by the girls and boys varsity contests in the Arena.

The Langford Area girls’ cage squad opens on Thursday when Oakes, ND, comes to town with the JV game set for 6 p.m., and then on Saturday the LA boys and girls host Leola-Frederick for an afternoon twin bill. A girls junior high game is set for 11:30 a.m., followed by the JV girls at 1 p.m., JV boys at 2:30 p.m., varsity girls at 4 p.m., and varsity boys at 6 p.m.

The Briton-Hecla gymnastics squad kicks off its season on Saturday at the Hub City Invite in Aberdeen at noon and then hosts its annual invitational on Tuesday starting at 6 p.m.

In other action this week the B-H matmen travel to the Faulkton Invitational on Saturday for a 10 a.m. start, the Lady Braves play at Northwestern on Monday (JV 6:30 p.m.), and the LA boys and girls travel to Estelline-Hendricks for a varsity-only doubleheader with the girls playing at 6 p.m. and the boys to follow.

B-H Boys Basketball The Britton-Hecla boys basketball team will be looking to continue its upward climb as it opens its season this week.

The Braves, under firstyear coach Troy Knecht, went from one win to five a year ago, and in his second year he is hoping to continue that trend.

“As we’re trying to build the program I hate to put too much emphasis on our winloss record, but our goal is to get better every game and at the end of the year be the team that nobody wants to play,” stressed Knecht.

Ten letterwinners and four starters return to give the Braves a strong foundation to build from this season. Seniors BeDell Davidson, Ashton Mills, Gage Storley, Luke Storley, and junior Dawson Treeby all saw at least some starting duty a year ago. Rounding out the group of letterwinners are seniors Landon Carlson, Wyatt Tosse, and Will Schuller; junior Ty Fagerland, and sophomore Daniel Person.

“I think we can go nine or 10 deep and I think the kids are excited and ready to compete,” said Knecht.

Tagged as starters for Friday’s opener are Davidson, Mills, Carlson, Gage Storley, and Treeby.

B-H Girls Basketball There is an “old” face at the helm of the Britton-Hecla girls basketball team this season.

Terry Nelson, who coached for 34 years with six of them heading the B-H boys team and three as head of the B-H girls program, returns to coach the Lady Braves this season. He replaces MJ Hrabik who left the teaching/coaching profession.

The Lady Braves are coming off a 10-11 mark from a year ago and have a solid group of letterwinners back.

“We have 11 girls competing for playing time, and we need that to play an up-tempo style,” said Nelson. “My style has always been to run and gun and press, and we don’t plan to change that.”

Returning letterwinners this season are seniors Alyssa James and McKaelyn Zueehlke, juniors Tiyanna Schott, Addison Wade, and Jayden Bender, and sophomore Sterling Brassfield. Zuehlke, however, will be sidelined this season due to an ACL injury suffered last summer.

The Lady Braves did pick up a trio of transfers. Junior Anne Jensen and sophomore Emily Jensen came from Langford Area and sophomore Lauryn Wegener from Sisseton as 20 girls reported for the squad this year.

Nelson tabbed James, Schott, Bender, Brassfield, and Wade as opening-game starters.

“We’ve been running a lot of combinations and in the opener I just want to see the kids playing together as a team. The regular season is practice games. We just want to be good by the end of the year.”

LA Boys Basketball Another veteran coach is back in action at Langford Area.

Brian Schuring, who coached for 30 years in Groton before retiring a year and a half ago, is back at the helm of the LA boys squad, replacing long-time coach Paul Raasch who is now coaching at Castlewood.

“I love the sport and coached a couple of AAU teams last summer that kind of gave me the itch again,” said Schuring. “It’s definitely a transition for the boys. Coach Raasch had been here for a long time, but the kids have been very receptive and I’m excited about this group.”

Six letterwinners return from a squad that posted a 1210 mark last season. Seniors Jesse Keough and Jackson Bahr are returning starters. Rounding out the group of returnees are seniors Carter Block and Keegan Schock, junior Kalen Godel, and freshman Kassen Keough.

“I like to get up and down the court, and we’re going to have to try to create some turnovers because we’re not very big,” said Schuring. “But we’re going to have some good athletes on the court.”

The first-year coach said that Jesse Keough, Bahr, and Kassen Keough will start at guard spots in Saturday’s opener, while Schock and Block will go at the forward positions.

LA Girls Basketball Langford Area girls basketball coach Michael Alberts will be looking for some younger players to grow up in a hurry as the Lady Lions have just eight high schoolers on this year’s roster.

“We do have a little experience coming back with some of our older girls and our junior varsity was over .500 a year ago,” noted Alberts. “We will have to have a lot of young girls this year playing up a level that don’t have varsity experience, but they have some talent.”

Carrying much of the load this season will be five returning letterwinners. Junior Megan Gustafson is the only returning regular, but seniors Kylie Schock and Montana Marlow saw some starting duty, and juniors Bryanna Peterson and Tawnee Nelson round out the veteran group.

With a lack of experience and depth Alberts knows his club will need to be stingy on defense.

“If we can hold teams to season lows we’re always going to have a chance. A key for us to be able to do that is to have everyone communicating, moving their feet, and rebounding.”

B-H Gymnastics Britton-Hecla gymnastics coach Angela Grupe, beginning her 18th year at the helm, is excited about the potential of her squad.

“We knew for the last two or three years that we were building for this season,” said Grupe. “Our school scoring record is 137.175, and I think we have the potential to break that this year or next. In the state meet last year we were just a tenth of a point from the school record in vault, so I do think we can break some records this season.”

The Lady Braves sport a solid group of eight letterwinners back from a team that placed eighth in the state last season. Maggie Kilker is the only senior of the bunch. Rounding out the veteran group are juniors Kaegan Fredrickson, Emma Kraft, and Sterling Mertens; sophomore McKenna Heer; and freshmen Taryn Kraft, Abby Lee, and Ava Teveldal. A total of 21 girls reported for the squad this season.

Grupe also expects her team to be a state title contender.

Madison and Deuel have claimed the last 27 state crowns, but Grupe thinks there could be a chink in the armor of those powerhouses.

“They both graduated a lot of girls, and I think there are seven teams that all have the potential to contend for a state title,” said the Lady Braves boss. “The girls are extremely willing to learn, and they believe.”