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Mar. 6—Familiarity abounds in the Class A and Class B girls basketball tournament fields. Or does it?
Both brackets return five qualifiers from the 2025 tournaments, but the quarterfinal pairings set for the Watertown Civic Arena and First Bank and Trust Arena in Brookings certainly won't feel stale.
Of the eight Class B regions, only five will be represented in Brookings. Three of them — Regions 3B, 4B and 5B — are sending two teams to the state quarterfinals, and by a seemingly improbable coincidence, those regional foes will all square off right away.
However, a line of rematches at the state tournament is not in store.
At the top of the bracket, No. 1 seed Lyman and No. 8 seed Corsica-Stickney both hail from Region 5B. The Raiders won the previous meeting 44-35 on Jan. 3, but that's the only recent game between any of the quarterfinal pairings.
The other upper-bracket quarterfinal features No. 4 Ethan and No. 5 Colman-Egan in an all-Region 3B battle. Rounding out the intra-region pairings is No. 2 Parkston versus No. 7 Centerville, both representing Region 4B. Even the one pairing that doesn't follow the rule has a theme, pitting the two programs from furthest west — No. 3 Bennett County and No. 6 Harding County — against one another from the neighboring Regions 7B and 8B.
And yet none of those pairings have been contested recently. The Rustlers and Hawks last met in 2023, and for the Trojans and Tornadoes, it's the year before that. The Warriors and Ranchers might as well be total strangers, with no meetings recorded in the MaxPreps database in the past two decades.
From last year's state bracket, champion Bennett County and third-place finisher Centerville are back in the state field, while Parkston, Lyman and Harding County, which finished fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively, are in contention again. That's not counting Ethan, which is in its third state tournament in four seasons and is well-versed in what March requires. Expect those teams to be major factors in deciding who comes out on top in Brookings.
Among the Class A quarterfinal pairings, only Wagner versus Sioux Falls Christian is a matchup that has been contested at any point in the past five years. Those two programs have met three times since January 2022, but even the Red Raiders and Chargers haven't run into each other since December 2023.
Elsewhere, Hamlin versus Lakota Tech, Sioux Valley versus Lennox and Mahpiya Luta versus West Central will all be breaking new ground with their quarterfinal collisions.
Depending on how the bracket shakes out, a rematch of the instant classic 2025 state title game between Mahpiya Luta and SFC could be in store for the semifinals. On the other side of the bracket, top-seeded Hamlin has no easy path, starting with a challenge against the Tatanka — the top scoring team in Class A. If the Chargers win in the first round, they then might have to face off with Lennox for a third time since Jan. 26, or perhaps Sioux Valley makes it an all-Region 2A semifinal.
There's an immense amount of tournament experience in the Class A bracket, as well. Hamlin has played in the state championship game twice and the state semifinal round three times in the last five tournaments. Sixth-seeded Sioux Falls Christian is on its sixth consecutive trip and Mahpiya Luta is in its fifth state tournament in a row. Wagner's Ashlyn Koupal, the state's best player, is playing in her fourth state tournament in a Red Raider uniform, so she knows better than anyone what to expect.
As expected at this point in the season, both tournaments will boast elite scoring offenses and defenses.
In the Class A bracket, all eight qualifiers are in the top-12 in scoring, posting at least 55 points per game. Lakota Tech leads the way at 70.8 points per contest. In an eight-game winning streak entering the state tournament, the Tatanka are putting up nearly 81 points per game, which will no doubt make them a dangerous No. 8 seed when they take on No. 1 Hamlin in the leadoff game at the state tournament. There's also Mahpiya Luta, which has the best of both worlds with an offense that puts up 70 points per game and gives up a mere 29 points per game. Mahpiya Luta is the last undefeated team left in the Class A field and enters the state tournament unbeaten for the third year in a row.
In the Class B bracket, there are plenty of capable offenses, including the top-six of Harding County, Bennett County, Ethan, Centerville, Lyman and Colman-Egan, all above 58 points per game. But the eight qualifiers all allow less than 37 points per game on the defensive end and all eight teams rank in the top-14 in scoring defense in Class B. Harding County, Parkston, Ethan and Lyman each allow less than 35 points per game. Scoring can be tough in a high-stress environment of the state tournament, and the team that puts it together the most on both ends of the floor will likely be the one hoisting the state championship trophy.
Continue reading...
Both brackets return five qualifiers from the 2025 tournaments, but the quarterfinal pairings set for the Watertown Civic Arena and First Bank and Trust Arena in Brookings certainly won't feel stale.
Of the eight Class B regions, only five will be represented in Brookings. Three of them — Regions 3B, 4B and 5B — are sending two teams to the state quarterfinals, and by a seemingly improbable coincidence, those regional foes will all square off right away.
However, a line of rematches at the state tournament is not in store.
At the top of the bracket, No. 1 seed Lyman and No. 8 seed Corsica-Stickney both hail from Region 5B. The Raiders won the previous meeting 44-35 on Jan. 3, but that's the only recent game between any of the quarterfinal pairings.
The other upper-bracket quarterfinal features No. 4 Ethan and No. 5 Colman-Egan in an all-Region 3B battle. Rounding out the intra-region pairings is No. 2 Parkston versus No. 7 Centerville, both representing Region 4B. Even the one pairing that doesn't follow the rule has a theme, pitting the two programs from furthest west — No. 3 Bennett County and No. 6 Harding County — against one another from the neighboring Regions 7B and 8B.
And yet none of those pairings have been contested recently. The Rustlers and Hawks last met in 2023, and for the Trojans and Tornadoes, it's the year before that. The Warriors and Ranchers might as well be total strangers, with no meetings recorded in the MaxPreps database in the past two decades.
From last year's state bracket, champion Bennett County and third-place finisher Centerville are back in the state field, while Parkston, Lyman and Harding County, which finished fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively, are in contention again. That's not counting Ethan, which is in its third state tournament in four seasons and is well-versed in what March requires. Expect those teams to be major factors in deciding who comes out on top in Brookings.
Among the Class A quarterfinal pairings, only Wagner versus Sioux Falls Christian is a matchup that has been contested at any point in the past five years. Those two programs have met three times since January 2022, but even the Red Raiders and Chargers haven't run into each other since December 2023.
Elsewhere, Hamlin versus Lakota Tech, Sioux Valley versus Lennox and Mahpiya Luta versus West Central will all be breaking new ground with their quarterfinal collisions.
Depending on how the bracket shakes out, a rematch of the instant classic 2025 state title game between Mahpiya Luta and SFC could be in store for the semifinals. On the other side of the bracket, top-seeded Hamlin has no easy path, starting with a challenge against the Tatanka — the top scoring team in Class A. If the Chargers win in the first round, they then might have to face off with Lennox for a third time since Jan. 26, or perhaps Sioux Valley makes it an all-Region 2A semifinal.
There's an immense amount of tournament experience in the Class A bracket, as well. Hamlin has played in the state championship game twice and the state semifinal round three times in the last five tournaments. Sixth-seeded Sioux Falls Christian is on its sixth consecutive trip and Mahpiya Luta is in its fifth state tournament in a row. Wagner's Ashlyn Koupal, the state's best player, is playing in her fourth state tournament in a Red Raider uniform, so she knows better than anyone what to expect.
As expected at this point in the season, both tournaments will boast elite scoring offenses and defenses.
In the Class A bracket, all eight qualifiers are in the top-12 in scoring, posting at least 55 points per game. Lakota Tech leads the way at 70.8 points per contest. In an eight-game winning streak entering the state tournament, the Tatanka are putting up nearly 81 points per game, which will no doubt make them a dangerous No. 8 seed when they take on No. 1 Hamlin in the leadoff game at the state tournament. There's also Mahpiya Luta, which has the best of both worlds with an offense that puts up 70 points per game and gives up a mere 29 points per game. Mahpiya Luta is the last undefeated team left in the Class A field and enters the state tournament unbeaten for the third year in a row.
In the Class B bracket, there are plenty of capable offenses, including the top-six of Harding County, Bennett County, Ethan, Centerville, Lyman and Colman-Egan, all above 58 points per game. But the eight qualifiers all allow less than 37 points per game on the defensive end and all eight teams rank in the top-14 in scoring defense in Class B. Harding County, Parkston, Ethan and Lyman each allow less than 35 points per game. Scoring can be tough in a high-stress environment of the state tournament, and the team that puts it together the most on both ends of the floor will likely be the one hoisting the state championship trophy.
Continue reading...
