After girls Hanson Classic cancellation, teams piece together top matchups again

Jan. 17—MITCHELL — Thanks to a resourceful effort by coaches and administrators to navigate through scheduling conflicts, many of the Hanson Classic girls basketball games are back on the books.

Six of the eight original matchups from the canceled Hanson Girls Classic have been rescheduled, including two top matchups at the Corn Palace on Friday.

In a double-header Friday at the Corn Palace, Mount Vernon/Plankinton will play Vermillion at 6:30 p.m., and Ethan will play Arlington at 7:45 p.m.

Another make-up game double-header is slated for Feb. 3 in the Corn Palace, with Hanson facing Florence/Henry and Centerville taking on Flandreau.

Other make-up games include Sisseton and Lennox, who will play at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 23 in Volga, and Timber Lake and Leola/Frederick, who will meet on Saturday, Jan. 27 in Bowdle.

Two games from the classic, Wagner against Lyman, and St. Thomas More against James Valley Christian, were unable to be rescheduled.

According to Wagner coach Mike Koupal, the Red Raiders will instead travel to play Centerville on Thursday, Jan. 18. Centerville needed to add a second game after its Jan. 9 matchup with Scotland was canceled. Additionally, Lyman will play St. Thomas More at 6:45 p.m. on Feb. 13 in Wall.

The Jan. 13 classic was canceled due to the snow and dangerous cold weather which swept across the state last week. Hanson superintendent and girls basketball coach Jim Bridge said it was an "easy decision" considering the circumstances.

Once the official decision was made, coaches and administrators began to find ways to reschedule. Some games came together easier than others.

Ethan coach Tom Young said Ethan's athletic director Bryce Roth got in contact with Arlington, found both schools had an opening Friday, and that the Corn Palace was free to host the game. Mount Vernon/Plankinton and Vermillion also identified Friday as an open date.

With those two games established, those coaches invited the other 12 teams to consider the date as well.

"We reached out to all the teams that were originally in the classic just to see how many would be willing to play that night," said Mount Vernon/Plankinton coach Preston Kristensen. " ... Some of the other teams just figured out a different date if that Friday didn't work. I know a lot of teams play Saturday, so they wanted to maybe avoid that back-to-back game."

Hanson wanted to play this Friday as well, and Bridge said he reached out to "probably half a dozen schools," but was unable to line anything up.

Considering the amount of games canceled due to weather last week, and limited dates remaining in the season, setting up make-up games can be a challenge.

Ethan and MVP, for example, were able to make it work, but will have to play back-to-back games Thursday and Friday.

"It does get a little bit complicated, especially because we're halfway through the year," Young said. "And usually the back end of the schedule, because of weather issues, makes it sometimes kind of hard to find a date ... And I think most coaches want to have (the rescheduled game) on a neutral site, so it can kind of simulate playing in the Hanson Classic."

"The Hanson Classic is a lot of work to put on it. It's not twice as much work to reschedule it — it's like 100 times the work because you have to talk to everybody separately, and maybe multiple times. And then you've got 24 officials in there," Bridge said.

However, considering the benefits of playing nonconference games against challenging opponents, most coaches do their best to make it happen.

"We wanted to keep that (Vermillion) matchup," Kristensen said. "They're a really good team and someone we didn't have on our schedule originally. It gives us a new team to face off against."

Friday's pair of games will involve four of the top teams in the state.

Ethan (9-1) is ranked No. 2 in the Class B ranking of the South Dakota Prep Media Poll, while Arlington (8-1) is ranked No. 5 in Class B. In the Class A seed point formula, Mount Vernon/Plankinton (6-1) is currently seventh and Vermillion (6-2) is 11th.

"We have an opportunity to play at the Corn Palace against a really good team," Young said. "We wished it would have been in the Hanson Classic, but this is the next best thing."