Girls play Friday and boys Saturday in SoDak 16 state-qualifying games
If Watertown High School's boys and girls basketball teams are going to make it to their respective state Class AA tournaments, the Arrows will have to avenge regular-season losses in SoDak 16 playoff games this weekend.
Watertown's girls (7-13) are the No. 13 seed and will visit No. 4 Sioux Falls Jefferson (15-7) in a Class AA SoDak 16 game at 6 p.m. on Friday. Watertown's boys (12-8) host No. 10 Sioux Falls Lincoln (10-10) at 6 p.m. on Saturday in the Watertown Civic Arena.
Jefferson pulled away from Watertown's girls 54-38 in Sioux Falls on Feb. 6. Lincoln's boys came to Watertown and won 61-54 on Jan. 30.
The SoDak 16 winners advance to state tournament March 7-9 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls (girls) and March 14-16 in the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center at Sioux Falls (boys).
"We should feel confident in the fact that we're a team that has beaten some very good teams during the year to get to host this game," Watertown boys coach Pat McClemans said. "It's not like we have to go out and play perfect. We don't. We just have to play."
Can the Arrow girls pull the upset?
Watertown's girls ended a 14-year state-tournament drought with a SoDak 16 win last winter and certainly wouldn't mind making it two in a row.
The Arrows did suffer some graduation losses and after starting the season 2-3, they lost their first seven games in January. The team rebounded to go 5-3 down the stretch and had a four-game winning streak snapped in a loss to Harrisburg in the regular-season finale last week.
"I'm extremely happy with the way the girls have come around, they continue to grow and lead," Coach Chad Rohde said.
Based on records and ratings, the odds are against Watertown. The Arrows, however, did only trail 20-19 at the half in the previous meeting before the Cavaliers took control with a 17-8 third-quarter spurt. The Arrows held South Dakota State recruit Jaidyn Dunn, a 6-foot-1 senior, scoreless but 5-10 guard Brinley Altenburg went off for 20 points.
"It was just one of those deals where they made justments and we got tired and couldn't finish the game the way we wanted," Rohde said.
Junior Emery Thury had 14 points and 11 rebounds to lead Watertown in the previous matchup and has led the way for the Arrows in many games this season. Seniors Addi Johnston, Miranda Falconer, Jade Lund and Avery Munger round out the starting lineup.
"They're good, there's no question about that. They're athletic at every position, they're tall and can shoot," Rohde said of Jefferson. "We did a lot of good things against them defensively the last time and if we can get out and defend like we can and need to, it's going to be a battle with them."
Is it Watertown's boys turn to return to state?
Welcome to Class AA basketball. Even in a year in which some people might call a "down year" in Class AA, the senior-laden Arrows had one of their best regular seasons in recent memory and also beat and/or competed favorably many of the top teams.
The 12-8 record did produce a rare SoDak 16 home game for the Arrows, only the second time Watertown's has hosted in the seven-year history of the Round of 16 or SoDak 16 playoffs. Still, it only got a rematch against a Lincoln team that seems much better than just a .500 team.
McClemans believes Lincoln's season was in some ways altered when 7-foot standout JT Rock announced mid-summer that he was going to forego his senior year with the Patriots to enroll early at Division I Iowa State.
"I don't want to say they had to reinvent things, but they definitely had to do some things that maybe they weren't planning on and it took awhile for that and they also to figure out who would be playing and it what roles," McClemans said. "I think Lincoln is a team that is probably playing as well as anybody right now."
The Patriots are definitely athletic. Tate Schafer and Jack Smith were a potent quarterback-to-wide receiver duo that led Lincoln to the state Class 11AAA football championship last fall. They're two starters on the basketball team that includes 6-6 senior Garry Crowe, who had 11 points in the previous matchup, and Sam DeGroot, a 6-5 sophomore, came off the bench to pour in 22 points (going 7-for-8 from the field), in the earlier win over the Arrows.
Don't expect the Arrows to not put up a fight. Senior guard Dylon Rawdon is the main facilitator for the offense and he had 18 points and nine assists against Lincoln. Fellow seniors Caden Beauchamp, Kohen Kranz, Jake Olson and Marcus Rabine round out the starting lineup with classmates Will Engstrom, Brody Torgerson and Peyton Busker seeing plenty of action off the bench.
"We have a team that plays very well together, is willing to share the ball and has been excited about every challenge that's been thrown at them," McClemans said. "We've responsed in a very positive light to a lot of challenges throughout the course of the year."
One more big challenge awaits on Saturday.
More: K-12 students to receive free tickets to Watertown's home SoDak 16 game on Saturday
Aberdeen Central's SoDak 16 games
The Golden Eagle girls (9-11) are the only one out of the four Watertown and Aberdeen Central teams who own a regular-season victory over their SoDak 16 foe.
The 11th-seeded Golden Eagles visit sixth-seeded Spearfish (14-6) at 7 p.m. on Friday, Aberdeen Central posted a 54-47 win over Spearfish on Dec. 15 as part of an 8-1 stretch to start the season. Injuries have contributed to a 1-10 stretch to close out the regular season.
Aberdeen Central's boys (8-12) are the No. 13 seed and will visit No. 4 Sioux Falls Roosevelt (14-6) at 3 p.m. on Saturday. Roosevelt escaped with a 55-53 win over the Golden Eagles just last week in Aberdeen.
Coach Brent Norberg's squad had some players out last week due to illness but are hopeful of being close to 100 percent by Saturday.
Here's highlights from Feb. 21-27 for Watertown and Aberdeen Central boys and girls basketball teams as well as the Watertown and Aberdeen boys and girls' hockey teams.
More: Class AA SoDak 16 Boys and Girls Pairings
Watertown Basketball
Both Watertown teams dropped their regular-season finales against Harrisburg. The girls lost 71-41 at Harrisburg on Thursday and the boys lost to No. 2 Harrisburg 53-37 at home on Friday.
Johnston scored 10 points, Lund nine, Thury eight and Falconer seven for the Arrow girls. Thury also had five rebounds and six assists. Johnston dished out five assists. Rawdon's 16 points paced the Arrow boys, who also got eight points from Kranz.
Aberdeen Basketball
The Golden Eagles' squads concluded their regular seasons on Friday with games against Sioux Falls Jefferson.
The boys lost 65-34 at Jefferson and the girls fell 59-29 at home. Camden Fauth scored eight points and Grant Fritz hauled in seven rebounds for the boys (8-12). The girls (9-11) received 16 points and five rebounds from Lauryn Burckhard.
Watertown Boys Hockey
The Lakers christened the new Prairie Lakes Ice Arena by hosting Mitchell and Oahe on Friday and Saturday in the Premier Rink. Watertown lost 5-2 to Mitchell and 4-3 to Oahe.
Tommy Foley scored the first official goal in the new facility with Jake Bramer and Hudson Hendricks assisting. The lead didn't last. Mitchell led 2-1 after one period and put the game away with a trio of third-period goals.
Mylan Evans also scored for Watertown with Bramer and Austin McBride providing assists. Goalie Kohl Nygaard finished with 23 saves.
Against Oahe, Bramer scored two goals and Kowynn Muhl one. Evans,, McBride and Gunner Van Gilder each were credited with assists and Nygaard stopped 27 shots in net.
Watertown, which finished 8-14 in the SDAHA, is expected to be the No. 8 seed in the SDAHA State Varsity Boys Tournament March 8-10 at Brookings.
The Laker girls, who didn't play last week, are set to host the SDAHA State Varsity Girls Tournament Friday through Sunday in the new Prairie Lakes Ice Arena. Watertown is the No. 8 seed and meet No. 1 seed Sioux Falls at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.
More: Three-day varsity girls' hockey state tournament set to run Friday through Sunday
Aberdeen Boys Hockey
The Cougars wrapped up SDAHA play with a 5-4 win at Sioux Falls West on Saturday and a 2-0 win at Sioux Falls East on Sunday.
Jack Podoll's late goal lifted the Cougars on Friday. Quincy Madsen, Devon Fischbach, Jaxon Danielson and Audenb Posthumus also scored. Danielson had two assists and Madsen and Posthumus on each. Goalie Colton Townsend registered 25 saves.
Brady Huff and Leyton Kleffman scored in Sunday's win with Fischbach addd two assists and Huff and Michael Weisenburger each one. Townsend had 28 saves.
The Lakers (12-10 in the SDAHA) are expected to be the No. 6 seed in the SDAHA Varsity Boys State Tournament March 8-10 at Brookings.
Aberdeen Girls Hockey
The Cougars tuned up for their state tourney by playing three games over the weekend in Edina, Minn. They lost to the Minnesota Polar Devils 3-0 and beat the District 3 Frost 9-0 on Saturday and Minnetonka 5-3 on Sunday.
Chloe Vikander had 29 saves in the loss to the Polar Devils.
Alyssa Roehrich scored two goals and Aiden Raap, Rachel Siefken, Kailyn Poppen, Morgan Jones, Allison Woehl, Addyson Keller and Rylee Hepper on each against the Frost. Roehrich and Siefken each made two assists and Poppen, Woehl and Kaylee Dixon one each.
Against Minnetonka, Keller and Raniesa Mattke each scored two goals and Poppen one. Jones added two assists and Keller, Siefken, Roehrich each one. Vikander made 25 saves.
The Cougars went 11-3 South Dakota Amateur Hockey Association league play and are the No. 2 seed for the SDAHA Varsity Girls Hockey Tournament that runs Friday through Sunday in the new Prairie Lakes Ice Arena in Watertown. Aberdeen faces No. 7 seed Sioux Center (Iowa) at 11:30 a.m. on Friday.
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Watertown-Aberdeen sports highlights from Feb. 21-27
