A look at some of northeastern South Dakota's best girls basketball players since 1984
Editor's Note: Sports writer Roger Merriam is compiling a "20 Favorites" series highlighting some of his favorite athletes in a variety of high school sports since he started working at the Watertown Public Opinion in December of 1984.
Wow. This has been an aggressive undertaking. A summer series looking at some of the best and/or "favorite" high school athletes that I've covered in the past 39 years in Watertown.
Girls basketball in northeastern South Dakota doesn't have to take a backseat to any other sport. It's been very good. Let's get started. Don't pay attention to order. It's just the way I'm listing them.
Coming this week is a look at my 20 favorite Watertown High School girls basketball players.
20. Brittany Hills, Summit
Summit had a fabulous run of success under coach Mark Amdahl, qualifying for the state B tournament seven-straight years from 2006-2012. The stretch included state B titles in 2009, 2011 and 2012 and a runner-up finish in 2010.
The Eagles had many deserving players for this list, and as you read on, they got their share. Hills is on the list in part because she was one of the senior leaders on the school's first championship team in 2009.
19. Haley Rithmiller, Webster Area
So, to not confuse anyone, let's get this out of the way. The former Bearcat standout had an outstanding high school career in Webster before heading to Northern State University in Aberdeen. At NSU, she took a new last name (Johnson).
Webster girls basketball teams qualified for state in 1979 and 1981 and didn't again until Jared Vergeldt guided the Bearcats to four-straight state Class A tournaments from 2014-17. Rithmiller was a member of all four of those teams and a big reason why the Bearcats had their run.
18. Renee Reidburn, Milbank
This wasn't an easy call and my apologies to Nancy Frost, Christi Wherry, Sandy Tschepen, Steph Bergan, Anne Nef, Ginny Dohrer and many others who were part of teams coached by Gordon Bergquist that qualified for state A tournaments in 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1995. The Bulldogs won in 1987 and finished second in both 1988 and 1989.
Maybe my memory just escapes me, but when I was figuring out which Milbank players to pick there were two names that jumped to the front. The first one is Reidburn, a member of the 1995 team. She scored 1,100 points with the Bulldogs and also won the Spirit of Su Award at the state tourney. Reidburn later went on to play at Augustana.
17. Lisa Kannegieter, Willow Lake
Certainly one of the most successful girls basketball programs through these years was the Class B program at Willow Lake, which became a powerhouse under Dennis Sumption and continued through a number of other coaches.
Kannegieter led the Pirates to their first state-tourney trips in the fall of 1988 and 1989 before going on to play at South Dakota State. Now here's the deal, the Pirates finished third in 1989. They made seven more trips to the State B through 2005 and finished second all seven times.
Kannegieter was named South Dakota's Miss Basketball in 1989 and the state's Gatorade Player of the Year in 1989-90.
16. Alex Kneeland, Summit
Lori Wohlleber of Summit won South Dakota's Miss Basketball Award in 1985 and was the only Eagle to win the honor until Kneeland won the honor in 2011. She also was the state's Gatorade Player of the Year in 2010-11.
The 5-foot-8 guard had a big-time career that included scoring 2,293 points and earned Class B All-State first team honors three times. She also led the Eagles to a 26-0 record and the state B title as a senior in 2011, when she also won the Spirit of Su Award.
Those who remember the 2010 State B tournament in the Watertown Civic Arena can't forget Kneeland almost willing a young Summit team to a state championship before losing to a more-experienced Castlewood squad in the championship game.
15. Dawn Hull, Sisseton
Bergquist's teams in Milbank spoiled postseason hopes for a number of talented Sisseton teams coached by Cheryl Jenner, but the Redmen finally broke through in the fall of 1990 when Hull and her teammates defeated Winner 45-38 in the title game.
It was Sisseton's first state-tourney trip and the start of a very successful run (more on that later). Hull went on to play at South Dakota State.
14. Ashley Harles, Sisseton
The Redmen followed up their title in 1990 by qualifying for state in 1991, 1992 and 1993. There was a short dry spell before coaches Cal Schubert and Cory Grimsrud led Sisseton on a remarkable run, starting with a group of talented freshmen in the fall of 2000.
Harles was one of those freshmen, who led the Redmen to the championship in the Civic Arena. Sisseton also won the state A title in the fall of 2021.
After the girls basketball season was switched to the winter, the Redmen lost in the 2003 championship before Harles and her classmates closed out their careers with the 2004 state title. For those counting, that's three titles (nearly four) in four years.
13. The Grimsruds, Sisseton
We've already mention father Cory and his coaching exploits. One of Harles' classmates was Courtney Grimsrud, a 6-2 center who earned three Class A All-State first team selections after compiling 1,809 points, 1,081 rebounds and 558 block shots for the Redmen. She was named South Dakota's Miss Basketball in 2004.
She took her skills to South Dakota State and had a successful career there while the Redmen took a short break before starting another state A tournament run (qualifying in 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2012).
The 2011 team won the school's fifth title with the help of Kalli Grimsrud, Courtney's younger sister. She didn't score as much as Courtney, but she controlled the paint and the boards in much the same fashion.
12. Amber Wollschlager, Milbank
This should sum it up for Wollschlager. The 5-foot-11 standout played guard at Drake after dominating inside in South Dakota high school girls basketball and at the net in high school volleyball. She was named South Dakota's Prep Female Athlete of the Year in 2007.
Wollschlager opened her high school career at Grant-Deuel and played her final three years at Milbank, finishing with 2,487 points and 1,000 rebounds. The Bulldogs went 63-11 in three years with third-place finishes in the state A tournament in 2006 and 2007.
11. Rylie and Rynn Osthus, De Smet
Their father Doug played on De Smet's State B champion boys basketball team in 1987 and later became the head coach of De Smet's girls basketball program.
Rylie came first and played on a state runner-up team in 2013 and a third-place team in 2015. Rynn closed her career by playing on the school's first state championship team in 2019.
The Osthus sisters both went on to play at Dakota Wesleyan University.
10. Leslie Kruiter, Castlewood
Kruiter's appearance on this list is two-fold. She was a standout athlete who led the Warriors to the 1995 State B tournament.
As it turned out, her association with Castlewood girls basketball wasn't just as a player. Leslie Tvedt (her married name) eventually became the program's head coach and led the Warriors to State B championships in 2010 and 2018.
9. Jennifer Warkenthien, Willow Lake
The 6-0 Warkenthien not only starred on Willow Lake teams that finished second in the State B tournament in both 2004 and 2005, but also enjoyed a stellar career at South Dakota State that included leading the Jackrabbits to their first NCAA tournament as a Division I program.
Warkenthien tallied 1,795 points and 1,001 rebounds with the Pirates and was chosen as the Spirit of Su, Miss Basketball and the state's Gatorade Player of the Year in 2005.
8. Riley Nordgaard, Canby, Minn.
Ok, I lied. It isn't just northeastern South Dakota. The coverage area includes a handful of west central Minnesota schools, including Canby.
That's where the 2012 Canby graduate made her mark with 2,558 points, 1,090 rebounds and 558 steals during a prep career that included two Class A All-State selections and the 2012 Minnesota Class A Player of the Year honor. She also was named the conference's most valuable player four years.
Nordgaard didn't stop there. After a couple of seasons at Augustana in Sioux Falls, she finished out her career at Division I Montana State.
7. Andrea Seefeldt, Clark
Seefeldt earned Class A All-State honors twice in both girls basketball and volleyball and teamed with Shannon Schlagel and others to produce consecutive State appearances in both sports for the Comets.
The girls basketball team took second in 1998 and third in the fall of 1999. The volleyball team was third in 2000 and second in 2001.
Seefeldt continued her basketball career at Augustana.
More: Nesheim, Begeman and Huber enjoying basketball reunion at Clark High School
6. Shannon Schlagel, Clark
See above for most details, but Schlagel was a three-time All-State honor in basketball and also earned All-State volleyball honors on year. She finished her Clark career with 1,518 points and 903 rebounds.
She later enjoyed an equally impressive career at South Dakota State and led the Jackrabbits into Division I.
Most interesting, Schlagel and Seefeldt (now Shannon Huber and Andrea Begeman) joined forces this past winter to coach Clark-Willow Lake's girls basketball program.
5. South Shore's Jensen sisters
It started with oldest sister Traci, a key member of the Comets' 1986 team that qualified for the State B tournament under her father and head coach Ron Jensen. It was the only state-tourney berth for the school.
Two younger sisters, Jaci and Sara, combined to help lead a Waverly-South Shore program to a 25-0 season in 2000 that culminated with the state Class B championship. Sara returned the next season and led the Coyotes and head coach Todd Jutting back to state.
All three could really play.
4. Castlewood's Benikes
Well first, let's start out with Susie Gaikowski, a member of the 1993 Waubay High School girls basketball team that won the consolation championship in the State B tournament. She married fellow talented Waubay athlete and Darren Benike.
Then came daughters Regan and Alayna, who became standout girls basketball players for Castlewood.
Regan was a senior standout and Alayna a freshman on Castlewood's state championship team in 2018. Alayna closed out her career on Castlewood's runner-up team in 2021. After one year at Nebraska-Kearney, Alayna started for Northern State University this past winter.
3. Hamlin's Wadsworths
Basketball and the Wadsworths. The connection runs deep at Hamlin. This particular connection is tied to Travis Wadsworth and his sister Tara. Travis played on Hamlin's State A boys tournament team in 1993. Tara led Hamlin's girls to the 1996 State A championship before going on to play at South Dakota State. Can't forget, Tara's teammates on the 1996 Chargers including cousins Jill and Lori Wadsworth.
Fast forward to recent years when Travis' daughters Lexi, Kylee and Kami and Tara's daughters (Ashtyn and Ally Abraham) helped fuel the program's resurgence under head coach Tim Koisti. Lexi led Hamlin to State A berths in 2016 and 2017.
After also qualifying in 2020 but not getting to play because of COVID-19, the Chargers returned to state with starters Kylee, Kami, Ashtyn and Ally and advanced to the state title game before falling to Aberdeen Roncalli in the Watertown Civic Arena.
Kami and Ally returned in 2022 and led the Chargers back to the championship, where they lost to St. Thomas More. The two seniors and the Chargers finally got it done this winter, capping a 25-0 season with the State A championship in the Civic Arena. Kami was named South Dakota's Miss Basketball.
2. Willow Lake's Englerts
If you read the section above, that's a lot of Wadsworths but it involves a few families. That wasn't the case for the Englert sisters at Willow Lake. It's all one family.
Sisters Danielle, Elizabeth, Stephanie, Virginia and Kim all were part of the very successful Willow Lake program in from the late 80s through much of the 1990s.
Again, they were all very good players.
1. Summit's O'Farrells
Much like the Benikes, this is a story that involves a mother and two daughters. It starts with Summit standout Lori Wohlleber, who was a five-year varsity starter for Coach Randy Faeth and led the Eagles to a combined 100-19 record and consecutive State B trips from 1983-85, the first in school history. She ended her career as the all-time leading scorer in state history with 2,490 points and still is among the state's all-time leaders.
I put the O'Farrells at the top of my list because my first real coverage of sports at the Public Opinion came in the winter of 1985. Lori Wohlleber's final season was the fall of 1985.
Lori's twin daughters Presley and Logan O'Farrell then became a key part of Summit's next great run of success from 2006-2015. The O'Farrells helped lead the Eagles to State B titles in 2011 and 2012.
They later continued their basketball careers at Augustana.
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on Twitter @PO_Sports
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Sports writer Roger Merriam's 20 Favorites series opens with girls hoops
