Roger Merriam's look at some of his favorite Watertown High School girls basketball players
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. The series is about northeastern South Dakota athletes, but some played at colleges all over the state and others have moved to other areas.
Sorry if I created a little bit of confusion with the start of the "20 Favorites" series on Saturday with a look at some of northeastern South Dakota's best high school girls basketball players since December of 1984.
The list did not include any Watertown Arrows. That's because this "20 Favorites" list includes many of the top Watertown High School girls basketball players since sports writer Roger Merriam began his tenure with the Watertown Public Opinion in late December of 1984.
Again, most of the list is in no particular order but the top 3 (Jaime Berry, Tara Heiser and Tia Hemiller) is one that can certainly hold its own with the top 3 of pretty much any of the state's high schools in this timeframe.
Watertown qualified for the state Class AA tournament for the first time in 14 seasons this winter, but the program was among the best in the state for many years. The Arrows made 10 consecutive trips to state from 1987 through 1996 and won state Class AA titles in 1993, 2007 and 2009.
Are you ready? Let's get started.
Up next in the "20 Favorites" series is area Class A and B boys basketball players.
More: A look at some of northeastern South Dakota's best girls basketball players since 1984
20. Others
I know I'm not really supposed to be political as a sports writer, but I realized there were maybe a few others that could have been recognized in the area girls basketball players story. An "others" category is a good way to make more or keep more friends.
This group includes All-State honorees Brittany Lehner (2010, second team), Ashley Herzog (2005, second team and Kim Moen (1991, second team). Others of note include Darci Dohrer of the 1980s; Kerri Hanson of the early 1990s; the Merrigan sisters (Katie, Kylee, Molly and Casey) from the late 1990s through the mid-2000s; my daughter's classmates Sara Saathoff, Amy Rieffenberger and Nikki Borkhuis from the 2007 state champions; and Elli Stevenson and Taylor Terronez from the decade of the 2010s.
The 5-foot-4 Hanson, a 1992 WHS graduate, was a two-year starter for the Arrows who played as a freshman as Moorhead (Minn.) State before moving to California to become a nanny. While there, she helped lead Monterey (Calif.) Peninsula College to one of its best seasons ever in 1995-96 by averaging better than 15 points per game and draining nearly 100 3-pointers.
Casey Merrigan played on the 2007 state champions and Kylee Merrigan on the 2009 state champions. Terronez walked on at the University of South Dakota where her father Troy once played. If my memory is correct, Dohrer's father Rick served as the head coach of Watertown's boys basketball team for three years in the early 1980s.
19. Wendy Ramynke
To the best of my recollection, Ramynke wasn't a bad basketball player. I believe she was a starter on Watertown's 1989 team that made it to the state Class AA tournament.
Here's the catch, she is now Wendy Solheim (her son Jaden was a talented high school golfer for the Arrows in recent years) and has spent much of the past decade or so delivering my mail with the U.S. Postal Service.
As far as I can tell, there were no payments coming my way that I didn't receive and I'd like to keep it that way.
18. Jessica Tetzlaff
Pretty much the whole state remembers her father Mark, a former Hamlin High School and South Dakota State standout who is inducted into the South Dakota High School Basketball Hall of Fame.
I can't remember exactly when the Tetzlaffs ended up in Watertown, but I do know that Jessica was a big presence inside and earned Class AA All-State first team honors after leading the Arrows to the 2007 state championship.
17. Sara Poppen
I almost missed the boat on this one. When I first arrived in Watertown, a fresh out-of-college 21-year old, my neighbors were Lloyd and Janice Poppen and their family. Brothers Brad, Scott, Steve and Barry all were talented athletes for the Arrows but Sara may have topped them all.
When I was doing my research, I sent Scott the photo of Sara I came across. I knew she was pretty good, but I didn't remember she was a two-time Class AA All-State second team honoree in both 1989 and 1990.
16. The LaFramboise Sisters
Watertown's string of 10 consecutive state tournament berths from 1987 through 2006 was helped by the LaFramboise sisters in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The trio (Lori, Kristi and Nicole) all served important roles as inside players for some very successful Arrow squads.
15. Anna Kranz
I was reminded that Anna followed a similar career trajectory to her older brother Aaron, with both really making their marks after high school at Mount Marty College (University) in Yankton.
Anna, however, may have just been another Arrow overshadowed by her fellow classmate Jaime Berry. She was second in scoring (9.8 ppg.) behind Berry in Watertown's 1996 season.
14. Kristin Rector
Talking about getting another refresher course, my research presented a good reminder of just how good Rector was with the Arrows from 1990-1992.
She averaged double figures in points all three years and was either first or second in scoring and rebounding for all three of those Watertown teams. Rector earned second team Class AA All-State honors in 1992.
13. Megan Fannin
The 5-foot-8 guard and 2000 WHS graduate did her best to try to end the Arrows' state-tourney drought with back-to-back seasons that produced Class AA All-State second team honors in 2019 and 2020 for the Arrows.
This winter, she completed her redshirt junior season for the University of Sioux Falls women's basketball team.
12. Chelsea DeVille
Like Fannin, DeVille (2004 WHS graduate) was a talented guard who continued her career at a NCAA Division II school in Sioux Falls. DeVille's pick was Augustana, not Sioux Falls.
In high school, she earned Class AA All-State honors twice. She made the second team in 2003 and the first team in 2004.
Her relationship with the game has continued. She was hired as the 10th head coach in the history of the Bemidji State University's women's basketball program in 2005 and completed her eighth season this winter.
11. The Heiden Sisters
Sonia. Renae. Joanne. The Heidens were all big contributors in basketball, volleyball and track for the Arrows from the early 90s to the early 200s.
Sonia was a starter on Watertown's state championship team in 1993. Renae was another classmate of Berry's who played three years of varsity basketball. Joanne was the youngest and injured her knee as a sophomore but returned to have a successful athletic career that also included back-to-back Class AA All-State volleyball honors in 2000 and 2001.
10. Kiersten Thompson
Thompson also had success in volleyball with the Arrows, but really made her mark in basketball with Class AA All-State first team selections in both 1992 and 1993.
She led the Arrows with 12 points in the 1993 championship game win over Mitchell, which snapped the Kernels' 45-game winning streak. Thompson averaged a team-leading 12.8 points per game that season.
Thompson was inducted into the WHS Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019.
9. Valynn Van Well
The second-leading scorer on Watertown's 1993 state championship team was Van Well, who averaged 11.7 points per game and earned Class AA All-State second team honors.
Van Well returned the next season and earned Class AA All-State first team honors and also was a two-time All-State honoree in volleyball.
She was inducted into the WHS Athletic Hall of Fame in 2017.
8. Jaida Young
We need to remember this is a span of 39 years, involving those past and present. The closest to the present honor goes to 2023 WHS graduate Young.
She was a big reason why the Arrows' ended the longest state-tourney drought in the nearly 50-year history of the program this winter. A four-year regular, Young led the Arrows in scoring (12 ppg.), rebounds, assists and steals.
The Dakota Wesleyan recruit earned Class AA All-State second team honors.
7. Stacy Schooley
A case could be made that Schooley just might be the best overall female athlete that WHS has produced during these past 39 years. The 1999 WHS graduate earned a combined 13 letters in basketball, volleyball and track and played on Watertown's first state championship volleyball team in 1997.
She earned Class AA All-State second team honors in basketball in both her junior and senior seasons, despite playing the last half of her senior season with a torn ACL that eventually required surgery. After originally heading to South Dakota State, Schooley transferred to South Dakota and became an All-North Central Conference selection in basketball.
Now Stacey Hendricks, she's back involved with Watertown's girls basketball program as an assistant coach.
6. Tami Kluck
Dennis Gall arrived in 1985 to try to rebuild Watertown High School's girls basketball program, which hadn't made it to state since 1981. The Arrows went 3-18 in 1985, improved to 7-13 in 1986 and put it all together in 1987 with a 17-6 season and a fourth-place finish in the state Class AA tournament.
Kluck led the 1987 team in scoring at 14.6 points per game. The three-year regular returned the following season to earn Class AA All-State first team honors.
The 5-9 Kluck later played at Northeast Community Junior College in Norfolk (Neb.) and ended up at South Dakota.
5. Darcy Peterka
I'm not positive, but Peterka likely was the smallest player on the 1987 Watertown team but that didn't mean the three-year starter didn't play a big role. Kluck and Patty Schulte were the forces inside. Peterka ran the show from the perimeter.
The 5-2 guard and 1988 WHS grad with the curly hair later took her basketball skills to Southwest Minnesota State in Marshall, Minn.
4. Patty Schulte
We slipped the first reference of Schulte into the Peterka notes above, but Peterka's classmate earned Class AA All-State first team honors after the Arrows' resurgent 1987 season.
Schulte averaged 14.4 points and 8.8 rebounds per game for the Arrows that season and later played at Northern State in Aberdeen.
For at least three reasons (Kluck, Peterka and Schulte), I seem to remember the 1987 Arrow team about as well as any.
3. Tia Hemiller
Like Schooley before her, Hemiller was a multi-sport standout athlete at WHS who could also be considered one of the best Arrow athletes these past nearly 40 years.
As a freshman, her insertion into the starting lineup during the season catapulted the 2009 Arrows to a state championship. The four-year regular closed her career by earning All-State honors in 2011 (second team) and 2012 (first team).
Hemiller later became a three-year starter and All-Summit League performer for the University of South Dakota. She also served an assistant for Watertown's girls basketball team last winter and has since been named the new head coach at Rapid City Central.
2. Tara Heiser
Maybe I shouldn't be writing this promo, since I had the privilege of watching Tara's development as an athlete from a very young age. My daughter Brittany played on Tara's softball team and that meant about 10 years of watching her play at a top level, often times against athletes who were older than her.
That continued in high school, where she was a key performer on both the 2007 (sophomore) and 2009 (senior) championship teams. A two-time Class AA All-State first team honoree in both 2008 and 2009, she finished her career as the all-time leading scorer in Watertown girls basketball history with 1,340 points.
Heiser also enjoyed a productive career at South Dakota State University and is now guiding a resurgent Arlington High School girls basketball program as a head coach.
1. Jaime Berry
If I had a little bias with Heiser, the same could be said for Berry. I played amateur baseball in Watertown with her father Mike and also followed the exploits of her brother Ryan and sister Allison. I was good friends with the family, but that really isn't the reason for this ranking.
In my mind, she's the best high school female athlete I have covered in Watertown. She was a freshman regular on the state championship girls basketball team in the fall of 1993 and the leader of Watertown's first state championship volleyball team in the winter of 1997. I remember that the setters didn't have to have perfect sets, Berry just adjusted and recorded numerous kills.
The 2007 WHS Athletic Hall of Fame inductee scored 1,154 points in high school (second all-time in Watetown behind Heiser) and earned Class AA All-State honors in basketball and volleyball three times each.
Did I mention, she later led North Dakota State University to a runner-up finish in the 2000 NCAA Division II tournament and was inducted into the Bison Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019. She is now in her second stint as an assistant with NDSU's women's basketball program.
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on Twitter @PO_Sports
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: 20 Favorites: Watertown girls basketball's top 3 on par with any since 1984
