Sanford Sports 17U girls show South Dakota basketball scene is elite with Nike Championship League win
When the Sanford Sports Academy 17U girls basketball team won the Nike Championship League Finals in Chicago on Monday, it was another example of what people in South Dakota already know: The girls basketball scene in the state is elite.
The Nike Champions League is a 32-team, invite-only tournament that features some of the best independent basketball teams in the country.
“There's really good women's basketball around here, and it's awesome to continue to shine a light on the work that these ladies and coach put in to get an opportunity like that. It’s really special,” said Sanford Sports Director of Basketball Nate Kaeding. “Also just to continue to let the country and the nation know the quality of play that we have here, not only in South Dakota, but the upper Midwest.”
The Sanford Sports Academy girls team, which features multiple South Dakota State commits, always talks about throwing the first punch and that’s exactly what happened in their championship game against the Southeast All-Stars. Sanford led by 20 points after one quarter and never took their foot off the gas, winning the game and the title 97-64.
The team’s coach, Jamie Granum, said although the team went undefeated and won the championship game by over 30 points, the competition was stiff.
“The talent that these guys played against I think is minimized,” Granum said. “You can go scoreboard looking and see a 30-point win, but you look across at the team we played, they've got a couple of Georgia Tech commits … so what we did in South Dakota is pretty special, and it just shows the quality of girls basketball in our state.”
One of the really unique things about this group was that most of the team has been together for multiple years. That was evident in the team’s chemistry and unselfishness on the floor.
“I think sometimes I have to get out of the way more than be in their way,” Granum said of his coaching approach. “I might be there on the bench, but these players could win a lot of basketball games regardless of who was sitting on the bench.”
The significance of the moment was two-fold for SDSU commits Emilee Fox and Katie Vasecka. They won the championship, and they got to represent their home state of South Dakota in their national TV debut on ESPN+.
“That was really cool. I think it was good recognition for our state,” Fox said. “I know, a lot of people from my hometown texted me and said good luck and stuff like that. So it's really cool to know that people from home were supporting us.”
Jonathan Fernandez covers high school and college sports for the Argus Leader. Contact him at jfernandez1@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JFERN31
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Sanford's championship win shows SD girls basketball scene is elite
