Six returning All-State players among top returnees in northeastern South Dakota

Last, but not least, in the past week's look at some of the best area high school players and teams to watch this winter are boys basketball players.

There's a number of talented northeastern South Dakota players who should do some good things on the court in 2023-24.

Let's get started.

Lane Tvedt and Byron Laue, Castlewood

Let's start off the list with a pair of Warriors who earned Class B All-State third team honors last winter for a Castlewood team that went 20-6 and took fifth in the State B tourney.

Tvedt, a 6-foot senior guard, produced 16.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game and also made 64 steals. Laue, a 6-8 junior, kicked off his sophomore year by shattering a backboard on a dunk in a summer team camp and went out and tallied 14.7 points and 9.9 rebounds per game along with 62 blocks.

Both players also earned All-Dakota Valley Conference and All-Lake Central Conference honors.

Alec Squires, Sioux Valley

As long as we're talking big guys, the Cossacks' 6-10 senior center-forward and South Dakota State University recruit deserves mention. He averaged 15 points and 11 per game and also made 60 blocks for a Sioux Valley team that went 23-3 and won the consolation title in the state Class A tournament.

He made the All-Big East Conference first team and also earned All-LCC honors last winter.

Easton Neuendorf and Tyson Stevenson, Hamlin

To be fair, we could list a few more guys from a talented Hamlin team are back from a squad that went 21-4 and took third in the state Class A tournament.

We're going with these two, who each were third-team honorees on the Class A All-State team. Stevenson, a 6-2 senior guard, averaged 14.4 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game and Neuendorf, a 5-11 junior guard, 13.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game.

Stevenson also made the All-Northeast Conference first team and joined Neuendorf on the All-LCC team.

Layne Cotton, Faulkton Area

The 6-foot-3 senior averaged 23.1 points and 10.2 rebounds per game on the way to earning third team Class B All-State and first team All-Lake Region Conference honors in basketball last winter.

Now after quarterbacking the Trojans all to the way to the state Class 9B championship in football, he's primed for another good season on the hardcourt.

More: De Smet, Hamlin, Sioux Valley and Castlewood again expected to lead the pack

Kadyn Fast and George Jensen, De Smet

Fast, a 6-1 senior guard, and Jensen, a 6-6 senior forward, are returning All-Dakota Valley Conference performers for the top-rated Class B Bulldogs and will lead their quest for a fourth-straight State B championship.

Fast made the first team and Jensen the second team on the All-DVC team last winter.

Jake Olson, Dylon Rawdon, Kohen Kranz & Caden Beachamp, Watertown

These guys were the top four scores for the Arrows last winter and are back. Olson, a 6-2 senior, led the way i3th a 10.5 points-per-game average and Rawdon, a 6-0 senior guard, added 9.8 points per game. Rawdon is quick and explosive.

Kranz is a 6-0 senior guard (8.7 ppg) who does a lot of everything on the court and Beauchamp, a 6-3 senior, is an undersized post player who averaged 7.4 points per game and led the Arrows in rebounding last winter.

Jett Carlson and Parker Lemer, Aberdeen Central

Carlson, a 6-4 senior forward, and Lemer, a 6-3 senior guard, are returning starters for Coach Brent Norberg's Golden Eagles.

They'll be asked to absorb bigger roles in 2023-24.

Lane Tietz and Jacob Zak, Groton Area

Tietz, a 5-11 guard, and Zak, a 5-11 guard-forward, were sophomore regulars on a Groton Area team that made it to the state Class A tournament in 2022 and juniors on the Tigers' team that went 16-6 and lost in a SoDak 16 state-qualifying game last winter.

Tietz scored nearly 16 points per game last winter and Zak added 11-plus along with 4.5 rebounds.

Garrett Mertens and Joe Schulte, Milbank

Mertens, a 6-3 senior guard-forward, produced 14 points and more than three rebounds and three assists per game last winter on the way to being named to the All-Northeast Conference second team.

Schulte, a 6-6 senior forward-center, added 12.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game and earned third team All-NEC honors.

Trey Maaland, Deuel

The 6-1 senior guard earned all-league honors in two conferences last winter while scoring 13 points per game.

He made the All-NEC second team and also the All-LCC squad.

Maddox Miller, Aberdeen Roncalli

The 6-0 senior guard led the Cavaliers in scoring last winter by tallying more than 13 points per game.

He earned third team All-NEC honors.

Jake Jorenby and Landen Johnson, Deubrook Area

The Dolphins enjoyed a fabulous run in the state high school football playoffs that ended with a state Class 9A runner-up finish and would love to carry that over to basketball.

Jorenby, a 6-3 senior guard-forward, made the second team and Johnson, a 6-2 senior guard, the third team on the All-Dakota Valley Conference team last winter.

Jackson Wohlleber, Waubay-Summit

You all know about Summit's Wohllebers and their basketball exploits through the years. Here's another one, a 5-10 senior guard for a Mustangs' team that went 19-4 in a move up to Class A last winter.

Kaleb Foltz, Tri-State

The standout distance runner in track and cross country also can hoop it up a little bit.

The senior guard made the second team on the All-Eastern Coteau Conference team in 2022-23.

Alex Heil, Austin Rubendall & Myles York, Great Plains Lutheran

Heil, a 6-3 senior guard, is a returning All-ECC second team selection who produced 11.9 points, four rebounds 3.4 assists and 2.4 steals per game.

Rubendall, a 6-2 junior forward, led the Panthers with 12.4 points and 8.2 rebounds per outing a year ago and York, a 6-4 senior center, added 9.2 and 5.6.

Trevor Heinz, Ipswich

The Tigers went 15-7 last winter and has a returning cast led by Heinz, a 5-11 senior guard who earned first-team All-LRC honors.

Hunter Cramer and Brodey Sawuerwein, Warner

Cramer, a 6-1 senior guard, and Sauerwein, a 6-5 senior forward-center, hooked up quite a bit as a quarterback-receiver connection on a state championship football team this fall and could form a dangerous inside-outside punch for the Monarchs this winter.

Cramer made the first team and Sauerwein the second team on the All-LRC team in 2022-23.

Nate Melius and Lincoln Woodring, Northwestern

The two senior guards helped the Wildcats to 17-6 last winter and advance to a SoDak 16 Class B state-qualifying game before falling.

They also each earned All-LRC second team honors.

Noah Kippley, Leola-Frederick

The 6-3 junior guard, a second-team All-LRC honoree, will be tasked with leading the way for a Titans' team looking to improve upon an 11-10 season last winter.

Jackson Eisemann, Mobridge-Pollock

The 5-10 junior guard and All-Big Dakota Conference selection is back for a Tigers' team looking to improve upon last year's 11-11 mark.

Carter Luikens, Potter County; Trevor Gill, Herreid-Selby Area and Raynor Sprague, North Central

There wasn't any luck tracking down the All-Yellowstone Trail Conference squad last winter, but these three guays are among the returning leaders for their respective YTC schools.

Luikens and Gill are 6-3 senior forwards and Sprague a 6-1 senior guard.

Joey Johnson, Aberdeen Christian

The Knights graduated two All-State players off a team that went 23-3 and finished third in the state B tourney. Johnson, a 6-4 senior center, is one of the team's top returnees.

Emmerson Larson, Bo Begeman and Sullivan Felberg, Clark-Willow Lake

The Cyclones don't return a single starter off a team that went 15-6 last winter, but veteran head coach Jerome Nesheim has some players to keep an eye on.

The group includes Larson, a 6-2 sophomore; Begeman, a 6-4 freshman; and Felberg, a 6-4 eighth-grader. The breakout may not come this season but we don't want to miss the boat if it does.

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: Taking a look at the top area high school boys basketball players in the area