The state high school basketball tournaments are now history, including of course the annual boys' B tourney drama in Aberdeen this past weekend.
And to nobody's surprise top-seeded De Smet claimed its crown, edging second-seeded Lower Brule 49-26 in the title game. The Region 2B Sioux, indeed representing our region, grabbed an early one-possession lead after a quarter, but from then on the momentum pretty much went into De Smet's favor, thanks in part to its stifling defense. And the Sioux were coming off a grueling three-overtime semifinal win over White River a night earlier, so obviously couldn't have had a whole lot of gas left in their tank on Saturday evening before a packed gym.
Our other Region 2B rep at the state B was Potter County, which would face White River in the third-place contest, eventually won by White River 83-74. Joe Sayler led the White River Tigers with 37 points in that confrontation and had opened the tourney with a Class B quarterfinal scoring record of 43 points. (He was held to only 22 points the second night.) And he is only a junior.
What about the afternoon brackets? Well, Aberdeen Christian would come away with a seventh-place 72-65 victory over Freeman Academy/Marion. And that was followed by Waubay/Summit's narrow 40-39 consolation-championship win over Castlewood.
Up in Class A, meanwhile, Dakota Valley apparently came away with its first-ever Class A title with a 82-65 victory over Sioux Valley. A team from our end of the state Groton would salvage seventh with a 66-57 victory over Lakota Tech. The fifth-place victor would prove to be Sioux Falls Christian, thanks to a 67-54 win over Winner. Then St. Thomas More would get the evening going with its 43-42 third-place victory over Flandreau.
The AA boys winner this year would turn out to be Sioux Falls Roosevelt, topping O'Gorman 54-52 in overtime.
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