Possible postseason format changes coming to Class AA
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12 Athletes of the Week
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PAIGE MEYER
Jackrabbit point guard runs the show for team that’s won 58 straight Summit League games 8 First time title Confidence powers Harrisburg to state gymnasticss title
EDITOR
MARCUS TRAXLER mtraxler@mitchellrepublic.com
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
SARA LEITHEISER
CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS
MINDY WIRTZFELD
KATIE HASTINGS
the team meet the
CONTRIBUTERS
MATT ZIMMER
ADAM THURY
TRENT SINGER
BLAKE DURHAM
LANDON DIERKS
NATHAN SWAFFAR
JUSTIN WICKERSHAM
contributors
MARCUS TRAXLER
Marcus Traxler is the assistant editor and sports editor for the Mitchell Republic. A past winner of the state’s Outstanding Young Journalist award and the 2023 South Dakota Sportswriter of the Year, he’s worked for the newspaper since 2014 and covers a wide variety of topics.
MATT ZIMMER
Matt Zimmer is a Sioux Falls native and longtime sports writer.
He graduated from Washington High School where he played football, legion baseball and developed his lifelong love of the Minnesota Twins and Vikings. After graduating from St. Cloud State University, he returned to Sioux Falls, and began a long career in amateur baseball and sports reporting.
LANDON DIERKS
Dierks covers prep and collegiate athletics across the Mitchell Republic’s coverage region area. He is a Mitchell native who graduated from South Dakota State University with his bachelor’s degree in journalism in May 2020. Dierks joined the Mitchell Republic sports staff in August 2021.
BLAKE DURHAM
Blake Durham is a Sports Reporter for the Mitchell Republic, having joined the newspaper in October of 2023. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in December of 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in Communications. Durham can be found covering a variety of prep and collegiate sports in the area.
TRENT SINGER
An Iowa native who grew up in the south, Singer is a 2012 graduate of Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee, where he received his bachelor of arts degree in photography with a minor in journalism. Singer was most previously the editor of high school sports at Just Women's Sports and, before that, was a sports reporter and editor at the Southeast Missourian and the Kentucky New Era, respectively.
SDSU’s Paige Meyer dribbles to the hoop during the Jackrabbits’ win over Wisconsin on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024 at First Bank & Trust Arena in Brookings. Dave Bordewyk/ SDNMA
What would the Class AA playoffs look like with return
of regions?
Could postseason format changes be coming for Class AA basketball?
BY LANDON DIERKS
Mitchell Republic
Could postseason format changes be coming for Class AA basketball?
At the most recent South Dakota High School Activities basketball advisory committee meeting on Feb. 5, only one proposal advanced out of committee: A revision to the Class AA basketball playoffs favoring regional qualification tournaments instead of the statewide SoDak 16.
Here are the basics of the proposal:
■ Split the 20 Class AA schools into four regions of five teams
■ Each of the four regions plays a regional postseason tournament, with seeding determined by seed points
■ The winner of each region earns qualification to the state tournament
■ Second- and third-place finishers from each region are re-seeded Nos. 1-8 to play a state qualification game. No. 1 would play No. 8, No. 2 versus No. 7, and so on, with winners advancing to fill the remaining four state tournament positions.
Since this proposal, brought forward by the Rapid City Central administration, made it out of committee, it got the Mitchell Republic sports staff thinking about what it might look like. (The plan will be voted upon by Class AA athletic directors this spring before the SDHSAA Board of Directors considers the idea in April.)
The proposal did not outline possible region alignments, so for the purposes of this exercise, the Mitchell Republic sports staff looked to the district alignments used prior to the SoDak 16 era as the basis for forming our own regions. Note that district play was dropped in favor of the SoDak 16 format prior to the addition of newer Class AA schools such as Sioux Falls Jefferson or Tea Area, so we placed them based on geographic fit.
Here are the region alignments we’ll use for this exercise. (Again, note that the Mitchell Republic sports staff mocked up these regions and, therefore, they are not official or recognized by the SDHSAA.)
■ Region 1: Brookings, O’Gorman, SF
Jefferson, SF Roosevelt, Watertown
■ Region 2: Brandon Valley, Harrisburg, SF Lincoln, SF Washington, Tea Area
■ Region 3: Aberdeen Central, Huron, Mitchell, Pierre, Yankton
■ Region 4: Douglas, RC Central, RC Stevens, Spearfish, Sturgis
It’s worth noting here that’s one way to draw the region boundaries. There are other ideas to try to balance the size of the schools and their locations, but if the SDHSAA goes back to regions in Class AA, it will give up one of the strengths of the SoDak 16 in that geography hasn’t mattered as much.
As a point of comparison, let’s begin by applying this format to last season’s standings. (Note: Tea Area wasn’t a member of Class AA until 2024-25, so the Titans will not be included in this comparison, but they will be included later on.)
Of course, postseason basketball can be unpredictable, but to keep this exercise as simple as possible for now, we’ll assume the top seeds advance.
That would have given us the following region winners from 2023-24:
TOP: O’Gorman’s Sydney Terveen drives along the baseline while being guarded by Sioux Falls Washington’s Claire Woods on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, at Washington High School in Sioux Falls. TRENT SINGER / SIOUX FALLS LIVE
ABOVE: Harrisburg’s Aiden Costain (23) and Isaiah Tap (5) box out Mitchell’s Colton Smith and Owen Raml during a high school boys basketball game on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, at Harrisburg High School. LANDON DIERKS / MITCHELL REPUBLIC
ABOVE: Sioux Falls Washington’s Brennan VerHey (10) and Lucas Johnson (14) attempt to block a shot by Sioux Falls Roosevelt’s Naser Ismail (2) during a Class AA state quarterfinal boys basketball game on Thursday, March 14, 2024, at the Premier Center in Sioux Falls. ADAM THURY / MITCHELL REPUBLIC
Boys — Mitchell, Harrisburg, Sioux Falls Roosevelt and Rapid City Stevens
And the qualifying matchups would be:
Girls — Sioux Falls Jefferson vs. Watertown; Pierre vs. Aberdeen Central; Harrisburg vs. Sioux Falls Washington; and Rapid City Stevens vs. Rapid City Central
Boys — Brandon Valley vs. Spearfish; Sioux Falls Washington vs. Pierre; Huron vs. Sioux Falls Lincoln; and Watertown vs. Sioux Falls Jefferson
Though the proposal also didn’t outline if all teams would be reseeded once making the state tournament or if the region winners would be guaranteed the top-four seed positions, let’s go with the latter. That gives us this state tournament field and quarterfinal matchups:
Girls — No. 1 O’Gorman vs. No. 8 Rapid City Stevens; No. 2 Mitchell vs. No. 7 Harrisburg; No. 3 Brandon Valley vs. No. 6 Pierre; and No. No. 4 Spearfish vs. No. 5 Sioux Falls Jefferson
Boys — No. 1 Mitchell vs. No. 8 Watertown; No. 2 Harrisburg vs. No. 7 Huron; No. 3 Sioux Falls Roosevelt vs. No. 6 Sioux Falls Washington; and No. 4 Rapid City Stevens vs. No. 5 Brandon Valley
On the girls’ side, the region format produced the same field of eight tournament qualifiers, and in an almost identical order. State quarterfinal pairings of O’Gorman-Stevens and Mitchell-Harrisburg remained intact. Spearfish moved from the No. 6 to the No. 4 seed position, shifting its quarterfinal opponent to Sioux Falls Jefferson and creating a Brandon Valley-Pierre matchup in the last quarterfinal.
The boys’ side wasn’t mirrored to quite the same level, but applying the region format still produced seven of the eight actual state tournament teams from last season. As a region winner, Rapid City Stevens usurped Sioux Falls Jefferson for spot in the field. Coincidentally, the Cavaliers and Raiders played in the SoDak 16 last season, with Jefferson winning 63-59 on its home court. One quarterfinal matchup — Roosevelt-Washington — was reproduced, though as the No. 3 versus No. 6 game instead of its actual No. 4 versus No. 5.
So, assuming the region format has a decent level of predictive power, let’s look ahead a handful of weeks and use it to form the 2025 state tournament.
If the season ended following action on Feb. 18, the region winners as state tournament qualifiers would be:
Girls — O’Gorman, Brandon Valley, Mitchell and Rapid City Stevens
Boys — Sioux Falls Lincoln, Mitchell, O’Gorman and Spearfish
With qualifying matchups featuring:
Girls — Sioux Falls Washington vs. Sturgis; Spearfish vs. Sioux Falls Jefferson; Pierre vs. Brookings; and Aberdeen Central vs. Harrisburg
Boys — Brandon Valley vs. Rapid City Stevens; Harrisburg vs. Pierre; Huron vs. Rapid City Central; and Sioux Falls Jefferson vs. Sioux Falls Roosevelt
Of note, the boys’ side helps point out one of the potential pitfalls of limiting the number of state tournament bids based on region.
Right now, all five members of the proposed Region 2 — Brandon Valley, Harrisburg, Lincoln, Washington and Tea Area — are in the top nine of Class AA boys basketball overall. Under the current SoDak 16 format, all of them have a reasonable chance at the state tournament. The regional tournament structure would eliminate two of them — in the scope of this exercise, it would be Sioux Falls Washington and Tea Area — before a statewide qualification round.
So potential state tournament fields under the region would look like this:
Girls: No. 1 O’Gorman vs. No. 8 Aberdeen Central; No. 2 Brandon Valley vs. Pierre; No. 3 Mitchell vs. Spearfish; and No. 4 Rapid City Stevens vs. No. 5 Sioux Falls Washington
Boys: No. 1 Sioux Falls Lincoln vs. Sioux Falls Jefferson; No. 2 Mitchell vs. No. 7 Huron, No. 3 O’Gorman vs. No. 6 Harrisburg; and No. 4 Spearfish vs. No. 5 Brandon Valley
With March right around the corner, we’ll soon get a look at what the real postseason picture looks like.
TOP: Brandon Valley’s Ava Kellenberger (2) drives to the basket against Harrisburg’s Brynn VanBockern (3) during a Class AA state semifinal girls basketball game on Friday, March 8, 2024 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls. MARCUS TRAXLER / MITCHELL REPUBLIC
PAIGE MEYER TAKING HER GAME TO NEW LEVEL FOR SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
Jackrabbit point guard runs the show for team that’s won 58 straight Summit League games
By Matt Zimmer Sioux Falls Live
BROOKINGS — Paige Meyer has been an impact player at South Dakota State since she first stepped on the court.
A starter from day one as a true freshman, Meyer has been an all-conference selection in all three years of her career as the point guard of a team that has now won 60 consecutive Summit League games.
But as her senior season nears the end, Meyer is running the show with a confidence and determination that ranks with the best basketball she’s played in her career.
Meyer’s overall shooting numbers are down, and after she jumped up to a career-high 15.2 points per game last year when injuries demanded more of those who were healthy, she’s back to an average of 10.9 points per game, which is on par with her first two seasons.
But the numbers are one thing. As the Jacks continue to rack up wins, Meyer’s steady hand quarterbacking the offense might be the most important ingredient to their success.
Over the last month, she’s hit her stride. In Meyer’s last 10 games, the 5-foot-6 Albany, Minn., native has averaged 13.1 points and 6.5 assists, shooting 46 percent during that stretch and moving into second place in the league in assists and assist-to-turnover ratio.
In SDSU’s last three games, Meyer has averaged 20.3 points 6.3 assists and 5.3 rebounds, often making the difference with clutch shots and savvy passes that have helped the Jacks fight off a handful of upset bids as their incredible Summit League winning streak keeps on going.
For someone who’s been a double figure scorer in all four of her college seasons and been among the most efficient shooters in the nation the entire time, it’s saying something to declare that Meyer is playing the best basketball of her career, but those who see her every day think she just might be.
“I think so, I absolutely do,” said Jacks coach Aaron Johnston. “And she hasn’t always scored. Some of it has just been controlling the game, finding the right people, defending, understanding what’s happening. She’s just playing at a really high level.”
To stick with the football metaphor, it’s often said that young quarterbacks start to find success when the game ‘slows down’ for them. It never really looked too fast for Meyer, who’s been a starting point guard all the way back to her freshman year at Albany, but this year in particular her veteran guile has stood out. She’s added more passes to her game, as her gained experience and confidence has increased her creativity. The Jacks still like to play through center Brooklyn Meyer, but with the offensive weapons they’ve added this year, Paige has made sure to keep everyone involved, and shown a knack for knowing where each of her teammates are. They have
to be ready, because she doesn’t have to be looking at them to be preparing to get them the ball.
“She’s such a playmaker and creator,” said Oral Roberts coach Kelsi Musick. “She’s not just a great passer to get it inside to Brooklyn, but she’s also so dynamic with the basketball. She’s extremely shifty, she has good midrange, but when she gets loose she can really get to the rim and hurt you. I just think she’s such a true three-level scorer. You’ve got to find a way to slow her down. I don’t think stopping her is an option.”
Adds teammate Haleigh Timmer: “It’s been a lot of fun to play with Paige in my career here, but she’s taken it to another level. Her passes create for everyone and they create for her, too, because they don’t know what she’s gonna do because her drives and shots are amazing, too.”
Meyer had 23 points and seven assists to spark the Jacks past Musick’s Golden Eagles two weeks ago, then a week later stepped up late as the Jacks went into Fargo to take down a North Dakota State team that was clearly dying to be the team to snap SDSU’s Summit streak. Meyer scored 13 of her 15 points in the second half of SDSU’s 68-53 win, including eight in a row during a key third quarter stretch. She also finished the game with nine assists.
Bison coach Jory Collins credited Meyer’s assertiveness and ability to “manipulate a defense” after the loss.
Three days later, USD chose to leave Meyer open on the perimeter as they packed the lane on defense. Meyer started slowly and the Jacks found themselves trailing 22-6 in the second quarter.
She kept shooting, and by game’s end had made 6-of-15 3-pointers for 23 points, and the Jacks won 71-61.
When asked about it, Meyer shrugged and said she could’ve done better setting her feet early in the game. She’s typically a woman of few words, and when asked recently about her increasingly aggressive play she offered: “We’ve got a lot of great players out there that are ready to make plays. I’m just trying to keep finding my role within the team and do what I can to help the team win.”
That role is secure, and the wins keep coming. The next win will clinch the Summit League regular season conference title, and the Jacks are three wins away from running the table unbeaten in conference play for the third consecutive season.
Then comes the conference tournament and likely another NCAA tournament. The Jacks (23-3) are ranked 24th in the country and hoping to make noise at the Big Dance. While it would be unfair (and incorrect) to say the Jacks will only go as far as their point guard will take them, there’s no denying her presence and laser-sharp play will be one of the biggest reasons to like SDSU’s chances in March.
“The ability and talent is there, but I think she’s also willing to do whatever it takes to be successful,” Johnston said. “She’s not worried about individual numbers. She doesn’t force shots. She’s not trying to do too much. She’s just in a really good place where I think she values success as a team and values her teammates and wants to do whatever she can to help, and it’s fun to watch.”
RIGHT: South Dakota State’s Paige Meyer is congratulated by her teammates after a steal and score against South Dakota during a semifinal of the Summit League tournament Monday, March 11, 2024, in Sioux Falls. TRENT SINGER / SIOUX FALLS LIVE
LEFT: South Dakota State’s Paige Meyer congratulates teammate Madison Mathiowetz after Mathiowetz made a basket against South Dakota during a semifinal of the Summit League tournament Monday, March 11, 2024, in Sioux Falls. TRENT SINGER / SIOUX FALLS LIVE
Complete confidence powers Harrisburg to first state gymnastics title
Tigers claim three individual titles, plus all-around crown with Maeschen
BY MARCUS TRAXLER
Mitchell Republic
WATERTOWN, S.D. — Complete confidence.
That’s what the Harrisburg High School gymnastics team used to smash the state meet record on Friday en route to its first team championship at the Watertown Civic Arena.
The Tigers scored 152.983 points, besting rival and two-time defending state champions Mitchell by more than four full points, as the Kernels scored 148.633.
Harrisburg broke the record previously held by Sioux Falls O’Gorman in 2005, when the Knights posted 152.449 for the championship.
The Tigers sealed the competition with their performance on balance beam on the third event rotation, logging an event score of 38.600 points, which was ahead of their 38.525 at the state qualifier and ended up being eighttenths of a point ahead of Mitchell.
Emery Myron led the way with a 9.750 score, with 9.733 from star Katelyn Maeschen and 9.650 from Meredith Hruby, which finished as three of the top-four scores of the day in the event.
Harrisburg also had four of the top-five scores in the vault, led by Myron’s 9.600, which led all vaulters. Maeschen had 9.550 and Isabelle Reiners scored 9.500, plus 9.333 from Meredith Hruby. Myron, who joined the team this year after a talented club career, was also the top scorer on beam in the eight-team event, scoring 9.750, with Maeschen scoring 9.733. Maeschen led all gymnasts on floor, as well, scoring 9.867.
“I’m so grateful to be part of this amazing team,” Maeschen said after the meet. “I think we worked so hard on putting confidence first. I think this year it really showed. We’ve tried to
be team-first in everything we do and I think that’s what helped us accomplish this championship.”
Mitchell, which won the 2024 state title by three-tenths of a point over Harrisburg in Aberdeen, had no such luck trying to repeat the feat again. The Kernels could not string together the scores they needed through their lineup to keep pace with Harrisburg.
“We knew it was going to be really hard to beat them,” Kernels coach Audra Rew said. “When you put it all down on paper, we have not scored what they have scored. … Harrisburg is great. Our girls competed their hearts out and
Harrisburg team members celebrate winning the Class AA team gymnastics championship on Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, at the Watertown Civic Arena in Watertown. ADAM THURY / MITCHELL REPUBLIC
they kept a great attitude and they know it’s out of our hands.”
The Tigers showed off their loaded roster on Friday, bringing 10 gymnasts to the team competition and using all of them in competition. The team format allows you to register seven gymnasts per event, compete five and then take the four-highest scores. In the scoring, Harrisburg ended up using eight different gymnasts to comprise its team total.
“We had very few all-arounders at most of our meets this year because we were not focused on individual goals,” Harrisburg coach Callie Aylward said.
“Because of that, we had everybody participating. Typically, we have 9 to 10 girls who are contributing to our team score, so it really is a team.”
The team title also represents a breakthrough for Harrisburg, which had finished in the top-three in Class AA for five straight seasons before winning the title in 2025.
“It was really an amazing level of confidence that we have and that was built over the entire season,” said Maeschen,
who will go for a second consecutive individual all-around title on Saturday.
“This was a ‘we’ team. There is so much talent on this team and it took everyone to do it.”
The Tigers were favorites for the championship after posting a state-best 153.725 score last week at the state-qualifying meet in Sioux Falls. Harrisburg had the four highest team scores in South Dakota this season and had won four of the six previous meets this season where they faced off with the Kernels, who entered Friday as the winners of the
last two Class AA state titles and seven of the last 10. Harrisburg coach Carrie Aylward said she preached to her team to take tunnel vision to the competition and focus on what they could control.
“You never know in this sport. It’s such a mental sport, so any day can be anybody’s day,” Aylward said. “We’re confident in our performances. We’ve been working hard, so we knew what we could put out there, but you just never really know where you’re going to end up.”
On Saturday, the Tigers backed up the effort from Friday in the individual competition.
Harrisburg’s Katelyn Maeschen won the Class AA all-around title with a score of 38.650, with Mitchell’s Bentley Bates second at 37.983 and Olivia Prunty third at 37.183.
Harrisburg’s Isabelle Reiners won the individual vault title with a score of 9.600, edging Maeschen’s mark of 9.583. The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the event with Emery Myron taking third at 9.483, and also went 1-2-3-4 in the floor exercise, won by Maeschen at 9.783. With the balance beam title won by Harrisburg’s Emery Myron, it’s the first time the four Class AA individual discipline titles have gone to four different gymnasts since 2020.
On balance beam, Bates was second (9.650) and held the lead in the event until the final rotation, when Harrisburg’s Emery Myron overtook her for the title with a 9.700 score. Bates was the champion for the Kernels on uneven bars with a state meet record of 9.917.
Harrisburg’s Jersy Tryon performs her uneven bars routine during the Class AA team gymnastics championship on Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, at the Watertown Civic Arena in Watertown. ADAM THURY / MITCHELL REPUBLIC
Harrisburg’s Katelyn Maeschen performs her floor exercise routine during the the Class AA team gymnastics championship on Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, at the Watertown Civic Arena in Watertown. ADAM THURY / MITCHELL REPUBLIC
FIRST SD ESPORTS STATE TOURNAMENT TAKES PLACE IN ABERDEEN
BY BRIAN MUELLER Rapid City NewsCenter1
BOX ELDER, S.D. — It may not be the traditional look for a varsity sport, but trade a court for a classroom and a ball for buttons, and you’ve got esports.
Douglas senior Lucas Stenkamp says, “Like other sports, you know, practice, practice, practice, and eventually you’ll be good enough to do like competitions for it, join an esports team and make it to like a whole state tournament.”
For the first time ever, the state tournament is officially sanctioned. After a pilot program last year, the South Dakota High School Activities Association made esports an official sport.
“Legitimizes the program. Because I felt like, the first couple years, it was a lot of explaining what it was and its importance and stuff,” says Douglas esports coach Kevin Militello. “You don’t have to do that for basketball and football and stuff, because they’re sanctioned.”
Aidan Slancauskas, Kian Burns and Lucas Stenkamp competed at state at Aberdeen Central High School. Their game is Rocket League, which is like soccer in cars.
“Honestly, I didn’t really think I’d get this far,” says Slancauskas. “It’s very cool that I get the ability to do this, especially the first sanctioned tournament.”
Competing in esports doesn’t have to be game over after high school. Plenty of colleges offer programs
as well, like South Dakota Mines, and competing well this weekend could lead to college scholarships.
“There’s going to be colleges right there, like, ‘Hey, right here, you can play Rocket League for our university and go to for mechanical engineering, or become a lawyer or a nurse.’ That’s an amazing thing,” Militello says.
“Being able to actually talk to those colleges, get ideas from them, see what they are looking for, is pretty neat to have,” says Burns.
But more than championships and scholarships, Militello says the most important aspect of esports is inclusivity, and the bonds it creates, “You can be handicapped to the degree that prevents you from doing things. You could be non-verbal, like, you
could do things in here and communicate, speak another language. That’s the number one thing I do in this program, and that I fight for is, we’re all in this together.”
HERE’S
A LOOK
AT THE RESULTS FROM THE INAUGURAL STATE TOURNAMENT:
SPECIAL OLYMPICS MARIO KART 8
Champion: Aberdeen Golden Eagles; Second: Aberdeen Golden Eagles Racers; Third: White Lake_WildKats; Fourth: White Lake_WildKats#2
Competing in esports doesn’t have to be game over after high school. Plenty of colleges offer programs as well, like South Dakota Mines, and competing well this weekend could lead to college scholarships.
Stenkamp says, “I’m gonna miss it when I graduate, but I’ll definitely be coming back after, so that way I can help other people learn the game.
CHESS
Champion: SF Roosevelt Chess One; Second: St. Francis Gatilogo; Third: Brookings BHS Waylon; Fourth: Warner AidenScarborough
LEAGUE OF LEGENDS
Champion: Sioux Falls Lincoln Varsity Lincoln LOL Team;
Second: Dakota Valley LoL Purple; Third: TAHS League of Legends 1; Fourth: Deuel League of Legends Varsity
MARIO KART 8
Champion: Dakota Valley Mario Kart Black; Second: Wolsey-Wessington The Twins; Third: Baltic Mario Kart (Gideon and Ezra); Fourth: Bridgewater-Emery Maximum Overdrive
MINECRAFT BED WARS
Champion: Dakota Valley Purple; Second: Aberdeen Public School District; Third: O’Gorman Knights Minecraft Bedwars A; Fourth: WSS Coyotes – Black
ROCKET LEAGUE
Champion: Dakota Valley Rocket League Varsity; Second: Aberdeen Rocket League Varsity; Third: Sioux Falls Roosevelt RHS Rocket League Varsity; Fourth: Woonsocket Blackhawks
SUPER SMASH BROS. ULTIMATE
Champion: Rapid City CentralSmasher1; Second: Tea Area jerycikle; Third: Dakota Valley SSBU – Isaac K.; Fourth:
Ben – Flandreau SSBU
South Dakota esports participants take part in the inaugural South Dakota High School Activities Association state esports tournament on Feb. 14-15, 2025 at Aberdeen Central High School. SOUTH DAKOTA PUBLIC BROADCASTING PHOTO
athletes FEB 20 of theweek
BY NATHAN SWAFFAR | MITCHELL REPUBLIC
The postseason is underway for South Dakota winter sports. The state gymnastics competition in Watertown pro-
duced numerous notable performances, and this week we highlight a few of those standouts.
Action from a girls basketball game between the Freeman Flyers and the Philip Scotties at the DWU Classic at the Corn Palace on Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. Nathan Swaffar / Mitchell Republic
Mitchell’s Bentley Bates lands her uneven bars routine during the Class AA state gymnastics individual competition on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025 at the Watertown Civic Arena. Marcus Traxler / Mitchell Republic
CADENCE
HOFER: FREEMAN GIRLS BASKETBALL
BENTLEY BATES: MITCHELL GYMNASTICS
Bates has been one of the Kernels’ best gymnasts since she first competed. In the leadup to the state meet, she broke the school record in the uneven bars with a 9.925 score. But then she made history last week at the Class AA state competition. She broke the state bars record with a score of 9.917 and also claimed her second straight state title in the event, Mitchell’s first repeat champion in an individual event since Amelia Rew did it in 2008 and 2009 on vault. She also finished second in all-around, falling just short of another state title.
Hofer stepped up to the plate this week, putting forward two big performances to help the Flyers to multiple wins. On Feb. 11, she scored 15 points in 55-28 victory over Hanson, but her best performance came against Philip at the DWU Classic. In the Flyers’ 67-63 comeback victory, she was instrumental, scoring a team-high 35 points and fell just short of a double-double with nine rebounds. She also shot 68% from the field and 75% from behind the arc. Hofer and Freeman are rolling with a 14-3 record and have two big games this week against Ethan and Gayville-Volin.
KYLAH BIGGINS: CHAMBERLAIN GYMNASTICS
Biggins will go down as one of Chamberlain’s top gymnasts ever and she cemented her legacy with her first individual state title. With a personalbest 9.4167 score, Biggins claimed the Class A vault title. She also finished fifth in the all-around. She did all this even after falling during her balance beam routine and receiving attention from trainers. Her vault title was the Cubs’ first individual state champion since Jill Weber won the uneven bars title all the way back in 1987.
Chamberlain’s Kylah Biggins makes a heart with her hands to fans in the crowd following winning the vault competition at the Class A state gymnastics individual competition on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025 at the Watertown Civic Arena. Marcus Traxler / Mitchell Republic
ADDISON DUBA: PEHMV GYMNASTICS
during the Class A state
Only a seventh-grader, Duba has statistically been the top Parkston/Ethan/Hanson/ Mount Vernon gymnasts this season and was again at the Class A state competition. She led the field in the balance beam during the team competition on Friday with a 9.500 score and sought to secure the state title during the individual competition on Saturday. With a score of 9.2833, Duba shared the beam title with Estelline-Hendricks’ Portia Trias, the first time the title has been shared in nearly 20 years. Duba’s day-one performances also helped the Royals finish second as a team.
Parkston/Ethan/Hanson/ Mount Vernon’s Addison Duba competes on balance beam
gymnastics individual competition on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025 at the Watertown Civic Arena. CRAIG WOLLMAN / SOUTH DAKOTA PUBLIC BROADCASTING
