By Rich Winter

605 Sports

HURON — Bennett County senior Sophia May has experienced the highs and lows of high school basketball. 

May endured 6-14 seasons her first two years of high school, and then a 9-10 record during her junior campaign. This season the Warriors are 21-2 and play Parkston (19-4) in the first round of the Class B state tournament in Huron. 

“In middle school I was on a winning team but going into high school it changed,” May said. “Going into high school it all changed and losing became the norm until last year when we started winning. This year we take it one game at a time and as we get to the end of the season it’s made me realize how much we’ve accomplished.” 

First-year head coach Shawna Evans coached a number of the current team members while they were in middle school and knew then that something special was coming. 

“I’ve known these girls since they were in sixth grade,” Evans said. “We are not a Cinderella story and you can see that by our caliber of play. It’s not like we beat a buzzer to get there, these girls have put in the work.”

The Warriors have just two losses on the season, 51-49 at Class B state tourney qualifier Lyman on Dec. 21 and 68-44 to Class A state tourney qualifier Dakota Valley 68-44 Jan. 25 in Irene. 

The Warriors are a very young team with one senior starter, Thomiah Poor Bear, one sophomore, Madi Waln, two freshman starters, Harley Harris and Reagan O’Neill, and eighth-grader Peyson O’Neill. Poor Bear has state tournament experience having played on a Rapid City Stevens team that finished eighth at the 2024 Class AA state tournament. 

Poor Bear grew up in Martin and came home for her senior year.

“I’ve lived here my whole life and came back because I loved the community and everyone was supportive,” Poor Bear said. “It feels great, especially with the improvement this team has made over the last year.” 

The Warriors haven’t been to a state tournament since 2007 where the Warriors reached the Class A championship game, losing to Vermillion 56-48. 

Peyson O'Neill, Madi Waln, Thomiah Poor Bear, Harley Harris and Regan O'Neill are the starting five for a Bennett County team with just two losses this season - Photo courtesy of Abby O'Neill.

Evans was a freshman on that 2007 Bennett County team and hit two late free throws against Dell Rapids in the semifinals at the state tournament. After coaching middle school basketball for several years Evans took over the junior varsity team last season. 

“We went undefeated last year and our closest game was 15-20 points,” Evans said.

Evans only took the head job this year but has been part of the current team's growth and development. She cited some of the girls’ improvement to an upgraded gym and weight room and to having a really good summer leading into the 2024-25 season. 

“We were in the gym three to four days a week and in the weight room those days also,” she said. “We went to one team camp and played in a Rapid City league. We competed with all the schools there and took a close loss to Rapid City Stevens and I think it was there that people started realizing that we had something special.”

The Warriors are led by 6-foot freshman Peyson O’Neill and her freshman sister Reagan. Evans said the younger of the O’Neill sisters has grown about two inches since the start of basketball season and poses a problem for opposing teams with her tenacity and long arms. 

“Peyson leads us with her effort and her long wing span,” Evans said. “We have a bunch of different players that have different skills and that has turned us into a well rounded team."

Despite a lack of state tournament experience Evans is confident the Warriors will play well in Huron. 

“The big thing is going to be bringing our own energy and playing one game at a time,” Evans said. “This group of girls have a chance to come out on top because we are so well balanced across the board.” 

Poor Bear pointed to the Dakota Valley loss as a galvanizing moment this season.

“I felt like we competed with them, especially in the first half,” she said. “We learned we need to take better care of the ball and play strong against a really good team. That loss brought us closer and showed us how to communicate.” 

May started a few games her junior year and is typically the first player off the bench for the Warriors this season. She talked about how many of this year’s varsity players started the culture change during practices last year. 

“They were constantly making our varsity better last year,” May said. “When they came up to varsity everything was there all we needed to work on was clicking.” 

Evans called Poor Bear and May the leaders of the team both on and off the court. 

May said one of the biggest challenges has been having all these amazing athletes coming up and seeing them get frustrated from time-to-time. 

“I’m not the most athletic player but I know how to stay calm and composed and I try to make sure all of our players know how to compose themselves,” she said. 

May said bench players Jadyn Standing Soldier and Kaylee Byrne will be instrumental in any kind of run the Warriors have at the state tournament. 

Evans admits her team is young and they make mistakes and she’s willing to live with that, noting the team typically doesn’t make the same mistake twice. 

May feels like the Warriors are just beginning what she thinks is a dominant run and she’s proud to have been part of the culture shift and anxious to get on the court in Huron.

“It’s been 18 years since we’ve been to state and since then we’ve seen a drop in the culture,” she said. “The last two years we’ve been going into the deeper details of basketball. Being able to form connections and seeing how hard we've been working in and out of practice during the offseason. Why not us?”