Four months of cramming into basketball gyms to escape the bitter cold are upon us. 

The South Dakota high school basketball season will ramp up this week, with girls and boys action scattered throughout the state. There will be no shortage of hoops as communities rally around their teams and it all culminates with state tournaments in mid-March.

But before all the madness ensues, here’s some preseason notes to get y’all ready for the upcoming season:

Top girls contenders 

The preseason girls basketball poll tabbed last year’s state champs as the No. 1 teams in their respective classes.

Sioux Falls O’Gorman (Class AA), St. Thomas More (Class A) and Viborg-Hurley (Class B) were also preseason top-ranked teams after winning state championships last season. 

In Class AA, O’Gorman received 17 of 18 first-place votes to lead the preseason rankings. Sioux Falls Jefferson is also a contender after a third-place finish last season, highlighted by knocking off No. 1 Sioux Falls Washington in the state tourney opener. 

St. Thomas More, which captured its seventh state championship last season, leads a logjam of contenders in Class A. The Cavaliers received 15 of 18 first-place votes, while Wagner (2) and Hamlin (1) also earned first-place votes. The trio, along with Flandreau, are all early-season contenders. 

In Class B, Viborg-Hurley authored an improbable run to the state championship last season, becoming the first No. 8 seed to win the Class B state championship since Baltic in 2001. The Cougars won’t be a sleeper this season and it’s evident in the preseason poll. Viborg-Hurley received 14 of 18 first-place votes, while Corsica-Stickney earned the other first-place votes. Wolsey-Wessington is coming off a third-place finish at state volleyball and figures to be among the contenders. 

Top boys contenders

The preseason No. 1 boys basketball teams include a defending champ, a state tourney regular and an upstart program. 

Sioux Falls Jefferson (Class AA), Dakota Valley (Class A) and White River (Class B) are the top-ranked teams in the preseason rankings. 

Sioux Falls Jefferson, in its second season of existence, is already among the top teams and is coming off a state football championship in the fall. The Cavaliers received 11 of 18 first-place votes and are littered with next level athletes. Harrisburg (1), Sioux Falls Lincoln (2) and Sioux Falls O’Gorman (3) also received first-place votes, while Pierre rounded out the top-five rankings. 

In Class A, Dakota Valley is coming off a 26-0 season and returns a host of top key contributors from its first-ever state championship. The Panthers picked up 17 of 18 first-place votes, while No. 5 Lennox received the other first-place vote. Sioux Valley, which has finished second the past two seasons, is No. 2 in the preseason poll, while Dell Rapids and St. Thomas More are third and fourth, respectively. 

In Class B, White River is No. 1 in the preseason rankings and received 12 of 18 first-place votes. The Tigers, who have qualified for every Class B boys basketball state tournament since 2006, lead a host of contenders in a crowded field. No. 2 De Smet, which won the past two state championships, is right back in the mix and received four first-place votes. Aberdeen Christian, Lower Brule and Castlewood rounded out the top-five teams in the poll. 

Milestone watch

• A pair of University of South Dakota women’s basketball recruits — Corsica-Stickney’s Avery Broughton and Rapid City Christian’s Olivia Kieffer — are closing in on 2,000 career points. Broughton, who sustained an offseason ACL injury, is Corsica-Stickney’s all-time leading scorer with 1,909 career points. The 5-foot-11 wing is also the Jaguars’ all-time leader in career rebounds (1,014). Last season, Broughton averaged 19 points and 10 rebounds per game. Kieffer, 5-foot-10 guard, enters her senior season with 1,822 career points. Kieffer logged 20.6 points and eight rebounds per game last season. The all-state outside hitter surpassed 2,000 career kills during the volleyball season. 

• In recent years, boys basketball players Connor Libis, Matthew Mors, Paul Bruns and Kalen Garry surpassed 2,000 career points. White River’s Joe Sayler is the next in line to reach the milestone. The future South Dakota State University Jackrabbit has more than 1,900 career points entering his senior campaign. The bouncy guard is coming off another all-state season, averaging 29 points and six rebounds per game as a junior. 

• Dakota Valley’s Isaac Bruns is also nearing the 2,000-point plateau. The future University of South Dakota Coyote has scored 1,599 career points and another high-scoring season would give him the milestone. Bruns scored 621 points as a junior and 598 points as a sophomore. He averaged 24 points and nine rebounds per game last season. Isaac’s brother — Paul Bruns — finished his career with 2,206 career points and is a current sophomore guard at USD. 

• Mount Vernon/Plankinton’s Emilee Fox ascended to the top of the program’s all-time scoring list last season, and is approaching another milestone this season. The junior all-state guard set the program record for most career points last season and currently sits at 1,488 career points. The future South Dakota State University Jackrabbit averaged 19 points, six rebounds and 4.5 assists per game last season.

• Pierre’s Lincoln Kienholz will climb up the Class AA boys basketball scoring list in his final season on the hardwood. Kienholz, a future University of Washington quarterback, has 1,064 career points and is top-20 on the Class AA all-time scoring list. He’s the third Governor to score more than 1,000 career points, joining Lane Severyn (1,471) and Zach Hanson (1,362). Kienholz averaged 19.9 points and 7.3 rebounds last season. 

• Sioux Valley’s Oliver Vincent will climb up the school’s all-time scoring list this season. The all-state guard has 1,395 career points and is No. 3 on the Cossacks’ all-time scoring list. Tayt Vincent — Oliver’s cousin — is the all-time leader with 1,837 career points. Oliver Vincent, a 6-foot-1 guard, averaged 17.5 points per game last season and scored a school-record 521 points as a sophomore.