By Matt Gade

605 Sports

SPEARFISH — As basketball courts across the state have begun to fill up with players and teams on the hardwood, the goal for most is the same. 

Make a run for it in the state tournament.

In Class A girls basketball that goal will have an end destination in Spearfish as Black Hills State University is set to host the Class A tournament on March 13-15.

It’ll be the first time BHSU and the City of Spearfish have hosted a state hoops tournament since March 2020.

In 2020, BHSU was in the middle of hosting the Class B girls state tournament when the COVID-19 pandemic took off.

The tournament made it one day, with limited attendance, before the Donald E. Young Center found itself completely on day two. Under the direction of the South Dakota High School Activities Association, the tournament was canceled on Friday, March 13 causing an abrupt ending to the 2019-20 season for the players, coaches and schools.

“I remember going in and when they shut it down, how heart-wrenching it was,” said Black Hills State University Athletic Director Mark Nore. “We get a chance to host, to redeem ourselves. It's a great thing for our university, a great thing for the town, for this area. We're really thankful that we get that opportunity again.”

Nore, who is in his first full season as athletic director for BHSU, was the Yellow Jackets women’s basketball coach in 2020 and saw firsthand how devastated people were when the tournament was canceled.

“I felt really bad, but it was just a lot of unknown, a lot of just chaos,” Nore said. “It's hard to believe it's been what, four years - five years.

“We want to make it right for the families, for the players, the athletes that are there for our communities. We're in a community where really, everyone kind of steps up. Gotta love those small-town communities, we're thankful that we get the opportunity. So it'll be run really well, but totally different. It'll be run well, but there's a lot of work to it.”

Nore noted that it’s a team effort to put on the state tournament, working not only with BHSU staff but also the city of Spearfish and the Spearfish School District.

“I think we all as a community are excited to host the state tournament again in partnership with Black Hill State and put on a great experience for all student-athletes, families, towns and the schools that are involved,” Spearfish High School Activities Director Dalton Wademan said.

Not only is Nore excited for BHSU to sort of redeem itself from the last time the state tournament was hosted in Spearfish but also to show off the BHSU campus to high school students as a possible destination in their post-secondary education.

“A lot of kids don't know we exist. They get out here. They see how beautiful it is, they see our campus. They get involved with the community and the energy that it brings, and a lot of it sells itself,” Nore said.

Wademan, a Black Hills State alum himself, said Spearfish is fortunate to be able to share BHSU’s facilities with the community.

“It's awesome to have college facilities like Black Hill State. It has been a great partnership with Coach Nore getting in there and the facility director Nicky (Winterstein). It's awesome for our student-athletes — for our community,” Wademan said.

While it’ll have been five years since BHSU hosted a state basketball tournament, Nore said he would like to see the university get into the rotation a little more often than five years.

Since taking on his new role as athletic director, Nore said he misses the competitive nature of coaching and the relationships he achieved from coaching but is enjoying his current post and is excited for the next phase in his career which has allowed him to follow his kids a bit more.

While Wademan will be helping with the state tournament in Spearfish, he could find himself pulling split duties traveling back and forth to Rapid City should the Spartans girls basketball team qualify for the Class AA tournament to be held at The Monument.

“We might have to find somebody to fill in so I could run to Rapid (City) and watch the Spartans play if they make it and then get right back to keep the tournament rolling,” Wademan said should Spearfish qualify. “Absolutely a great problem to have.”