ABERDEEN — Alice Jean and Jim Peterson can’t get enough of the State Bs. 

The Bristol couple have been regulars at the Class B state boys basketball tournament since the 1960s and are again for this week’s fan favorite tournament. 

Alice Jean isn’t sure of the exact year they started attending the three-day event, but were hooked immediately. 

“We love basketball and so I suppose we started going because we are from a small town, Bristol,” Alice Jean said. “We were always hoping that Bristol would make it. They never did, but we still like basketball. So we started going and then well we have to go the next year because we have to follow the teams and then the next year. We just kept going.”

They’ve gone to the tourney when it was in Sioux Falls, Rapid City and Huron. But it’s been in Aberdeen since 1995 and that’s just fine with them. 

“You can’t beat this atmosphere,” Alice Jean said. “The B is supposed to be in Aberdeen. That’s where it should be.”

Aberdeen and Northern State University’s Barnett Center embrace the Class B schools, Jim said, and that adds to the event’s intimate feel. 

“We like the smaller schools and we just like to watch them play,” Jim said. “The crowd gets into it and we just like watching the players go.”

And they’ve seen some epic players and games in the 8,000-seat arena. But Alice Jean said the classic 1992 state championship game between Harrold and Warner is one of their favorite memories.  

“It was Warner and Harrold in the finals,” Alice Jean said. “The whole arena was saying ‘Go Harrold,’ and Harrold won and it was such a fun game.”

They’ve driven through blizzardy conditions to make the tourney and Alice Jean even joked “I know we went in some blizzards when we shouldn't have been going.”

They also make the 40-mile drive for Northern State University basketball home games and Alice Jean called the arena their second home. They also expressed their gratitude to the Aberdeen Central staff and South Dakota High School Activities Association for treating them so well at the event. They’ve got a spot on the media table this season.

That kind of hospitality adds to their experience and why they keep coming back every year. 

“It’s just the thing we do,” Alice Jean said. “It’s B tournament time and we are going to be here.”