By Ryan Deal

605 Sports

Laue, a 6-foot-9 and 250-pound senior center, has continued to hammer slam dunks for Castlewood and has ascended into one of the best post players in the state. He’s usually the biggest player on the court on game nights, and plays with brute force not often seen in Class B basketball. 

For Raasch, it’s rare to coach a player with Laue’s size and strength, saying “I don’t think I have ever coached a player in the mold of Bryon.”  

But as Raasch points out, not many teams in South Dakota have had a player of Laue’s caliber. 

“I don’t remember many teams — not only just the teams I have coached — but the teams I coached against that have a player quite like Bryon,” Raasch said. “He’s just pretty unique and pretty fun to coach, and we are just trying to make the best of it for him and our team this year.”

For Laue, he was always the biggest player among his age group. But his development was accelerated when his older brother, Nathan, took him to open gyms as a youngster.  

“I got to play with his classmates, who were about seven years older than me,” Laue said. “So that helped me a lot. They were always bigger than me. So it kind of helped me become more physical as a player at a young age.” 

As a freshman, he started on JV and was eventually inserted into the varsity starting lineup. It still took some seasoning as Laue continued to develop his game. 

“It took some adjusting,” Laue said. “Right away, I was more of a role player. I wasn’t much of a scorer. So it kind of took a while to develop that, and get used to the tougher competition.”

Laue was primarily a defender and rebounder as an underclassmen, but has evolved his offensive skillset each season.   

“I have gotten to develop a lot more and work on things,” Laue said. “AAU really helped me develop a lot and play against tougher competition. So that really helped and then it’s also helped me when teams collapse on me. It’s helped me become a better passer and adapting to that.” 

Laue is a two-time all-state player, including earning first-team honors last season. As a junior, he logged 15.5 points and 11.2 rebounds per game. Laue recorded several double-doubles, and collected 26 rebounds in a game.

This season, Laue is averaging 16.1 points per game and recorded his 1,000th career point in Dec. 2024. Raasch said the game plan is to get Laue as many touches as possible, but his senior center is most concerned about winning. 

“Bryon just wants to win,” Raasch said. “He’s not worried about the stats. He’s not worried about anything other than our team and he’s a great leader that way. Our team follows right behind him.”

The Warriors are far from a one-man team, also featuring players like Luke Baumberger, Brody Bass, Kamden Keszler and Jamison Keszler. 

The other options have made life easier for Laue in the paint. 

“It’s pretty fun when teams take away the post scoring for me,” Laue said. “We have other guys that can step up and hit a lot of big shots.”

Next season, Laue will play college basketball at the University of Sioux Falls. He picked the Cougars because of the relationship with the coaches and it’s close to Castlewood. 

On the court, Raasch feels Laue is just scratching the surface as a player. 

“I think Bryon hasn’t reached his potential by any means,” Raasch said. “I don’t think he realizes how good he can be yet, but he’s really taken some big strides this year. He’s really improved his game and improved his strength. He understands the game so well, too. I think USF is getting themselves a pretty good ball player. I think they are going to be real pleased with him.” 

But Laue has more work to do for the Warriors, who are No. 1 in Class B with a 8-1 record entering Jan. 18’s game vs. West Central. Castlewood also has a marquee matchup with No. 2 Dell Rapids St. Mary on Jan. 21 and will play in the Hanson Classic on Jan. 25. 

And while the Class B boys state tournament is the goal, the Warriors are focusing on right now. 

“We have had the same goals for a few years,” Laue said. “It’s just to be playing in Aberdeen again and have a better outcome than we’ve had in the last few years. But we have to focus on what’s in front of us first and take it one game at a time.”