Flandreau’s Claire Sheppard nearly recorded a triple-double on Feb. 10 and deflected any attention toward her teammates. 

The 6-foot-2 junior finished with 30 points, 12 rebounds and nine blocked shots in a 58-39 win over Belle Fourche at the DWU/Culver’s Classic in Mitchell. She was an efficient 13 of 16 from the field and 2 of 4 at the 3-point line. 

But when asked about the outstanding individual performance, Sheppard smiled and talked about her teammates. 

“My teammates are amazing,” Sheppard said. “That’s what I want to say first. I have my ability from God and my Lord and savior Jesus Christ and that’s what does it and my teammates find me and we all work together. That’s how we get a team win.” 

Sheppard’s stat line and modesty encapsulates her impact on the court. She quietly puts up big numbers, has a high-basketball IQ and is a coach on the floor for Megan Severtson. 

“She wants to win and she wants her teammates to be their best and she wants to be her best,” said Severtson, the Flandreau High School girls basketball coach. “She’s constantly commenting on things on the court. I can trust her to make some decisions on the court and also just talking to her teammates about things that she is seeing.”

Sheppard’s leadership role has developed with her experience on the court. She’s been a regular for the Fliers since her eighth-grade season and now she’s leading a young crew of Fliers, including her seventh-grade sister Morgan. 

“We have no seniors this year and we have a lot of juniors on our team,” said Claire Sheppard, who was an all-stater last season. “I would say us as upperclassmen are all leaders together. It’s not really one main person. We work as a team and that’s because we have multiple leaders on the court.” 

Flandreau's Claire Sheppard makes a pass at the Corn Palace on Feb. 10. (Rodney Haas / 605 Sports)

Sheppard is no doubt the focal point for the Fliers. Flandreau runs its offense through Sheppard, who will use her 6-foot-2 frame to pass over defenders and is willing to defer to teammates. 

“She's a very unselfish player,” Severtson said. “So I just told the girls anytime Claire touches the ball it’s in our favor because she’s either going to score or get a good shot attempt or find someone else open.” 

Sheppard, who scored her 1,000th career point earlier this season, comes from a basketball family and seemed destined to be successful on the court.

Claire’s father, Brendan, is the Flandreau boys basketball coach, was a starter on the 1997 Class A boys basketball championship team and played collegiately at Dakota Wesleyan University.

Claire’s mother, Sandy, is the Flandreau boys basketball statistician and younger brother, Luke, is a freshman for the Fliers. Claire’s youngest sister, Rhegan, is a manager for the girls team.

The strong family basketball ties are why Severtson is never worried about Sheppard’s on-court development. 

“She is always looking at ways she can improve,” Severtson said. “A player like her you are not worried about plateauing because she’s very critical of her game and she’s also willing to accept coaching. She’s been very, very easy to coach.”