By Rich Winter

605 Sports

Colome High School senior Joseph Laprath gave Cowboy fans something to cheer about Monday night. 

Playing on a three-win Colome team, Laprath reached 500 points for the season in a 78-57 loss to Avon in the first round of the Region 5B playoffs. For the season, Laprath averaged just under 25 points per game and finished his career as the No. 2 scorer in Colome history (Reed Harter, No. 1) with 1,396 points. 

“We tried our hardest and given the talent we have we didn’t do terribly,” Laprath said. “We had quite a few close games that were under 10 points. If we made a few more free throws in those games I felt like our season could have been significantly different.”

Laprath had a game-high 29 points on Monday, 12 in a second quarter in which he had no functioning shoelaces in his left shoe.

“My left shoelace broke at the end of the first quarter,” he said. “I had no support. If I would have kicked my leg the shoe would have come flying off.” 

First year coach Dustin Christensen watched Laprath’s skills blossom in his senior year and the coach had nothing but positives to say about a student/athlete that has a 3.9 grade point average.

“He’s quite the scorer,” Christensen said. “He averaged 25 ppg for us this year. He’s a great kid, great individual, very coachable and I wish I had him for three or four more years.” 

When you live in a small town in South Dakota, sports is everything. Laprath recalls playing high school basketball as a seventh-grader and getting to play against guys like Jackson Kinzer, Layton Thieman, Beau Bertram, Chase Dufek and Calvin Ringing Shield that graduated in 2019. 

“Those guys were my idols,” Laprath said. “I got to play against them a little bit and they were so good. Jackson hit 1,000 points and so that has always been a goal of mine to get to that milestone.”

Laprath had opportunities to play elsewhere but the pride he felt for the “Colome” on his uniform just meant too much. 

“I knew I could go to a bigger school and compete,” he said. “I had several kids reach out last year that wanted me to play basketball and run track but I just love my hometown too much.” 

Laprath is a multi-sport standout who also excels in distance running and cross-county. At the 2023 Class B state track meet he won the 1,600-meter run (4:35), finished third in the 3,200 meter run (10:06) and was sixth in the 800-meter run (2:03). 

As a junior Colome's Joseph Laprath won the 1,600-meter run as the Class B state track meet.

Despite not being a huge fan of distance running, Laprath finished 21st in the Class A race (16:44) for Winner Area.   

“I like running, it’s not my favorite, I’m just good at it,” he said.

With just one more season remaining in his high school career, Laprath said he’s ready to give everything he’s got into one final track season. 

“I’m really going to pour it on this spring,” he said. “My goal is to win the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meter runs. I think it would be cool to win three titles.” 

Christensen noted he’s putting together video highlights of Laprath’s basketball career and has started sending them to colleges. 

“Anybody who takes a chance on me is going to get a well-rounded athlete,” he said. “They will get someone that truly wants the spot and loves the game of basketball.”