By Ryan Deal 

605 Sports

Class B teams like these De Smet Bulldogs don’t come along that often. 

On Saturday, De Smet stamped an impressive four-year run with its second consecutive State B boys basketball championship at Wachs Arena. 

Behind their trademark defense and balanced scoring, the Bulldogs handed Lower Brule a 49-26 defeat in the state championship game. It’s the program’s seventh overall state championship and sixth in Class B. 

In the past four seasons, De Smet went 94-7, won two state championships, finished runner-up in 2019 and was robbed of potentially starting a three-peat in 2020 due to the pandemic. 

The dynastic run harkens back to other recent Class B powerhouses. Dell Rapids St. Mary played in three championship games in the early 2000s, winning the 2004 championship behind all-staters Justin Siemonsma, Eric Mergen and Colby Fitzgerald. 

White River played in a Class B unprecedented six straight state championship games, including four titles in 2008, ‘10, ‘12 and ‘13. It started with the state’s all-time scoring leader Louie Krogman going out on top and ended with his youngest brother, Wyatt, leading a group of sharp-shooting Tigers to two straight titles. 

Warner didn’t have multiple state tournament berths or championship appearances. However, it rolled to a perfect 2016 season, the first undefeated Class B team since Dell Rapids St. Mary in 2004. 

The Monarchs were similar to these Bulldogs. They both featured a dominant post presence, sound guard/wing players and each team hung their hats on defense. 

That brings us back to these Bulldogs. De Smet’s smothering defense again was its calling card during the championship run. This season, the ‘Dogs held their opponents to 39.5 points per game and outscored them by 26.6 points per contest. 

The defense was on full display in Aberdeen. De Smet held its three opponents — Waubay/Summit (60-28), Potter County (67-45) and Lower Brule (49-26) — to season-low point totals on three straight nights. 

It was just business as usual for the Bulldogs. De Smet played in multiple classics and got everyone’s best shot night in and night out during the season. But answered all challengers. 

The Bulldogs went undefeated against state-tourney qualifiers Sioux Valley, White River, St. Thomas More, Castlewood and Flandreau during the 2021-22 season. The Bulldogs’ lone defeat was a 61-57 setback against national power Dream City Christian (Arizona) at the Sanford Pentagon. 

Clark/Willow Lake had them on the ropes earlier in the season, but Kalen Garry hit two 3-pointers in the closing seconds to deny the upset bid. 

De Smet will graduate core seniors Garry, Rett Osthus and Tory Holland, along with Colt Wilkinson and Blake Van Regenmorter. Garry and Osthus will play basketball at South Dakota State University and Dakota Wesleyan University, respectively. 

Damon Wilkinson, a 6-foot-9 junior center, will headline next year’s team and Kadyn Fast will be another returning starter. There’s plenty of players waiting in the wings for coach Jeff Gruenhagen and Wilkinson will continue being a matchup nightmare in Class B. 

While these teams don’t come along often, the Bulldogs might not be going anywhere soon.