By Rodney Haas 

605 Sports

LAKE ANDES — When Avon girls basketball coach Brad Poppe first started coaching, it was at Lake Andes where he coached football and boys basketball. 

Fast forward nearly 40 years later and Poppe was back in Lake Andes on Jan. 22 needing one more win for his 500th coaching victory.   

“I just coached little football and boys basketball,  so this is kind of neat where it all started,” Poppe said. “You don’t ever imagine this ever happening, but I’ve been fortunate to be at it this long.”

Poppe picked up his 500th win in Avon’s 60-30 win over Andes Central/Dakota Christian, in which Rilyn Thury led the Pirates with 24 points while Brielle Voigt added 20.   

“I've been very fortunate to have a lot of good kids. You don't do something like that if you don't have good players,” Poppe said. “My girls have always been willing to work hard, come to the gym and get better. They just love the game of basketball and they work hard. I've been very fortunate.”

Poppe added that he’s been coaching for 39 years with 31 of them coaching girls basketball. It’s a career that has spanned generations as Poppe is now coaching his former players’ daughters. 

“It makes me realize that I’ve been doing it for a very long time,” Poppe said of coaching his former players’ daughters. “It’s kind of fun. I don’t ever share anything with the daughters about their moms but it’s fun to see the similarities of how the mom played the game and how the daughter plays the game. It’s kind of fun. You get to reminisce for a bit.”

Avon Pirates fans hold up a banner congratulating head coach Brad Poppe with his 500th career win after Avon’s 60-30 win over Andes Central/Dakota Christian Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026 in Lake Andes. (Rodney Haas / 605 Sports)

With the win Avon improves to 8-4 on the season with about a month left in the season before region playoffs begin.  

“This was really never the focus of anything, it just happened,” Poppe said of closing in on the 500-win milestone. “I just keep telling my girls that we want to get better every day. That’s our goal. Go out and compete on game nights. Get better every night and see what happens.” 

Poppe is the sixth South Dakota girls basketball coach to win 500 or more games, joining Jim Bridge (636), Dawn Seiler (629), Rob VanLaecken (595), Fred Tibbetts (550) and Ron Determan (517).