By Rich Winter

605 Sports

HURON — A familiar coaching face has been patrolling the sidelines at this week’s Dakota Oyate Challenge. 

George Erdahl won a girls Class B state championship at Mitchell Christian in 2006. He coached South Dakota’s all-time leading girls basketball scorer Jill Young (3,317) at Mitchell Christian. He hasn’t coached full time since the 2010-2011 season when he led Mount Vernon/Plankinton during the first year of its co-op.

But he was called into action this season when “our girls coach quit a few weeks into the season,” Erdahl said. “For lack of a better option I said I would take it over and see what I could do with them.”

Erdahl has guided Marty to a 3-7 record, but his passion for coaching has been refueled by the Braves. 

“It has been fun and I’ve definitely missed it,” he said. “I don’t miss getting ready for the season because there is so much to do. Going to games has always gotten my blood flowing.” 

While Erdahl hasn’t been coaching he’s continued his path in education. He worked as a principal at a juvenile treatment facility in Plankinton now known as Aurora Plains Academy.

“I was a principal and a juvenile treatment counselor,” Erdahl said. “I helped with a lot of school and treatment stuff. We did a lot of counseling and helped these young people work through problems helping them acclimate and get back into the real world.” 

Most recently he’s been the principal and athletic director at Marty High School. One more hat to wear as Erdahl began coaching the team as the year 2023 rolled around. 

“I’m an old school coach and at first it was hard to get the girls on board,” he said. “The biggest thing is getting them to believe they can be successful and trying to get them in the mindset that they are good players and a good basketball team.” 

The team was 0-5 when Erdahl took over following the 2022 Lakota Nation Invitational. The girls won their first game of the season 67-21 over Crazy Horse on Jan. 10.

Erdahl feels like his club could easily have more wins this season. 

“They should have five or six wins,” he said. “They’ve given up big leads in a few games but we’re starting to close the gap on some of those teams that have beaten us.”

Marty lost to Omaha Nation, Nebraska, 73-65 on Jan. 13. 

“They were down by 22 with five minutes to go and got it down to four or five points in the last minute,” he said. 

The Marty girls are not devoid of talent.

“Hawk Bair is our main scorer and just went over 1,000 career points at Lakota Nation,” he said. “She’s a good 3-point shooter, a leader on the floor and gets vocal with her teammates.” 

Hawk Bair looking to score against Flandreau Indian during action Thursday at the Dakota Oyate Challenge - Rodney Haas - 605 Sports

Erdahl calls Neveah Medicine Horn a smart but quiet player that can hit the 15-footer with regularity. He also noted Jayla Bruguier, a player who can score 15-25 points when she gets hot. 

“She’s very athletic and loves to attack the basket,” he said. 

The long-time coach describes Genesis Patterson as a player that loves to do the dirty work, gets rebounds, loose balls and whatever the team needs her to do. 

“Rozario Zephier is a scrappy player,” he said. “She gets after girls on defense and will do whatever you ask her to do.” 

Rozario Zephier pushes the ball up the court during Thursday's game against Flandreau Indian at the Dakota Oyate Challenge - Rodney Haas - 605 Sports

At this week’s Dakota Oyate Challenge the Marty girls opened the tournament with a 54-27 win over Flandreau Indian. On Friday the team lost to a 14-win Omaha Nation, 65-50. The Braves closed out tournament action Saturday when they faced Wakpala.