By Rich Winter

605 Sports

Since clinching a Class A state tournament berth with a 66-41 win over Madison on March 7 Hamlin coach Todd Neuendorf’s phone and email have been blowing up. 

It has been 30 years since Hamlin High School has qualified for a boys state tournament. Hamlin had some great runs in the 70s, 80s and 90s were all kinds of fired up to be going back to the big dance. 

“I’ve been getting all kinds of emails and messages from alumni,” Neuendorf said. “One lady reached out and told me that our team has made Hamlin a very happy place.” 

Hamlin assistant coach Travis Wadsworth played on the last Hamlin team that qualified for state (1993) and said the SoDak 16 win over Madison was packed with emotion. 

“We had a 40-year reunion for the 1983 state championship and all those guys were back,” Wadsworth said. “There were a bunch of people from the 1974 state championship team that were also in Huron.” 

Neuendorf, who is in his second year as Hamlin’s coach, grew up in nearby Watertown and was aware of those great teams from Hamlin. He witnessed the Charger basketball passion first hand when the final horn sounded in that SoDak 16 game. 

“When we won the other night there were grown adults that were crying,” he said. “Hamlin was a program that was rich in basketball tradition. When you don’t go for a while that tends to wear on people so I think we’ll have a lot of people going to the state tournament.”

It has been 30 years since the Hamlin Chargers have gone to a state tournament - Photo courtesy of Aberdeen American News

When Neuendorf took over the program last season he didn’t walk into a program that was down on its luck. 

“I noticed right away there was a group of kids that were hungry,” he said. “Give credit to the kids and the parents they didn’t pack it up and quit. It was refreshing to see a group of kids that worked really hard to achieve their goals.” 

The 2021-22 Hamlin squad was packed with youth. The Chargers started a junior, a sophomore and three freshmen. That squad tied with Clark/Willow Lake for the Northeast Conference title and lost to Sioux Valley in the regional playoffs. 

“I told them at the beginning of the year that we were going to be working to get to the state tournament,” Neuendorf said. “That was our goal and we felt as a team that we could get there.” 

The Chargers won their conference title outright this season, the first time they’ve done that since 2000. With a beefed up schedule Hamlin enters the state tournament with a 19-3 record and will play Sioux Valley in Thursday’s opening round, a team they lost to 69-65 on Jan. 10. 

Neuendorf’s son, Easton, is a sophomore starter for Hamlin that averages 13 points, 5.2 assists and four rebounds per game.  

“He grew up with the gym being his babysitter and he used to sit in the car seat during practices when I coached at Aberdeen Roncalli,” Neuendorf said. 

Assistant coach Wadsworth’s son, Jackson, is a freshman on this year’s team. His teammate and friend from the 1993 Hamlin team Brad Noem, father of current team member Dawson Noem, is also part of the 2022-23 team. 

“Brad actually drives our bus to the games,” Wadsworth said. “He and I roomed together in 1993. We have a lot of shared experiences and he even does some scouting for us.” 

The Hamlin boys team was in the front row last week as the Charger girls captured the Class A state title in Watertown. 

“Them being there made them awfully hungry to have this experience,” Wadsworth said. “I told my son and the rest of the team that they may not remember regular season games when they get older but they will remember this weekend for the rest of their lives.” 

This year marks the 11th time Hamlin has qualified for a boys state basketball tournament. 

The Hamlin Chargers open the 2023 Class A state tournament at 1:45 p.m. CST against Sioux Valley