BALTIC — Kellen Artz has become a well-rounded player for Baltic.

A 6-foot-9 forward, Artz has been a staple of the Bulldog basketball program for the last three seasons. The senior is averaging 15 points, 10 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game and has Baltic (9-7) sitting as the No. 3 seed in Region 3A.

This season, Artz says he’s focused a lot more of his attention on pushing the floor more after missed shots.

“Just pushing the pace and looking for teammates up ahead if I can just get a rebound and go,” Artz said. “Without having to get it to a point guard, I can just take off and look for someone up ahead.”

Artz also mentioned how important the team’s chemistry has been this season. The Bulldogs had zero seniors on last year’s campaign, which has helped the team play with more confidence offensively.

“Especially last year without having any seniors, we had a core group of our juniors step up and try to lead the team,” Artz said.

“When we play together as a team, we know where everyone is going to be and we’ve played with each other long enough to where we kind of know who likes what shot and where they’re going to be to find an open shot so our chemistry is getting really good.”

Baltic boys basketball coach Alex Langner has seen Artz’s development since he was in eighth grade and says the three-year starter “gives us a lot of flexibility” on the court in his ability to work inside and on the perimeter.

Baltic's Kellen Artz passes the ball up the court during a boys basketball game against Canton on Jan. 30, 2026, in Baltic. (Jon Akre / 605 Sports)

“Traditionally you would think he’s a back-to-the-basket player and he’s got that skill, but he’s put a ton of work in the offseason trying to develop that 3-point shot,” Langner said of Artz. “He gives us the ability to do different things whether we want to go big and pound the ball inside or a couple games this year we’ve had to go small, but we can keep him on the floor because he has the ability to move and protect the rim on the defensive end.”

Langner also noted the best aspect of Artz is his coachability and basketball IQ that’s made him a special talent.

“It’s a lot of intangible things,” Langner said. “Some of your best players are your most coachable kids and Kellen is definitely that case. He’s a kid that wants to be coached, he takes criticism, and he lets his play speak for himself.

“He’s really become a coach on the floor. He’ll call different sets that we run. We as a coaching staff really value his input because he studies and watches film and we’ll talk about things and I really trust his opinion and his experience has shown a lot this year.”

While the Bulldogs are just 9-7 this season, five of its losses have been by 10 or less points. Baltic has taken some of the best teams in the state down to the wire including Class A No. 1 West Central (37-31), Class B No. 2 Viborg-Hurley (52-51) and Class B No. 3 De Smet (58-48) but slipped away in the closing moments.

“For us it’s just like two possession stretches where we have a missed shot or a turnover, something goes wrong,” Artz said of those close losses. “We play a decently good game, but then we have a couple mishaps back-to-back that take it away from us.”

With just four games left in the regular season, the Bulldogs still have three games within Region 3A that could shake up the seed points, starting with No. 2 seeded Flandreau on Feb. 17.

Baltic's Kellen Artz during a boys basketball game against Canton on Jan. 30, 2026, in Baltic. (Jon Akre / 605 Sports)

Artz, a high-level shot blocker averaging over two blocks per game, says the Baltic defense will need to be a huge factor in coming down the stretch and into the postseason.

“Our defense is a big, key thing,” Artz said. “If we can hold a team under 40 points, we have playmakers on offense that can score the ball. If our defense is really good in that game, we’ll most likely be successful. We take a lot of pride in stopping the ball and forcing a three-pointer rather than an easy layup.”

Artz has signed to continue his basketball career in Aberdeen next year at Northern State University after committing to the Wolves last summer.

“Their coaches reached out to me at the beginning of the summer and came to watch a couple of my AAU tournaments,” Artz said. “They were very helpful with not forcing anything and it felt like a great place to be and somewhere I could see myself going for the next four years.”

He’ll have one more postseason run before then, but Langner says he’s certainly left his mark on the Bulldog boys basketball program.

“I’ve been doing this for 20 years now and he’s a kid that doesn’t come along very often,” Langner said. “The thing that I love about him is he wants to win and he’s willing to do whatever you ask him to win. He’s extremely coachable. He's a good kid that works hard in the classroom. He’s a kid that when he’s done in our program, there’s going to be a hole there.”