By Rich Winter

605 Sports

WESSINGTON — With nine grandkids that all play basketball, traveling to watch basketball games is nothing new for Mike and Terri Mebius. Between elementary school, middle school and high school games the couple have been in the bleachers for 79 games this season.

With three grandkids playing in different classes, all in different locations, the grandparents are set to embark on a weekend journey like no other. 

Karter Mebius is a 6-feet-2 senior for Wessington Springs. Logan Mebius is a 5-feet-10 junior for Sioux Falls O’Gorman and Connor Mebius is a 5-feet-9 sophomore for West Central. 

“We are going to start Thursday by watching Karter in Aberdeen.” Terri Mebius said. “That game should end about 3:15 and then we are driving to Rapid City to watch Logan as O’Gorman plays Harrisburg in the late game of the Class AA state tournament.”

With Mike navigating and Terri driving the couple plan to be in Rapid City by 7:30 with an anticipated tip of 7:45 p.m. for the Sioux Falls O’Gorman and Harrisburg game. Wessington Springs and West Central earned the No. 4 seeds in their respective classes and regardless of the outcome of Thursday’s game the couple is likely to attend a West Central game on Friday.

“If both Wessington Springs or West Central win they will play at the same time,” she said. “If they both lose they play at the same time but either way we are probably going to Sioux Falls to watch Connor.”

While plans could change depending on the outcome of Thursday and Friday’s results, as of Wednesday the plan is to go to Aberdeen on Saturday to watch Karter. 

The Mebius family has a rich tradition in athletics, particularly in basketball with Mike Mebius helping lead Wessington Springs to the 1967 state tournament. Mike Mebius graduated in 1968 and went on to play collegiately at Dakota Wesleyan.

Mike Mebius remembers the enormity of playing in the old Sioux Falls Arena for a bunch of small town kids. 

“Just like in the movie “Hoosiers” I looked around and the arena was just so big,” he said. “I was just in awe at the size of the arena and the amount of people that attended.”

During warmups for one of the 1967 state tournament games the Spartans were forced to wait in the locker room for about 50 minutes while officials scrambled to replace a shattered backboard. 

“We had four or five guys on the team that could dunk but it didn’t break because of a dunk,” he said. “We think the pregame dunks might have cracked the backboard but it actually broke while we were shooting when three or four basketballs hit the rim at the same time.”

At the time the two main backboards were fan shaped. On the day of the shattered backboard officials replaced the broken backboard with a square shaped backboard. 

Mike and Terri Mebius have three sons, all of whom excelled in athletics at Wessington Springs. 

Troy Mebius, Logan’s father, graduated from Wessington Springs in 1992. While he did play basketball he excelled in football and track. 

“They went to the Dome and finished second his senior year,” Mike Mebius said. “In track he ran the anchor legs on the 1,600-meter relay and 3,200-meter relay and placed third in the mile run and fifth in the 800-meter run.”

Troy Mebius went on to run track at South Dakota State University. 

Darrin Mebius, Connor’s dad graduated in 1994 and was part of a 1994 Wessington Springs team that qualified for the state tournament for the second time in school history. 

“Darrin was a first-team all state player in basketball and was the quarterback on the football team,” Mike Mebius said. “He wasn’t great at track but he was a four year starter in basketball.”

Kevin Mebius, Karter’s father, was a multi-sport standout for Wessington Springs and graduated in 1999. After graduating from college Kevin Mebius lived in Highmore for a year before moving back to Wessington where he is an information technology guy for a local bank. 

Mike Mebius’s father played basketball in the 1940s but basketball wasn’t nearly as big in small  towns across South Dakota at the time. Girls sports weren’t offered in the late 1960s but Terri Mebius channeled her efforts into cheerleading for the Spartans.

Basketball has always been big in the Mebius family and as a fourth generation of Mebius’ hit the court Thursday, Mike Mebius reflected on how the passion for basketball first started. 

“That’s all there was to do when I was a kid,” he said. “We never had a hoop in our yard but there was one just down the street and that’s where our boys grew up playing basketball.”

The statute of limitations has long since expired but when Mike Mebius was a kid he and his friends would do anything to play hoops. 

“When I was a kid we would break into the high school gym to play,” he said. “The janitor would eventually kick us out but we always just told him the door was unlocked.”

It didn’t hurt to have a local junior college in Wessington Springs and Mike Mebius and his friends always went up there on the weekends and played against those guys.”

The state tournament schedule is relatively set but Terri Mebius went to great detail to map out the regular season schedule.

Prior to the start of the 2024-25 season Terri Mebius used a three-color scheme to fill in the dates each of their grandkids was playing.

“Every Sunday I make Mike come to the table and we look at the squares and see what games we can make,” she said. “We go to more Wessington Springs games because they are closer but we did make it to seven O’Gorman games and seven West Central games.”

Regardless of what happens this weekend basketball won’t quite be done for the Mebius family. 

Darrin’s kids, Caralina and Chase are going to Chicago to compete in the Elks National Finals Free Throw Contest in April 

District Champion in Volga

Caralina 23 for 25 free throws

Chase 24 for 25 free throws

State Champion in Pierre

Caralina 21 for 25 free throws

Chase 25 for 25 free throws

Region Champion vs Montana and North Dakota State Champs in Rapid City

Caralina 24 for 25 free throws

Chase 23 for 25 free throws