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Prep Basketball Notebook - Senior-laden Harding County Ranchers set sights on state tournament berth
Harding County's Dawson Kautzman, center, attacks the basket against Bridgewater-Emery's Sam Hofer (3) and Ben Weber (12) at the Hanson Classic.
(Ryan Deal / 605 Sports)

Prep Basketball Notebook - Senior-laden Harding County Ranchers set sights on state tournament berth

Jan 22, 2023
  

By Ryan Deal

605 Sports

Jay Wammen has a good problem to have — four seniors.

The Harding County High School boys basketball team is 8-3 and its seniors — Kelby Hett, Keegan Hett, Dawson Kautzman and Gage Gilbert — are largely responsible for it. 

The four seniors all average double figures in points per game: Keegan Hett (19.7), Gilbert (14), Kautzman (12.2) and Kelby Hett (10.2). The quartet helped the Ranchers reach the SoDak 16 last season, falling to traditional power White River one game short of the state tournament. 

They’ve also led by example and have Harding County, located in Buffalo in the northwestern corner of the state, hoping for a state tournament berth this season. 

“This senior group is a close-knit group and they’re all about basketball,” Wammen said. “Ever since they’ve been eighth-graders they have been putting in the time in the summers that’s needed and fortunate enough for us we have four of them that have been doing it together every summer and showing the younger kids kind of what they need to do and it’s helped build this program.”

Harding County's Kelby Hett goes up for a shot against Bridgewater-Emery at the Hanson Classic. (Ryan Deal / 605 Sports)

The Ranchers recently picked up a 52-49 win over Bridgewater-Emery at the Hanson Classic, a mid-January basketball event that draws the top Class B and Class A teams in the state. 

The win snapped a two-game losing streak for Harding County, dropping games against Class A Pine Ridge and Class B Bowman County, North Dakota (honorable mention in latest poll) before playing at the Corn Palace. 

“It’s a big win,” Kautzman said about beating Bridgewater-Emery. “We had some losses that we shouldn't have lost. But they were some good teams. To come here and get a dub, it’s huge.”

It also wasn’t easy. Harding County built a 12-point lead with 6 1/2 minutes left and withstood a late surge by Bridgewater-Emery, which outscored Harding County 11-6 in the final period. 

“I was happy they were able to handle the highs and the lows,” Wammen said. “Because a little earlier this season when we got the lows of lows, we kind of didn’t fight back at the very end and the games kind of got out of hand. But they responded and they said we are winning this one tonight and they all believed and we believed in them and we were lucky enough to come away with a big team win.”

It was also against a different opponent they don’t normally face. The Huskies started four players either 6-foot-3 or 6-foot-4 and won the rebounding margin, 41-32. Bridgewater-Emery’s Sutton Arend, a 6-foot-4 bouncy and physical guard, finished with 15 points and 18 rebounds. 

The Ranchers countered with their speed and forced Bridgewater-Emery into 12 turnovers.

“They were bigger and a little bit more physical, but I thought our kids were a little bit quicker,” Wammen said. “You could see it when we got out running in transition, whenever we were able to get a clean rebound, we were able to get going a little in transition.”

Harding County's Keegan Hett attacks the basket against Bridgewater-Emery at the Hanson Classic. (Ryan Deal / 605 Sports)

And it was Harding County’s seniors again leading the victory. Kautzmann finished with 16 points, including 4 of 7 from the 3-point line. Gilbert, a 6-foot-5 post, logged 16 points and 11 rebounds. Keegan Hett (10 points/8 rebounds/8 assists) and Kelby Hett (8 points/5 rebounds) also powered the win. 

Harding County will now prepare for the stretch run. Up next, the Ranchers will Class A Belle Fourche on Jan. 26 and Region 8B foe Timber Lake on Jan. 30. The Little Moreau Conference boys basketball tournament is Feb. 2-4 where Harding County could again face Faith, which handed the Ranchers a 61-53 defeat on Jan. 7. 

“It’s going to be a huge boost knowing we can compete with the best,” Wammen said. “I knew myself that these kids were able to compete with the best in Class B basketball, but now hopefully this win will give them the confidence they can compete with most teams.” 

Sabers, Dekker toss in game-winning buzzer beaters

One was a half-court shot and one was a layup, but Mason Sabers and Cole Dekker both recorded game-winning buzzer beaters this past week.

On Jan. 19, Dekker laid in an offensive rebound as time expired to lift Brandon Valley to a win over Pierre. The shot came after Pierre’s Lincoln Kienholz gave the Governors a 52-51 in the closing seconds.


On Jan. 20, Sabers launched a half-court shot and banked it in as time expired, lifting McCook Central/Montrose to a 48-47 win over Flandreau. The shot came after Sabers received an outlet pass off a missed Flandreau free-throw attempt. 


Broughton surpasses 2,000 career points 

On Jan. 17, Corsica-Stickney’s Avery Broughton became the 35th girls basketball player in state history to score more than 2,000 career points. 

The future University of South Dakota Coyote reached the milestone in the Jaguars’ loss against Andes Central/Dakota Christian. Broughton now has 2,022 career points and is 31st on the state’s all-time scoring list. 

She’s also the second USD signee from the 2023 class to score more than 2,000 career points. Rapid City Christian’s Olivia Kieffer reached the milestone earlier this season and is nearing top-20 on the state’s scoring list. 


Six total players surpassed 1,000 career points this past week

Lyman had a pair of players — Cooper Long and Skyler Volmer — reach the milestone in the same week. 

Viborg-Hurley’s Denae Mach, Hanson’s Annalyse Weber, Custer’s Allyson Cass and Madison’s Zoey Gerry all scored their 1,000th career point this past week. 


Top performers 

From 50-point games and monster double-doubles, there were a number of top individual performances during the week of Jan. 16-21. Here’s a look at some of the top performers from this past week in South Dakota high school basketball.

  • Lower Brule’s Brian LaRoche Jr., pumped in 57 points and 12 3-pointers in a 114-46 win over Cheyenne-Eagle Butte on Jan. 17. The all-state guard added 32 points, seven assists and seven rebounds in a 112-42 win over Flandreau Indian on Jan. 20. 

  • Lower Brule’s Gavin Thigh logged 40 points and 10 rebounds in the Sioux’s win over Flandreau Indian. 

  • White River’s Joe Sayler erupted for 42 points and six 3-pointers in an 87-68 loss against Aberdeen Christian at the Hanson Classic. Sayler is now tied with McLaughlin’s Ray Taken Alive for 13th on the state’s all-time scoring list with 2,321 career points. 

  • Aberdeen Christian’s Malek Wieker (29 points) and Ethan Russell (23 points) paced the Knights to the Knights’ win over White River. 

  • Dakota Valley’s Isaac Bruns paced another balanced scoring attack for the Panthers. The University of South Dakota signee logged 31 points and nine rebounds in Dakota Valley’s win over Sioux Valley at the Hanson Classic. Randy Rosenquist Jr., added 21 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in the win.

  • De Smet’s Damon Wilkinson recorded another double-double with 19 points and 17 rebounds in the Bulldogs’ win over Lower Brule at the Hanson Classic. Wilkinson added 25 points and 25 rebounds against Hamlin earlier in the week. 

  • Madison’s Aiden Jensen logged 39 points and 13 rebounds in a 62-61 win over Dell Rapids on Jan. 19. 

  • Lyman’s Skyler Volmer and Mak Scott again posted big numbers for the Raiders this past week. Volmer logged 35 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in a win over Burke, while Scott had 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Scott had 36 points and eight rebounds against White River. Volmer stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists. 

  • Wolsey-Wessington’s Mallory Miller led the Warbirds to the 281 Conference tournament championship with 25 points and eight rebounds on Jan. 19. Miller continues to receive a major Division I offers, including from Syracuse and Colorado this week. 

  • Iroquois/Lake Preston’s Adison Moore tossed in 34 points in the 281 Conference tournament on Jan. 19 

  • Brandon Valley’s Hilary Behrens finished with 29 points in a 75-69 win over Pierre on Jan. 19. 

  • Hamlin’s Easton Neuendorf finished with 25 points, five assists and four steals in Hamlin’s win over De Smet. 

  • Dell Rapids St. Mary’s Trevon Beckman recorded 26 points in a win over Castlewood, which received 25 points from Lane Tvedt. 

  • Sioux Valley’s Oliver Vincent tossed in 26 points and six 3-pointers in a win over Deubrook Area. 

  • Wessington Springs’ Ryder Michalek recorded 29 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Iroquois/Lake Preston. 

  • Viborg-Hurley’s Denae Mach logged 26 points and eight rebounds in a victory over Avon on Jan. 17.

  • Winner’s Aiden Barfuss led the Warriors with 25 points in a win over Parkston on Jan. 16. 

  • St. Thomas More’s Caleb Hollenbeck tossed in 27 points in the Cavaliers’ win over Douglas.

  • Rapid City Christian’s Olivia Kieffer poured in 39 points and hit seven 3-pointers in a win over Hill City on Jan. 19.

Pierre's Lexie Hillmer with the corner kick as Ireland Templeton scores an early goal
Cheyenne-Eagle Butte/Tiospaye Topa's Easton Lawrence moves the pile for a Braves touchdown
White River's Riley Bouman with the athletic interception that he nearly returns for a score
Mobridge-Pollock's Wyatt Ziegler grabs hold of the bobbled pass then rumbles for a Tiger touchdown