FORT PIERRE — Joey Fischer graduated from Stanley County in 2019, started coaching a group of sixth graders the following year, and now they’re headed to the state tournament.

The Stanley County Buffaloes will play in their first Class A state boys basketball tournament since 1997, following a 54-45 win over Flandreau in the SoDak 16 in Miller. 

Fischer took over as Stanley County’s head coach in the 2023-24 season, but the journey with these Buffaloes began when the five seniors were sixth graders. On Tuesday, Fischer and the Buffaloes delivered the third state basketball tournament appearance in school history. 

“There’s not a lot of words that can describe it,” Fischer said. “This is something we’ve been working at for a long time and this group of seniors I actually had when they were sixth graders and started out my coaching career with them. So it’s just super special to do it with them.”

The five seniors include Weston Prince, Brendon Bothwell, Paxton Deal, Teegyn Breitag and Trevor Caldwell.  

Against Flandreau, Deal led Stanley County with 16 points. Caldwell added 12 points, junior Eddie Duffy recorded eight points and Breitag had seven points in the win.

The No. 6 seed Buffaloes (20-2) will play No. 3 Clark/Willow Lake (20-2) at 6:45 p.m. MT in the first round on March 19 at the Summit Arena in Rapid City. 

“It feels amazing,” said Deal, whose uncle JD Deal was on the 1997 team. “It’s been a lifelong goal and we’ve been working at this since we were sixth graders altogether. Joey has been our coach since then and it feels great.” 

Tuesday’s ticket to state marked the latest step in a steady climb for the Buffaloes, who went 3-18 in the 2022-23 season before posting records of 14-9 and 16-6 the next two years.

However, the Buffaloes failed to advance out of Region 6A and hadn’t qualified for the SoDak 16 since the 2021-22 season. Stanley County got over the postseason woes on Tuesday. 

Against the Fliers, Stanley County led 26-18 at halftime, withstood a Flandreau third-quarter surge and pulled away for the nine-point win.  

“I have so much love for this group of guys,” Fischer added. “It’s unbelievable. I am just super proud of them, super emotional. But you know what, we are not finished yet. We are going to try to make a run.” 

The run continued on Tuesday in Miller, where a sea of purple and gold celebrated the long-awaited state tournament berth. 

“There’s a lot of great basketball players that have gone through here and they haven’t had an opportunity to go to a state tournament,” Fischer said. “They paved the way for this group of guys and just to be able to do it is so special.” 

“It’s amazing,” Deal said. “The community loves it. They’ve been here with us the whole time and it’s great.”