By Rich Winter

605 Sports

As the final seconds of Friday’s 42-34 win over Chamberlain ticked away Stanley County senior Lathan Prince looked for his coach. A varsity player for five seasons and a starter for the last four years, Prince found coach Max Foth and leapt into his arms with a hug that needed no caption. 

“That was a special moment because I know how much time he’s spent in the gym,” Stanley County coach Max Foth said. “For us to achieve our first-ever SoDak 16 together was a validation moment and it just felt so good.” 

Having never made the SoDak 16 Foth said the biggest difference this year has been the team’s defense. 

“Our guys have been really dialed in on defense and we’ve won the ugly games we haven’t in the past,” Foth said. “It takes a team effort to play that defense and with the amount of switching we do the guys have got to trust each other.” 

From as far back as first grade the seven Stanley County senior basketball players have been dreaming about, and talking about the day they make it to the state tournament. 

On Tuesday, Prince, Cormac Duffy, Gavin Irving, Daysen Titze, Ricardo Garcia, Kaden Heezen and Stran Scott have the opportunity to make those dreams come true. The No. 15 seeded Buffalos (15-7) travel to Douglas to take on No. 2 seed (19-2) St. Thomas More in a SoDak 16 game. 

“Making it this far has been our goal this season,” Prince said. 

Making it to the state tournament would be icing on the cake. 

“That’s what I’ve been driving for my whole career and that would mean the world to us seniors,” he said. 

A bench player his eighth-grade year Prince recalls getting tossed into the role of starter that year in a game at Lyman. 

“We had a couple of injuries so I got the start and I think that’s the most nervous I’ve ever been in my life,” Prince said. “It was also a turning point for me that ended up giving me a lot of confidence.” 

That confidence has translated to a three-year member of the Big Dakota all-conference team. Prince is having a breakout senior season averaging 18.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.8 apg and 2.1 steals per game. 

“I always joke that no one has been yelled at more than Lathan Prince,” Foth said. “He’s done so much skill development and found a way to get better every year.”

On Tuesday, Prince will need to control tempo, find a way to get others involved and score when called upon.

“He’s a true point guard,” Foth said. “He knows he might have to get a shot up at the end of the clock, he knows when our big guy needs to get a touch and he’s primarily responsible for gassing our team up.” 

Stanley County coach Max Foth helped guide the Buffaloes into their first-ever SoDak 16 appearance.

In his first three seasons as a starter the Buffaloes won nine, eight and 11 games failing to advance past the second round of region play. 

Last Friday, Stanley County jumped out to a lead over Region 6A rival Chamberlain. The Cubs fought back to take a lead before a senior oriented Stanley County squad took control down the stretch. 

“I think it was our upperclassmen that stayed cool, calm and collected,” Prince said. “They were up by one or two but I felt we were still in control of that game and we executed down the stretch.” 

In his final season Prince has emerged as a primary leader on the court.

“Coming into this season I knew I had to be a better leader,” he said. “The game has slowed down so much for me and I feel like I can control the game and get our team where we want to be.”  

Prince has been a leader on this Stanley County team since his freshman year. He’s also suffered through losing seasons with gyms that haven’t exactly been overflowing with spectators. 

He expects the Stanley County fans to travel to Douglas and come with a presence. 

“Our fan base has been spectacular this year,” he said.

Prince refers to a game on Feb. 3, in Chamberlain in which Buffalo fans outnumbered Cubs fans on the Cubs’ home court. The rematch with Chamberlain went down in Ft. Pierre Friday and Prince felt the crowd made a difference. 

“That is the most packed I’ve seen the gym since I’ve been playing here,” he said. “Seeing and feeling that support makes us want to play harder and just puts a smile on my face.”