There’s no shortage of father and son duos among this year’s state boys basketball tournament qualifiers. 

There are 11 father and son pairs in this year’s state tournaments, including one in Class AA, five in Class B and five in Class A. 

Class B

Lower Brule - Brian LaRoche Sr., Brian LaRoche Jr.

Faith - Doug Schauer (assistant coach), Jackson Schauer

White River - Eldon Marshall, Nic Marshall 

De Smet - Jeff Gruenhagen, Gannon Gruenhagen 

Castlewood - Austin Tvedt (assistant coach), Lane Tvedt 

Class A 

Dakota Valley - Jason Kleis, Sam Kleis

Sioux Valley - Buster Vincent (assistant coach), Oliver Vincent

Hamlin - Todd Neuendorf, Easton Neuendorf; Travis Wadsworth (assistant coach), Jackson Wadsworth

St. Thomas More - Dave Hollenbeck, Caleb Hollenbeck 

Class AA

Mitchell - Wes Morgan (assistant coach), Steele Morgan

Dakota Valley looks to bolster record winning streak 

The Dakota Valley High School boys basketball team has won a Class A record boys basketball record 50 straight games. 

The Panthers broke the previous Class A record of 49 straight set by Custer (1989-91) earlier this season.

The all-time South Dakota boys basketball record was set by Armour with 64 straight from 1978-80. The Class AA boys basketball record was set by Mitchell with 40 straight from 1983-86. 

De Smet dominant against Class B foes

The De Smet Bulldogs have dominated Class B competition the past four seasons. 

De Smet won the 2021 and ‘22 Class B state championships, while it was the No. 1 seed entering the 2020 tourney before it was canceled due to COVID-19. 

Its last defeat against a Class B team came against Canistota on Feb. 15, 2020 at the DWU/Culver’s Classic in Mitchell. The Bulldogs have since won 58 straight games against Class B opponents. 

De Smet’s three losses this season have come against Class A teams Sioux Valley, Hamlin and Tea Area.

Joe Sayler, Isaac Bruns capping off prolific scoring careers

White River’s Joe Sayler and Dakota Valley’s Isaac Bruns will conclude their prolific scoring careers this week. 

Sayler is No. 5 on the South Dakota boys basketball all-time scoring list with 2,611 career points. Sayler is second on the school’s all-time scoring list behind all-time leader Louie Krogman (3,521). 

White River is the only program in South Dakota boys basketball history with two top-five scoring leaders. Sayler needs 97 points to surpass Yankton’s Matthew Mors (2,707) for fourth on the all-time list. Sayler will play basketball next season at South Dakota State University. 

Bruns is No. 18 on the all-time boys basketball scoring list with 2,236 career points. Bruns recently surpassed his brother, Paul, as the school’s all-time leading scorer. Isaac Bruns needs 11 points to surpass Armour’s Ryan VanZee for No. 17 on the all-time scoring list. 

Isaac Bruns will play at the University of South Dakota, where Paul is a sophomore guard. 

18 in a row

Teams have come and gone at the Class B boys basketball tournament, but White River has remained the staple 

The Tigers have qualified for 18 straight Class B boys basketball tournaments. White River has appeared in every state tournament since 2006, with the 2020 COVID-19 cancellation the only year it didn’t play in Aberdeen.

The Tigers played in six straight Class B state championships from 2008-13, winning titles in 2008, ‘10, ‘12 and ‘13.

Mitchell holds the boys all-time record for most consecutive appearances with 19 straight from 1983-2001.