Katie Bourk and Chloe Lamb are Sully Buttes Chargers, friends and conference competitors. 

Bourk and Lamb are women’s basketball assistant coaches at NCAA Division II programs Augustana University and the University of Mary, respectively. 

The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference teams will play in Sioux Falls tonight, making it the first time the Sully Buttes graduates will coach against each other.

“It’s going to be really, really special and really, really fun,” Bourk said. “To think two kids from Onida, South Dakota are Division II college coaches is pretty cool and I am looking forward to that.”

The distinction is another feather in the cap for Sully Buttes, which is a basketball hotbed and epitomizes small-town high school hoops.  

“It just goes to show how much fun we had playing sports and how we can continue that passion,” Lamb said. “It’s fun to see some small-town kids make it big time.”

The small-town kids, however, will be on opposite benches tonight and will be focused on winning for their teams. But it’s back to normal afterward. 

“I have a lot of people in my corner — Katie included — even though on Friday we are going to be going head to head,” Lamb said. “But I do know regardless I am going to get the biggest hug from her and we are still going to be family after however that goes.”

Bourk graduated 11 years before Lamb, however, they’ve had a strong relationship dating back to when Lamb was in grade school. Bourk was a regular at Jeff and Becky Lamb’s house and remembers helping Chloe with her homework. 

“For me, that’s my little sister over there,” Bourk said. “I have always been behind her and we both have just supported each other.”

While basketball strengthened their relationship, Bourk was also one of Lamb’s many Sully Buttes idols growing up. Lamb remembers being in a group picture as a grade schooler with Bourk (sporting her cornrow braids) and other Sully Buttes girls basketball players. 

“I had a lot of really great role models growing up, not only in sports, but just in life and she was definitely one of those,” Lamb said.

The two were instrumental in the Chargers’ wildly successful girls basketball run, which included 13 state tournament appearances from 2004-2018. 

Bourk was part of state tournament teams from 2004-06, while Lamb was part of two state championship teams in 2016 and ‘17.

During Lamb’s high school career, Bourk was regularly in the stands sporting purple and gold as a proud alumna. 

“I always tried to go back and watch games when Chloe got to high school,” Bourk said. “To watch her play in a state tournament and win two of them was a lot of fun and it was really special.”

This season is Bourk’s 12th season with the Vikings, including two seasons as a graduate assistant from 2011-13. Bourk was also a student-assistant coach at Dakota State University, her alma mater. 

Lamb, however, jumped right into her current position. Lamb led the University of South Dakota women’s basketball team to the Sweet 16 in last season’s NCAA Division I women’s basketball tournament and she landed her assistant job in July. 

“It’s different being on this side of things,” Lamb said. “You kind of grow a greater appreciation for all of your previous coaches and all the things they do. I always knew my coaches worked hard and did a lot, but there’s kind of a different level to that and kind of seeing what goes on behind the scenes.” 

Lamb’s ascension to her current post was no surprise to Bourk. 

“She’s just got the “it” factor,” Bourk said. “On the floor when you watched her play, she had the “it” factor and I think as a coach she’s got the “it” factor, too. She’s just going to be phenomenal.”

Bourk and Lamb’s coaching careers were influenced by their high school coach Mark Senftner, who died in Oct. 2022 after he was diagnosed with a brain tumor in Dec. 2020.

Senftner amassed more than 500 girls basketball coaching wins and left a lasting impression on the two future NCAA Division II coaches. 

“I just think so much about coach and what he meant to both Chloe and I,” Bourk said. “I got into coaching because of him and the experiences that I had. I know he’s meant so much to Chloe and her career, too. He would have absolutely loved to be there on Friday to see us.”

In her short coaching career, Lamb already tries to model her coaching habits after Senftner and finds herself thinking what he would do in certain situations. 

“A lot of times it comes back to ‘Well what did coach Senftner do?’ ” Lamb said. “How can I try to emulate him and the things he did because he was so successful and respected and trusted. There’s no better person to try to be like in this profession than coach Senftner.”