ONIDA — Sully Buttes, a school oozing with basketball history, will officially dedicate Mark Senftner Court on Thursday. 

The Agar-Blunt-Onida School District will dedicate its court in honor of Senftner, a former Sully Buttes girls basketball coach who died in Oct. 2022 after a brain tumor diagnosis in Dec. 2020.

Senftner’s signature and the wording “Mark Senftner Court” is placed on both sides of the court. The court renaming is part of a renovation project and will honor one of South Dakota’s all-time winningest girls basketball coaches. 

“It’s so incredibly special that they have chosen to use his name,” said Lynn Senftner, who is Mark’s wife. “It is just kind of unbelievable because he’s a small part of a lot of positive history here with hoops.”

Lynn admits her husband, who was soft-spoken and modest, would be both honored and embarrassed by the occasion. But the moment will be special for Lynn and her son Scott, both educators for the Agar-Blunt-Onida School District. 

“Scott and I are very honored,” Lynn said. “The magnitude of it isn't lost on Scott and I. Mark knows what a special place the athletic history has here. So he would feel really honored and he would be really embarrassed.”

Senftner played a big role in turning the Chargers into a girls basketball powerhouse. He guided the girls basketball teams to 11 state tournament appearances, winning state championships in 2007, ‘08, ‘16 and ‘17. The Chargers also finished as state runner-ups in 2012 and ‘15. 

Senftner, who also coached at Roscoe, Gregory and Timber Lake, accumulated a girls basketball coaching record of 481-190. He’s the sixth all-time winningest girls basketball coach in state history. 

As head football coach, Senftner guided the Chargers to state runner-up finishes in 2015, ‘17 and ‘18. He accumulated a 101-42 record in 14 seasons. 

Senftner’s name will now grace the hallowed gym floor in central South Dakota. 

“There’s been a lot of people that have aided in the rich athletic history at Sully Buttes and he was fortunate enough to be part of that, too,” Lynn said. “It’s always something that he was very proud to be here. But he loved his job and loved what he did.”

A rendering of the new Sully Buttes gymnasium in Onida.

The dedication ceremony will follow the girls varsity basketball game during a doubleheader against Wolsey-Wessington. It will include family, friends and former players. 

For Lynn, the occasion will be emotional in the gym where her husband spent hours coaching, teaching and mentoring student-athletes. 

“It will be really hard,” Lynn said. “Every day is hard. Every day there is something he’s missed. It will also be very comforting. Scott teaches in that gym. I attend things there and we see his name in the signature all the time. That has been kind of healing. We are still pretty lost without him and we always will be. But I think it will be really, really emotional, with a little combination of some joy knowing what an honor it is.”

The $113,000 renovation project also included other upgrades, including a new scoreboard equipped with players’ numbers and stats displayed. There’s an interlocking SB at center court and purple was painted around the court.

There’s also a nod to the past, with old Onida Warriors, Agar Hi-Pointers and Blunt Monarchs logos placed in the gymnasium. The Sully Buttes Charger horse is still displayed, too. 

It’s all part of celebrating Sully Buttes’ rich basketball tradition, which will continue with the official unveiling of Mark Senftner Court on Thursday.

“He’s very, very much missed,” Lynn said. “But it’s a really nice way to remember him.”