The Sun Gold Sports Sacred Hoops Classic is Jan. 7 at the Corn Palace. 

The classic is designed to pit Native American schools against non-Native American schools and is aimed at scheduling East River vs. West River teams against each other.

The event features boys and girls basketball teams and it starts at 9 a.m. and continues until 9 p.m. 

Here’s are three storylines to watch Saturday:

West Central, Lakota Tech to clash in Class A girls matchup

Two 2022 Class A girls basketball tournament participants — West Central and Lakota Tech — will face each other at 7:30 p.m. The Trojans and Tatanka were both honorable mention in the latest Class A poll. 

West Central is off to a 1-2 start, with losses against Class AA No. 4 Sioux Falls Jefferson (67-35) and Class A RV Vermillion (43-32). The Trojans’ lone win was against Baltic (49-32) in the season opener. 

The Tatanka are 4-1, with their lone defeat coming against Class A No. 5 Red Cloud (45-38) in the Lakota Nation Invitational championship game. 

In their last win against Mobridge-Pollock, Jodene Hunter finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds, while Melina Shangreaux added 19 points and 13 boards.

Two Class A West River boys teams to meet

A pair of Class A West River boys basketball teams — Winner and Custer — will collide at 6 p.m. at the Corn Palace. 

The Warriors (3-0) and Wildcats (4-3) are both in search of key early-season wins. Custer’s three losses have come against Class A teams Lakota Tech (60-53), Red Cloud (65-52) and Class AA Sturgis (57-53). 

In Custer’s last game against Sturgis, sophomore Rhett Lowe scored 22 points in a losing effort. 

Winner has picked up wins over Wagner (57-33), Stanley County (58-25) and Sully Buttes (65-38). The Warriors are led by all-state guard Blake Volmer, who averages 17.7 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. Shawn Hammerbeck, a 6-foot-7 sophomore, chips in with 13.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Aiden Barfuss contributes 13 points, 4.7 assists and three rebounds per game. 

Lower Brule continues Classic slate

The Lower Brule boys basketball team will rack up the miles this season.

The Sioux, which have only three home games, have a host of classics and tournaments on their 2022-23 schedule and it continues Saturday at the Corn Palace. The Class B No. 5 Sioux will play Parkston at 1:30 p.m., in their second of four games at the Corn Palace this season. 

Lower Brule recently dropped a 62-48 setback against Aberdeen Christian at the Corn Palace, while it will also play at the Hanson Classic and DWU/Culver’s Classic at the venue. 

The Sioux played four games at the Lakota Nation Invitational in December and will play three contests at the Dakota Oyate Challenge on Jan. 26-28 in Huron. They played in the Huron Holiday Classic in December and will play in the Dakota Valley Classic against Class B No. 4 Castlewood on Jan. 14. They will also play at the Warner Classic on Feb. 18 to close the season. 

The complete schedule:

9 a.m. - Kimball/White Lake vs Crow Creek (Girls)

10:30 a.m. - Mitchell Christian vs Crow Creek (Boys)

12 p.m. - Lower Brule vs Freeman Academy/Marion (Girls)

1:30 p.m. - Lower Brule vs Parkston (Boys)

3 p.m. - Platte-Geddes vs Freeman Academy/Marion (Boys)

4:30 p.m. - Platte-Geddes vs Custer (Girls)

6 p.m. - Winner vs Custer (Boys)

7:30 p.m. - West Central vs Lakota Tech (Girls)

9 p.m. - West Central vs Lakota Tech (Boys)