ABERDEEN — De Smet is once again Class B’s top ‘Dogs.

De Smet put an exclamation point on another dominant season and topped Lower Brule, 49-26, for its second Class B boys basketball championship on Saturday at a jam-packed Wachs Arena. 

The 23-point victory punctuated a 25-1 season, while De Smet is the first team to win back-to-back Class B state titles since White River in 2012 and ‘13. 

“There’s no better feeling than being a state champion,” De Smet senior Kalen Garry said. “I love my teammates so much. They are like my brothers and this crowd is unbelievable. I am so happy to be a Bulldog right now.”

De Smet finished 50-2 during the two-year run and it brought home the seventh state championship in program history. 

“It’s great to have that goal, and be able to do it, it’s awesome,” De Smet coach Jeff Gruenhagen said.  

The dominant season was highlighted by wins over the top teams in Class A and Class B, while De Smet’s only setback was against national power Dream City Christian (Arizona). 

De Smet's Kalen Garry looks to make a pass on Saturday at Wachs Arena. (Ryan Deal / 605 Sports)

The Bulldogs never focused on winning consecutive titles, but they certainly looked determined to finish the job in Aberdeen. De Smet won its three state tournament games by 23, 22 and 32 points.

“We just set our goal as the state championship,” Gruenhagen said. “Because we knew we could get back there with what we had. But what would we do with it when we got here?”

On Saturday, they completed the mission over a scrappy Lower Brule team, which was coming off a triple-overtime thriller over White River in the semifinals. 

After a seesaw first half, De Smet’s size and physicality wore down the Sioux, who scored five points in the third quarter and zero in the fourth quarter. 

“They got more offensive rebounds and that was just killing us in the first half and then we finally dug in deep on defense,” said Garry, who finished with eight points and seven rebounds. “We got some boards and Damon (Wilkinson) went off for us.”

Wilkinson, De Smet’s 6-foot-9 junior center, powered the win with 19 points and 23 rebounds. Lower Brule, which didn’t have a starter over 6-foot-2, couldn’t match up with De Smet’s size. 

Wilkinson, who finished 9 of 16 from the field, scored most of his baskets off putback attempts and willed his way against the smaller Sioux (22-4). 

“That’s what we look for and once they started to stop me, it was going to be a kick out like always,” Wilkinson said. “It’s definitely an advantage.”

Lower Brule, which was playing in its first-ever state championship, traded shots with the Bulldogs early. Lower Brule, which received 13 points from Ellwyn Langdeau, jumped out to an 8-2 advantage in the first four minutes. 

Lower Brule used its speed to get past the De Smet defenders and often found cutters in the lane. 

“It was a back and forth game for quite a while,” De Smet senior Rett Osthus said. “There was a lot of running and getting up and down, but guys slowed it down in the second half and got everything rolling pretty fast.”

De Smet's Rett Osthus, right, makes a pass against Lower Brule's Brian LaRoche Jr., and Keshaume Thigh on Saturday at Wachs Arena. De Smet's Damon Wilkinson is in the background. (Ryan Deal / 605 Sports)

The Sioux led 13-10 after the first quarter, but the Bulldogs took a 25-21 advantage into halftime. The third quarter was the beginning of the end for Lower Brule, which hit just two field goals in the second half. The Bulldogs also dominated the rebounding advantage, 53-32. 

“Everyone stepped up big in the second half and we outrebounded them great in the second half and we really closed it out,” said Osthus, who finished with seven points. 

Lower Brule, which poured in 86 points the night before, was held to 48 points below its season average of 74 points. After the fast-paced first half, Lower Brule’s shots often fell short and De Smet limited their possessions by collecting defensive rebounds. 

And De Smet could tell the fatigue from Lower Brule’s three-overtime marathon victory set in. 

“We feel that with a lot of teams,” said De Smet senior Tory Holland, who had seven points and 10 rebounds. “But since we push so hard in practice and in previous games, we can keep up with the best of them.”

And at the end of the day, De Smet was the best of them in Class B and sent its three core seniors — Garry, Osthus and Holland — off with another win. De Smet will also graduate Colt Wilkinson and Blake Van Regenmorter. 

“To lose those guys is going to be tough,” Gruenhagen said. “But we will get through that. We got great guys coming off the bench. The JV I think had just one loss this year and they will be ready.”