By Rich Winter

605 Sports

BUFFALO — The Harding County girls basketball team is off to a sizzling start posting a 9-0 record heading into the Little Moreau Conference Tournament that started Friday. 

While their conference foes are aware of the Ranchers, they finally received some statewide recognition this week when the Ranchers entered the South Dakota Prep Media Basketball Poll in the ‘receiving votes’ category.

“Coach Wammen keeps telling us we have a lot of things to prove,” Harding County senior Claire Verhulst said. “We just have to take it one game at a time and we have to keep looking forward.”

The Ranchers finished 14-9 in 2022-23 and reached the SoDak 16 before losing to Sully Buttes, 44-26. Wammen, who had been the boys basketball coach at Harding County, switched to girls basketball this year and he said the start to the season has been a bit of a surprise. 

“I knew they would be pretty solid but this start was not expected,” Wammen said. “We have a nice mixture of veterans and young people and the kids are working hard and doing a lot of good things.”

Verhulst leads the Ranchers in scoring with just over 15 points per game. The 5-foot-4 guard averages five steals per game and Wammen called her a fiery leader and a feisty defender. 

Wammen, who also coaches football, got a big surprise on the first day of fall sports practice. 

“I walked into the gym and immediately recognized 6-foot-2 Jaylen Wendt and said, ‘Whoa, this is going to be OK,’ ” he said. 

Wendt, a transfer from Newell, has proven to be a dominant force in the middle, averaging 10 points and 12 rebounds per game. Verhulst, who qualified for the National High School Rodeo Finals last summer, knew Wendt from rodeo and said her fellow senior has made an instant impact.

Jaylen Wendt (#42) is a 6-foot-2 transfer from Newell that averages close to 10 points and 12 rebounds per game - Photo courtesy of Dawn Padden

“We aren’t very tall,” Verhulst said. “Jaylen has been a huge help and having her score and rebound and play against taller girls changed the dynamic of our team.” 

Verhulst and Wendt are terrific pieces but Harding County is deep, often playing eight or nine players. So far this season the Ranchers have eight girls that are averaging 4.3 points per game or better. 

“In each of our games we have had at least eight players score,” Wammen said. “I have never had a team with so much balance. We have 21 girls at practice who compete night in and night out and are making our entire team better.”

That depth was never more apparent than on Dec. 21 when the team came back from a large deficit to beat the Class B No. 2 Bowman County (North Dakota). 

“We knew going in it was going to be a battle and we found ourselves down 17 in the second quarter,” Wammen said. “I just told the girls to stay with it and stay with constant pressure. They were playing seven girls and we were playing 10 and as the game wore on we just kept chipping away and chipping away. Our girls just kept fighting and we came out with a really big win.”

The Ranchers handed Faith their only loss of the season, 49-34, on Jan. 6 in a game that saw 10 Rancher players score. 

While Verhulst and the rest of the Ranchers are taking it one day, one practice and one game at a time, the senior said she can’t help but think of the possibilities of playing in a state tournament. As of Jan. 19, the Ranchers have the second most seed points in Class B (46.556) trailing only top-ranked Centerville (47.222)

Senior guard Claire Verhulst leads the Ranchers in scoring and averages five steals per game - Photo courtesy of Dawn Paddon
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“Making it to the state tournament would be a dream come true,” Verhulst said. “It has been a dream of mine since I was a little girl to go to a state tournament and represent my community.” 

Despite the unblemished record and the high seed points the Ranchers have yet to crack the top-five in the Class B girls basketball poll. That’s just fine with Coach Wammen. 

“I told the girls I am great with us flying under the radar,” he said. “Hopefully we can get some recognition as the season rolls along. Our ultimate goal is to make the state tournament and then make some noise when we get there but until then, I’m perfectly fine flying under the radar.”