By Rich Winter 

605 Sports

One of the familiar faces missing from this year’s Class A state tournament is Winner’s Bella Swedlund. The Warrior senior helped Winner win a state title in 2019, led them to a 22-0 season in 2020 (no state tournament - COVID-19) and a third-place finish in 2021.

Winner’s run to the 2022 state tournament ended with a 39-36 loss to Class A’s top ranked team Wagner in the SoDak 16. 

“I have a lot of good friends playing in the state tournament and I do feel left out right now,” Swedlund said. “I joke with those friends that I’m in the library and they are out there on the court.” 

While there might be a hint of disappointment in not making the 2022 state tournament, Swedlund has no regrets about her final season in a Winner uniform. 

“The team did not give up this year when we could have, many times,” she said. “I’m definitely OK with this year because we did everything we could.

While Swedlund has been a member of the varsity squad since her seventh-grade year, Winner girls coach Larry Aaker remembers seeing the future University of Kansas player in the third grade. 

“The first time I saw her was when she came to our Little Warrior basketball camp,” Aaker said. “You could see even at that age she was very highly skilled.” 

The ‘Little Warrior’ was soon a fixture in the Winner program sitting right behind the bench at every opportunity. 

As a youngster Swedlund remembers looking up to Kelsey Bertram, Winner’s first-ever, first-team all stater. 

“Seeing Bertram and then Allison Cox made me love the game,” she said. “Just seeing all of their hard work pay off really inspired me.” 

When Swedlund entered high school she felt like a really good group of seniors helped pave the way for the team’s success. She also noted the impact of former Winner players Morgan Hammerbeck and Kalla Bertram, who are now Black Hills State University players. 

“I enjoyed playing with Morgan and always felt safe with her,” she said. “She was a great leader and really helped with my mindset my first few years of high-school.” 

Bertram graduated in 2021, a moment that was a little sad for Swedlund. 

“Kalla and I have been best friends for like three years,” she said. “Kalla pushed me to be the best player I could be but also helped me become a better person.” 

For a young lady with Division I basketball in her future, Swedlund offers some thoughts on the bigger picture of what high school sports has meant to her.

“There is nothing better than representing your hometown,” she said. 

Swedlund talked about the Winner boys football program as the standard setter. 

“I used to hear ‘Oh, you’re from Winner the football town that never loses,’” she said. “After we won the state title my freshman year, Swedlund would tell those folks, ‘Nah, we’re a girls’ basketball town.” 

Coach Aaker talked about the impact Swedlund’s career has had on the youth not just in Winner, but across the state. 

“Little kids love her and obviously look up to her,” Aaker said. “It’s not just kids from Winner that love her and that’s just very special to see.” 

Those youth and the impact she’s had on them has Swedlund feeling good about the future of Winner girls basketball. 

“You have so many amazing little boys and girls at the games and that is what it means to wear Winner across my chest,” she said. “I was once that little kid and as I go to Kansas next year that’s the kind of foundation we have going here and it makes me feel better about graduating.” 

Bella Swedlund is excited for the future of the Winner girls program.
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For a young woman that has been driven to success, Swedlund reminds young people what it takes to become a Division I athlete. 

“It means you don’t go to that party and you don’t stay out late that night,” she said. 

Swedlund recalls getting made fun of early in her career for getting up at 5 a.m. and showing up early to get shots up before school.

“You kind of have to look at the bigger picture and ask yourself what do I want in my life,” she said. “I might be at the gym all by myself but there is nowhere else I’d rather be.”