When you get to the State Tournament, you can essentially throw the records out the window. At this point, there are no “posers” playing at this point. Each team has the ability to make a run, turn some heads and pull off upsets, which is exactly what the Class B Quarterfinals delivered on Thursday night to kick off the tournament.
In game one of the day, Deubrook Area took an undefeated Centerville team down to the wire before the Tornadoes got away with the 51-46 win. While not an upset, it certainly set the stage for the “underdogs” of the day to make things happen.
In the second game, the 5-seed Bennett County beat 4-seeded Parkston by a margin of 2 in a 51-49 thriller. This win for Bennett County certainly shocked a few people around the state and busted their proverbial brackets as some had the Trojans going all the way. Upset number one in game number two.
Not to be upstaged, 7-seed Dell Rapids St. Mary beat 2-seeded Harding County by double-digits 61-50 in another instant classic. On paper, this game looks like a major upset when you compare the seeds, but St. Mary’s losses throughout the season came to teams that are still playing this week. Like I said, at this point in the year anybody can beat anybody.
In the final game of the night, Sanborn Central-Woonsocket got regular season revenge taking down an incredibly skilled Lyman team with a final score of 53-40 that required overtime. Yes, you read that right, Sanborn Central outscored the Raiders 15-2 in the extra period. This comes after the Raiders beat the Blackhawks by 11-points in the first part of the season back in December. It surely seemed like these two would meet again however the cards fell, and this time around the Blackhawks won when it truly counted.
Even though it is my first season covering South Dakota High School Basketball, it is really refreshing to see so many women’s programs led by such outstanding talent along with premier coaching. Day 2 on Friday promises to bring more exciting matchups, and hopefully more mayhem.
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