STATE BOYS HOCKEY TOURNAMENT UPDATE

The local Oahe Hockey Association again has the privilege of hosting the boys state varsity tournament next weekend, Friday through Sunday, March 15-17, at the Expo Center in Fort Pierre.

As the third-seeded team, the Oahe Capitals will open the tournament with a 9:35 a.m. quarterfinal game against #6 Brookings next Friday morning. Other quarterfinal games that day—12:05 p.m., #2 Rushmore vs. #7 Watertown; 2:35 p.m., #4 Huron vs. #5 Sioux Center; 5:05 p.m., #1 Sioux Falls vs. #8 Aberdeen. An awards ceremony will be held at 8 p.m. Friday at the Riggs High School theater.

Saturday’s consolation semifinals will be at 11:35 a.m. and 2:05 p.m. and the championship semifinals at 4:35 and 7:05. On Sunday the fifth-place game faces off at 9:35 a.m., the third-place game at 12:35 p.m. and the state championship game at 3:35 p.m.

Midco Sports Network will televise live all four quarterfinal games, the two championship semifinal games and the third-place and championship games. In addition, Capital City Rock will broadcast all 11 tournament games on the radio, so people can listen around the world at www.capitalcityrock.com.

SOMETHING TO WORRY ABOUT

The statistics on sanity say that one of every four persons is suffering from some sort of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they’re O.K., then it’s you.

BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTS UPDATE

State “AA” girls tournament quarterfinals at Rapid City March 14:
—Upper bracket, Barnett Arena: 1:00, 1 O’Gorman vs. 8 Mitchell; 5:00, 4 Brandon Valley vs. 5 Brookings.
— Lower bracket, Ice Arena: 1:00, 2 Lincoln vs. 7 Washington; 5:00, 3 Harrisburg vs. 6 Stevens.

State “AA” boys tournament quarterfinals at Rapid City March 14:
— Upper bracket, Barnett Arena: 3:00, 1 Lincoln vs. 8 Harrisburg; 7:00, 4 Brandon Valley vs. 5 Stevens.
— Lower bracket, Ice Arena: 3:00 2 O’Gorman vs. 7 Roosevelt; 7:00, 3 Yankton vs. 6 Huron.

State “B” girls tournament quarterfinals at Huron today (Thursday):
— Upper bracket: 12:00, 1 Ethan vs. 8 Waverly-South Shore; 1:45, 4 Warner vs. 5 Freeman.
— Lower bracket: 6:00, 2 De Smet vs. 7 White River; 7:45, 3 Corsica-Stickney vs. 6 Ipswich.

State “A” boys tournament quarterfinals at Sioux Falls March 14:
— Upper bracket, Premier Center: 3:00, 1 Tea Area vs. 8 Dell Rapids; 7:00, 4 Pine Ridge vs. 5 Hot Springs.
— Lower bracket, Sioux Falls Arena: 3:00, 2 Sioux Falls Christian vs. 7 Madison; 7:00, 3 St. Thomas More vs. 6 Lennox.

IF SULLY BUTTES WINS ITS SODAK 16 GAME TONIGHT (THURSDAY):
State “B” boys tournament quarterfinals at Aberdeen March 14:
— Upper bracket: 12:00, 1 White River vs. 8 Viborg-Hurley; 1:45, 4 Jones County vs. 5 De Smet.
— Lower bracket: 6:00, 2 Timber Lake vs. 7 Bridgewater-Emery; 7:45, 3 Clark-Willow Lake vs. 6 Sully Buttes.

NOTE: If Lemmon wins the game tonight, Bridgewater-Emery moves to the #6 seed, Viborg-Hurley moves to #7 and Lemmon would be #8.

State “A” girls SoDak 16 games tonight (Thursday):
1 West Central vs. 16 Crow Creek
2 Winner vs. 15 Redfield-Doland
3 Todd County vs. 14 Miller
4 Hamlin vs. 13 Mount Vernon-Plankinton
5 Belle Fourche vs. 12 Aberdeen Roncalli
6 Lennox vs. 11 Sioux Falls Christian
7 St. Thomas More vs. 10 Flandreau
8 Beresford vs. 9 McCook Central/Montrose

PIERRE GOVERNORS SPORTS ROUNDUP

Football: The Governors’ schedule for this coming fall starts the weekend of Aug. 30—
Week 1, Sturgis home; 2, at West Central; 3, Yankton home; 4, Tea Area home; 5, at Spearfish; 6, at Huron; 7, Brookings home; 8, at Mitchell; 9, at Douglas.

Girls basketball: The Lady Governors’ season ended in the SoDak 16 round with a 60-38 loss at Sioux Falls O’Gorman as the #16 seed had to face the #1 seed Knights. Pierre was down only 22-20 at halftime but a 10-0 O’Gorman run to start the third quarter created a hole too deep to survive. Emily Mikkelsen led Pierre with 18 points as the Lady Govs finished the season with a 4-16 record. Mikkelsen, Mackenzie Rath, Kylie Kessler, Halle Gronlund and Hannah Lingle are seniors who will graduate from this team.

Boys basketball: The Governors’ season ended in the SoDak 16 round at Yankton where the Bucks jumped out to a 10-0 lead at the beginning and led by 19 at halftime. No Pierre player scored more than six points. Seniors Jack Maher and Alec Miller will be lost via graduation from this team which finishes the year with a 5-15 record.

STANLEY COUNTY BUFFALOES SPORTS ROUNDUP

Football: The Buffaloes’ schedule for this coming fall starts the weekend of Aug. 23—
Week 0, at Winner; 1, Chamberlain home; 2, at McCook Central-Montrose; 3, Woonsocket/Wessington Springs/Sanborn Central home; 4, at Miller/Highmore-Harrold; 5, Wagner home; 6, at Mount Vernon/Plankinton; 7, open; 8, St. Thomas More home.

Boys basketball: The Buffaloes’ season ended with another tough loss to Cheyenne-Eagle Butte on the road, 67-64, in the final round of the regional tournament. Stanley County’s two losses to C-EB this year were by a total of four points. SCHS finishes the season with a 9-12 record.

SULLY BUTTES CHARGERS SPORTS ROUNDUP

Football: The Chargers’ schedule for this coming fall starts the weekend of Aug. 23—
Week 0, Warner home; 1, at Wall; 2, at Potter County; 3, Herreid/Selby Area home; 4, open; 5, at Hitchcock-Tulare; 6, at North Border; 7, Faulkton Area home; 8, Ipswich/Edmunds Central home.

This week’s schedules:
Boys basketball—Thursday, vs. Lemmon in SoDak 16 (at Timber Lake), 7 p.m. CST.

Boys basketball: With a spot in the SoDak 16 on the line at home, the Chargers fell behind a fired-up Highmore-Harrold team by 11 points in the first half, but Sully Buttes rallied with a strong second half to defeat the Pirates, 58-47, in the final round of the Region 2B tournament. Nick Wittler scored 31 points, 19 of them in the crucial second half. Jett Lamb had eight points, all in the second half. Grant Johnson contributed six points, Cam Ogle six, Sebastian Frost five and Morris Hofer two. The Chargers’ SoDak 16 game vs. Lemmon in Mobridge was postponed Tuesday, and it now will be played tonight (Thursday) in Timber Lake with the winner advancing to the state tournament next week.

ZESTO SHERBET SCHEDULE

Thursday: coconut.
Friday-Sunday: strawberry cheesecake.
Monday-Tuesday: peach.
Wednesday-Thursday: coffee.

QUOTE FROM THE PAST

“The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family.”

— Thomas Jefferson

COLLEGE SPORTS ROUNDUP

South Dakota State wrestling (Aric Wlliams): The Jackrabbits, idle last weekend, go to Tulsa for the Big 12 conference meet Saturday and Sunday.

South Dakota Mines women’s basketball: The Hardrocker women closed their season with three straight wins but missed qualifying for the RMAC playoffs. Mines won at Black Hills State, 71-62, as Taylor Molstad scored 28 and Anna Haugen had 16 rebounds. Mines finished at 12-14 overall and 9-13 in the conference.

South Dakota State men’s basketball: The Jackrabbits finished the regular season at 24-7 overall and 14-2 in the Summit. The final game was an 86-66 win over Western Illinois. Skyler Flatten scored 31 and Mike Daum 20.

South Dakota State women’s basketball (Sydney Palmer): Sydney got to start on Senior Day in Brookings as the Jackrabbits smothered Western Illinois, 100-62. Sydney was 5-of-5 from the field, including 1-of-1 in threes, and 0-for-1 for 11 points with two rebounds and two assists. Macy Miller was high scorer with 24 points. SDSU finished the regular season at 23-6 overall and 15-1 in the Summit, clinching the top seed in the league tournament.

Dakota Wesleyan women’s basketball: The defending NAIA national champions open play in this year’s tournament in Sioux City at noon today (Thursday) against St. Thomas (Fla.). If the Tigers win, their second-round opponent at 3:30 Friday would be Milligan (Tenn.) or St. Francis (Ill.).

Dakota Wesleyan men’s basketball (Brad Dean): The Tigers opened the NAIA Div. II national tournament at the Sanford Pentagon with a 79-65 win last night over Warner (Fla.) and improved their record for the year so far to 23-9. Ty Hoglund had 43 points in a game where he sank 13 of 26 field-goal tries, including 4 of 10 from three-point range, and 13 of 18 free throws. DWU plays in the second round Friday noon against the No. 1 seed Indiana Wesleyan. Brad was moved up from the Tiger JV to the varsity squad shortly after the start of the spring semester.

South Dakota women’s basketball (Chloe Lamb, Ciara Duffy): The Coyote women finished 13-0 on their home court season with two more wins. In a 76-57 win over NDSU, Hannah Sjerven was high with 24 points. Ciara went 4-of-8 (0-for-2 in threes) and 3-of-4 for 11 points with two rebounds and one assist. Chloe was 2-of-9 (0-for-2 in threes) for four points with two assists and a steal. On Saturday USD destroyed UND, 87-54, as Allison Arens on her Senior Day scored 18. Ciara was 4-of-10 (0-for-1) and 7-of-7 for 15 points with two rebounds and two assists. Chloe was 3-of-5 (1-of-1) for seven points with two boards, one assist and a steal. USD ended the regular season at 26-4 overall and 14-2 in the Summit and earned the #2 seed in the league tournament.

South Dakota men’s basketball: The Coyote men also swept the North Dakota schools at home. In a 75-65 win over NDSU, Triston Simpson scored 20 and Tyler Peterson 15. In a 78-63 win over UND, Peterson scored 17 and Cody Kelley 16. UND was only 3-of-17 in three-point shooting. USD finished the regular season at 13-16 overall and 7-9 in the Summit, earning the #6 seed in the league tournament.

Tennessee women’s basketball (Caleb Currier): The Lady Vols lost to Vanderbilt, 76-69, and defeated Mississippi, 81-56, finishing the regular season at 18-11 overall and 7-9 in the SEC. Tennessee as the eighth seed in the conference tournament in Greenville, S.C. faces LSU in its first game today (Thursday).

Incarnate Word women’s basketball (Liz Holter): The Cardinal women defeated Northwestern State, 100-91, and beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 77-72, to go to 5-22 overall and 5-11 in their conference. In the Northwestern game Liz was 2-of-6 (1-of-3 in threes) and 5-of-5 for 20 points with six rebounds and two assists. In the A&M Sgame she was 3-of-10 (1-of-5 in threes) and 4-of-4 for 11 points with three assists, a steal and nine rebounds. Incarnate Word closes the regular season against Houston Baptist last night and at Abilene Christian Saturday.

University of Sioux Falls men’s basketball: The Cougars lost their NSIC tournament opener to Northern, 79-76. Trevon Evans scored 17, Aaron Rothermund 15 and Drew Gueb ert 13. USF’s season ends with a 19-11 record.

University of Sioux Falls women’s basketball: The USF women dominated Wayne State, 103-76, in their quarterfinal game at the NSIC tournament. Lauren Sanders scored 21, Anna Goodhope 20 and Kaely Hummel 17 for the Cougars. But in Monday’s semifinal USF lost to top-seed MSU-Moorhead, 77-64. Hummel scored 16, Mariah Szymanski 15 and Goodhope 14 as USF ended its season at 23-8.

Augustana women’s basketball (Katie Bourk): The Vikings lost their NSIC tournament opener to Minnesota-Duluth, 80-72. Shelby Selland scored 19 and Lynsey Prosser 17 for Augie, whose final season record was 22-11.

South Dakota Mines men’s basketball: The Hardrockers ended their season with a 69-61 loss at Black Hills State. Logan Elers scored 15 and Jacob Anastasi 14 for Mines, whose final record was 12-18 overall and 9-13 in the RMAC.

Black Hills State men’s basketball: The Yellowjackets played their first-ever home playoff game in the RMAC quarterfinals Tuesday night and beat Colorado-Mesa, 73-70, so now they will be advancing to the semifinals for the first time ever. Dez Stoudamire scored 28 points as BHSU improbed to 17-10 for the year. In their regular-season finale last Friday BHSU defeated the School of Mines, 79-71, led by Stefan Desnica’s 23 points. The RMAC “final four” will be hosted by top-seed Colorado Mines in Golden, and BHSU will play Mines at 6 p.m. Friday in the semis. The other matchup is New Mexico Highlands vs. Regis.

Black Hills State women’s basketball (Remi Weintjes, Racquel Wientjes): The BHSU women lost their regular-season finale to the School of Mines Friday, 71-62. Remi was introduced as a starter as one of the seniors but played less than a minute. Racquel went 6-of-15 (1-of-4 in threes) and 3-of-4 for 16 points with five rebounds, one block and two steals. In the RMAC postseason quarterfinals in Grand Junction Tuesday, the BHSU women saw their season come to an end with a record of 16-11. Colorado-Mesa won it, 56-49, although BHSU led at halftime by 26-24. Racquel was 2-of-7 (1-of-2 in threes) and 3-of-3 for 8 points with three boards. She was one of three players with a team high of eight points. Earlier this week Racquel as named to the RMAC all-conference team in the honorable mention category.

Northern men’s basketball (Lincoln Jordre): The Wolves, who won the NSIC regular-season title, have now won the NSIC tournament for the second straight year and the fourth time in school history. They did it by winning their three tourney games by a total of eight points! In the quarterfinals NSU edged USF, 79-76, as Parker Fox scored 17 off the bench, Gabe King 15 and Andrew Kallman 14. In the semifinals it took a driving layup at the final buzzer by Mason Stark (redshirt-freshman from Chandler, Ariz.) to beat Winona State, 77-76. Winona made 11 three-pointers to NSU’s five. King scored 19, Kallman 19, Ian Smith 12 and Justin Decker 10. In the championshp game NSU led all the way in a close game and beat Southwest Minnesota State, 72-68. Smith, who was named tournament MVP, scored 14, King 13 and Stark 10. NSU earns the NSIC’s automatic berth in the NCAA Div. II Central Regional, which almost always is held in Missouri or Kansas. The Wolves will learn where they go and whom they play in the regional on the selection show at www.ncaa.com at 9:30 p.m. CDT Sunday.

South Dakota women’s golf (Katie Bartlett): The Coyotes placed 10th among 11 teams at Sacramento State’s Gunrock Invitational Monday and Tuesday in California. Katie tied for 40th place with a 15-over-par round of 77-78-76=231. USD is now idle until the Fresno State Classic April 1-2.

North Dakota men’s hockey: The Fighting Hawks split at Colorado College, losing 3-1 and winning 2-1. Now 16-15-2 overall and 10-11-1 in the NCHC, UND ends the regular season with two at home vs. Omaha this weekend.

Augustana baseball (Peyton Zabel): Peyton did not play in any of the three games as Augustana went 2-1 against Drury in Springfield, Mo. The Vikings won, 5-4; won, 4-0, as Seth Miller, freshman from Blaine, Minn., threw a two-hit shutout, and lost, 7-2. The Vikings go to Florida for a week of baseball—Thursday vs. Ashland (Ohio), Friday vs. Seton Hill (Pa.), Saturday vs. Grand Valley State (Mich.) and New York Tech, Monday vs. Northwood (Mich.), Tuesday vs. Wayne State (Mich.) and Wednesday vs. West Chester (Pa.).

Minnesota baseball (Nolan Burchill): The Gophers were swept in a three-game series at North Carolina State, losing 3-2, 8-4, and 5-4. In the final game of the three, Nolan was the last of five Minnesota pitchers, going two-thirds of an inning in the bottom of the ninth when N.C. State rallied from a 4-2 deficit to a 5-4 win. He faced five batters, giving up two hits, a walk and a wild pitch and allowing one earned run in taking the loss. Minnesota goes to Seattle to play in the Mariners’ ballpark Friday against Oregon State, Saturday vs. San Diego, Sunday vs. Washington and Monday vs. Seattle.

South Dakota State baseball (Landon Badger, Quinn Reimers): The Jackrabbits went 2-1 over the weekend, beating Missouri of the SEC, 6-3; losing to Central Arkansas, 8-3, and beating Central Arkansas, 7-5. In the Missouri game Landon was 1-for-4. His top-of-the-ninth single scored two runs, increasing SDSU’s lead from 4-3 to 6-3. In the loss to Central Arkansas he was 0-for-4, and Quinn threw one inning, walking one, forcing one ground-out and two fly-outs. In the win Landon was 1-for-4, getting an RBI on a fourth-inning double. Now 5-5, SDSU played Alabama yesterday and plays four games at Little Rock Friday through Sunday.

Northern baseball (Spencer Sarringar): The Wolves went 3-3 in six games in Florida over a long weekend. In a 5-4 win over Texas-Tyler, it was Spencer’s pinch-hit single in the top of the ninth that gave NSU a 5-3 lead. That proved to be the winning run after UT-Tyler got a homer in the bottom of the ninth that made it a one-run game. John Polsberg, junior from Carter Lake, Iowa, came in in relief and got the final two outs to preserve the win. NSU split with West Virginia Wesleyan, winning 4-1 and losing 11-1. In the latter game Spencer went 1-for-3 at the plate and was hit by a pitch once. NSU lost to Findlay (Ohio), 6-2, as Spencer was 0-for-1. In a 10-2 win over Findlay he got on base twice (a walk and another hit-by-pitch) and scored both times. On Monday, despite nine Tiffin errors, NSU lost to Tiffin (Ohio), 12-11. Spencer entered the game as a substitute catcher but did not bat. Now 3-3, the Wolves play more games in Florida starting today (Thursday) vs. Cedarville and continuing Friday against Wayne State (Mich.) and Saturday vs. Northwood and Ashland.

COUNTDOWN

2 days: Summit League basketball tournaments, Sioux Falls (March 9-12).
3 days: Daylight Saving Time begins (March 10).
5 days: Riggs High choral festival (March 12).
7 days: State “AA” boys/girls basketball tournaments, Rapid City (March 14-16).
7 days: State “B” boys basketball tournament, Aberdeen (March 14-16).
7 days: State “A” boys/girls basketball tournaments, Sioux Falls (March 14-16).
8 days: State boys hockey tournament, Expo Center (March 15-17).
13 days: Riggs High musicians at large-group contest, Mitchell (March 20).
14 days: Jefferson Elementary concert (March 21).
16 days: All-State Band concert, Aberdeen (March 23).
18 days: Buchanan Elementary concert (March 25).
19 days: Kennedy Elementary concert (March 26).
21 days: Riggs High big-band dance (March 28).
21 days: Minnesota Twins season opener (March 28).
29 days: Pierre high school baseball opener (April 5).
30 days: NCAA Division I men’s basketball Final Four, Minneapolis (April 6, 8).
31 days: Academy of Country Music awards, CBS-TV (April 7).

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

“It is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not deserve them.”

— Mark Twain

HOCKEY UPDATE

Gillette Wild (Coleman Varty): The Wild lost two to Bozeman, 4-1 and 3-1. The same two teams play Friday and Saturday in Gillette.

Rapid City Rush: The Rush lost at Wichita, 2-1, and lost at Allen, 3-1. Rapid City is home against Utah last night, Friday and Saturday.

Sioux Falls Stampede: The Stampede won its ninth straight home game over Tri-City, 4-1. Sioux Falls then lost to Tri-City, 3-1, and beat Sioux City, 5-2. The Stampede goes to Chicago Friday and to Waterloo Saturday.

Oahe Capitals: The boys varsity ended the regular season at 13-3-1-1 with an overtime loss to top-seeded Sioux Falls. The Caps jumped out 4-0 and led 4-1 after the first period before the Flyers eventually forced O.T. and won it less than four minutes in. Raef Briggs scored twice and Elliot Leif and Jacob Molseed once each. The Caps now await the state tournament on their home ice starting Friday, March 15.

Oahe Lady Capitals: At the girls varsity state tournament in Brookings, the Lady Caps finished in sixth place. In the quarterfnals Oahe lost to Sioux Falls, 9-1, with Amy Gilkerson scoring the lone goal. Oahe had 10 shots on goal to Sioux Falls’ 32. In the consolation semifinals the Lady Capitals defeated Watertown, 4-3. They were ahead 3-0 in the first period on two goals by Ashton Lee and one by Gilkerson. Lee’s game-winning goal in the final period made it 4-2. Abigail Stewart-Fromm in goal made 21 saves. In the fifth-place game Oahe lost to Sioux Center, 6-5. Oahe was down 3-0 at the start and trailed 5-2 after a busy first period. Olivia Swenson and Jessa McTighe scored goals in the first period. Lee, Kaitlyn Swenson and Gilkerson scored later to make the game interesting.

Minnesota Wild: Minnesota won its fifth straight game at Calgary, 4-2, Saturday, but since then the Wild lost two shootout games to Nashville, 3-2 and 5-4. The Wild plays at Tampa Bay tonight, at Florida Friday and at home vs. San Jose Monday.

FOOTBALL UPDATE

Sioux Falls Storm: Idle last weekend after winning their opener two weeks ago, the Storm plays this Saturday at Nebraska.

AAF games on TV this weekend:
Saturday—Salt Lake at San Diego, 7 p.m., NFL Network.
Sunday—Memphis at Atlanta, 3 p.m., CBSSN.
Sunday—San Antonio at Arizona, 7 p.m., NFL Network.

A LIFE LESSON

“To keep the body in good health is a duty. . . . Otherwise, we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.”

— Buddha

SOCCER UPDATE

Minnesota United FC: The Loons, which went through the preseason without a loss, started the regular MLS season with a 3-2 win at Vancouver. Minnesota plays at San Jose at 7 p.m. Saturday on FSN+.

BASKETBALL UPDATE

Midco Sports Network live games this week:
Friday, 7:30 p.m.: Men’s hockey, UND vs. Omaha.
Saturday, noon: Summit League women’s quarterfinals (12:00, SDSU-Purdue Fort Wayne; 2:30, USD-NDSU).
Saturday, 6 p.m.: Summit League men’s quarterfinals (6:00, SDSU-Western Illinois; 8:30, Omaha-UND).
Sunday, noon: Summit League women’s quarterfinals (12:00, Oral Roberts-Western Illinois; 2:30, Denver-UND).
Sunday, 6 p.m.: Summit League men’s quarterfinals (6:00, NDSU-Oral Roberts; 8:30, USD-Purdue Fort Wayne).
Monday, noon: Summit League women’s semifinals.
Monday, 6 p.m.: Summit League men’s semifinals.

(NOTE: Tuesday’s women’s championship game, 1 p.m. on ESPNU; men’s championship game, 8 p.m. on ESPN2).

Sioux Falls Skyforce: The Skyforce is on a losing streak, falling this week to Windy City, 116-111; to Grand Rapids, 107-91, and to Texas, 110-95. They play at Rio Grande Valley Saturday and at Memphis Monday.

Minnesota Timberwolves: The Wolves lost to Indiana, 122-115; lost to Washington, 135-121, and beat Oklahoma City, 131-120. After a game vs. Detroit last night, Minnesota plays at Washington Saturday, at New York Sunday and at Denver Tuesday.

WORDS OF WISDOM

“The most interesting information comes from children for they will tell all they know and then stop.”

— Mark Twain

GOLF UPDATE

PGA Champions Tour (Tom Byrum): At the tour event in Tucson last weekend Tom tied for 24th place and earned $17,000. His scorecard showed 68-75-71=214, 5 under par. This weekend the Champions Tour goes to Newport Beach, Calif., for the Hoag Classic.

BASEBALL UPDATE

Minnesota Twins (times are CST/CDT):
Thursday: at Boston, 12:05 p.m., ESPN.
Friday: Tampa Bay, 12:05 p.m.
Saturday: at Pittsburgh, 12:05 p.m.
Sunday: Toronto, 12:05 p.m.
Monday: Detroit, 12:05 p.m., ESPN.
Tuesday: at Pittsburgh, 12:05 p.m., MLB Network.
Wednesday: at Boston, 12:05 p.m.

Chicago Cubs (times are CST/CDT):
Thursday: Colorado, 2:05 p.m.
Friday: at Seattle, 7:40 p.m., MLB Network.
Saturday: Los Angeles Angels, 2:05 p.m., and San Francisco, 2:05 p.m.
Sunday: at Milwaukee, 3:05 p.m.
Tuesday: Cincinnati, 9:05 p.m.
Wednesday: at Oakland, 3:05 p.m.

Colorado Rockies (times are MST/MDT):
Thursday: at Chicago Cubs, 1:05 p.m.
Friday: Texas, 1:10 p.m.
Saturday: at Cleveland, 1:05 p.m., and Arizona, 5:10 p.m.
Sunday: Arizona, 3:10 p.m., and Los Angeles Dodgers, 3:10 p.m.
Monday: Oakland, 2:10 p.m.
Wednesday: Arizona, 2:10 p.m.

Live spring training baseball on TV this week:
Thursday, 12:05 p.m.: Minnesota-Boston, ESPN.
Thursday, 8:05 p.m.: San Francisco-Oakland, MLBN.
Friday, 12:05 p.m.: Boston-Baltimore, MLBN.
Friday, 7:40 p.m.: Chicago Cubs-Seattle, MLBN.
Saturday, 12:05 p.m.: Houston-St. Louis, MLBN.
Sunday, 12:05 p.m.: Boston-Tampa Bay, MLBN.
Monday, 12:05 p.m.: Minnesota-Detroit, FSN.
Monday, 12:05 p.m.: New York Mets-Houston, MLBN.
Monday, 3:05 p.m.: Chicago Cubs-Milwaukee, MLBN.
Tuesday, 12:05 p.m.: Minnesota-Pittsburgh, MLBN.
Tuesday, 5:35 p.m.: Houston-Washington, MLBN.
Wednesday, 12:05 p.m.: Atlanta-Washington, MLBN.
Wednesday, 3:05 p.m.: Cleveland-Kansas City, MLBN.
Wednesday, 8:10 p.m.: San Diego-Los Angeles Angels, MLBN./

THOUGHT FOR THESE TIMES

“There is no one church that represents God. If you still want church, you can have one. There are churches all over the place that already have places set for you at their table. Be welcomed home to a church that does not just tolerate you but celebrates you.”

— Glennon Doyle

WEDDING DAYS

June 8: Joseph Rezac/Brittanie Blaseg.
June 8: Frank Turner/Jasmin Fosheim.
Aug. 31: Devin Maki/Karlie Warne.

PARKER’S PERSONAL NOTES

— As the last Pierre team was eliminated from the basketball postseason the other night, it occurred to me that it’s been a long time since Pierre had neither boys nor girls in a state tournament. Actually the last time neither team qualified for state was 2010, so the boys team has been there eight straight seasons until now. The girls, however, went to state in the past decade only in 2015 and 2017. Prior to 2010, neither team went to state in 2004, 2003, 2002, the 1994-95 school year, the 1993-94 year, the 1992-93 year, the 1985-86 year, the 1984-85 year and the 1975-76 school year. Girls basketball began for the SDHSAA in the fall of 1975, and girls ball was a fall sport through 1999.

— Schools with both boys and girls teams in next week’s state “AA” tournaments are O’Gorman, Lincoln, Brandon Valley, Harrisburg and Stevens.

— Jones County (Murdo) will have a team in a state boys tournament for the first time since 1989. Hot Springs has had an even longer wait. The last time a Bison boys team made it to a state tournament was in 1945.

— If you watch the “AA” tournaments next week, here are some kids with Pierre connections who will be playing: * Max Burchill, son of Tom and Paula (Adam) Burchill, is a junior on the Sioux Falls Lincoln team. * Colton Hartford, son of Dr. Joey Hartford and his wife Deb, is a junior on the Rapid City Stevens team. * Elizabeth Schaefer, daughter of Troy and Kim (Merkwan) Schaefer, is a senior on the Rapid City Stevens team. * Alli Gordon, daughter of Allen and Karen (Koistinen) Gordon, is a senior on the Brookings team. * On a Class “B” note, Onida native and Sully Buttes alumnus Tim Hawkins is principal and athletic director at Ethan whose girls team is the top seed in this weekend’s “B” tournament.

— Daylight Saving Time takes effect during the night early Sunday morning this weekend. If you have to be told what to do, I will do it. Set your clocks ahead one hour when you go to bed Saturday night. My son, Ryan, lives in Tucson, Ariz., in a state which does not observe Daylight Saving Time, so I always have to stop and think about what time it is in Tucson. For the past few months—I believe I’m right—his time and ours have been the same. But now from this weekend until next fall, we will be an hour ahead of him.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“If Bryce Harper is worth $330 million, Mike Trout is the sun that provides the energy for all life processes on Earth, warming our seas, lighting our skies, the celestial body around which our planet orbs.”

— Axiom Sports

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES

Thursday, March 7:
Charlene (Squires) Keller, Shiela Mangan, Gray Schuetzle, Nikki (Grandpre) Wilson, Jenny Sampson, Sally Christenson, Estella Jungman, Anna Weingart, Greg Goodman, Kim Easland, Dana Hess, Jeremy Dodson, Matt Graves, Anne Gormley, Kevin Grunewaldt, Suzanne Pries, Emily Ketteler.
— 4th anniversary, Jeremy/Kelly Kelley.
We fondly remember Robert Disburg, who passed away 16 years ago today.

Friday, March 8:
Cassie (Kinsman) Deffenbaugh, Kerry Freidel, Eric Feiler, John Hamilton, Cade Currier, Pat Witte, Dewayne Robbins, Stephen Nelson, Brad Johnston, Jessica (Paxton) Deal, Katie (Thompson) Rochelle.
— 16th anniversary, Sam/Nicole Molseed.

Saturday, March 9:
Larry Kuszmaul, Jon Schaack, Raeann Schlenker, Gretta Durick, Ted Parsons, Terry Hipple, Alex McLain, Allison Meintsma, Kasi Nystrom, Theresa Beastrom.

Sunday, March 10:
Barak Tibbs, Travis Ruby, Jesse Beesley, Marty Javurek, Ryan Bisbee, Lincoln Bisbee, Brian Drapeaux, Jerid Jaeger, Carol Gengler, Anna Bondy, Tanner Prince, Adeline Schutz.
— 1st anniversary, Sheridan/Camille Cronin.

Monday, March 11:
Starla (Ludwig) Luoma, Rebekah (Lawver) Boyer, Tricia Heien, Samantha Dewell, Parker Ripperger, Cheryl Stoeser, Maya Herrscher, Garretts Boe, Lee Ferguson, Zach Edman, LiAnn (Nuttall) Currier, Doug Oens, Kelley (Bechtold) Larson, Marlin Smith (#85), Stacie (Zastrow) Dumford, Micah Rounds, Sam Maurice, Andy Ogan, Layla Stoeser, Tad Perry, Lois Van Ash.
— 4th anniversary, Tom/Megan Lehmkuhl.
— 21st anniversary, Bob/Lynette McCarty.
We fondly remember Shane Cronin, who passed away 5 years ago today.

Tuesday, March 12:
Layne Heller, Alison Kennedy, Susan Stahl, Nathan Brakke, Hallie Getz, Jena Forsch, Alan Dale, Vicki Brooks, Kyle Rausch, John Morris.

Wednesday, March 13:
Jvonne Heard-Ellingson, Brian Cazan, Myron Bryant, Bobby Oleson, Elise Holcomb, Deanna Sutton, Lexie Rausch, Carole Olerud, Vicki (Fosheim) Dant, Anne Severson, Sharla (Cass) Steever, Alicia (Hicks) Malstrom.
— 4th anniversary, Adam/Courtney Korkow.

Thursday, March 14:
Dee Dee Raap, Isaiah Melius, Mary Voeltz, Kenley Jo Boyer, Jennifer (Lomheim) Sieveking, Ann (Beemer) Candler, Jim Iverson, Kevin Huxford, Lucas Lindholm, Maria Melius, GTara Hiller.
We fondly remember Jon Olinger, who passed away 7 years ago today.

DID YOU KNOW?

Putting dry tea bags in gym bags or smelly shoes will absorb unpleasant odor.

NEWS OF PEOPLE AND EVENTS

At the National Honor Society induction ceremony Monday night, Jay Mickelson was revealed as the NHS Teacher of the Year. After four decades of teaching, mentoring and championing young people at Riggs High, he is in his final semester of his teaching career at the school.

The following Riggs High students are the new inductees into the National Honor Society chapter: Phil Adam, Clayton Alban, Andrew Bierne, Paige Brandt, Isaac Buchholtz, Cobey Carr, Kamden Carter, Melinda Clements, Caden Davis, Halli Drewes, Meg Erwin, Mataya Geppert, Tyler Gere, Klarissa Gorham, Weston Gravatt, Sarah Hancock, Matthew Heilman, Emry Heiss, Justin Houlette, Ruth Howard, Emily Hughes, Hanna Jerome, Allison Johnson, Morgan Jones, Grant Judson, Carter Karst, William Kessler, Kyla Keyes, Kenzie Kuxhaus, Olivia Larson, Sawyer Lee, Hunter Martell, Cassidy Miller, Natalie Mohr, Sydney Morley, Alexia Morris, Mikah Moser, Isabel Myren, Catie Natvig, Bailey Nelson, Maria Noyes, Morgan Oedekoven, Kian Paul, Margot Pearson, Kaitlyn Pitlick, Mackenzie Rath, Selah Rilling, Jasmine Rounds, Mackenzie Sarratt, Taryn Senger, Kodi Severyn, Maximilian Sevier, Hattie Shaffer, Nathan Shoup, Addy Smith, Garrett Stout, Kaitlyn Swenson, Tyler Swenson, Kylee Thorpe, Brenda Velazquez, Bailey Wagner, Jack Walsh, Grey Zabel, Janaina Zanin, Deni Zeeb.

These are the holdover members of the National Honor Society chapter at Riggs High who were inducted in previous years: Frank Becker, Carly Bowman, Ashlyn Briggs, Tess Erwin, Jade Evans, Adam Forman, Halle Gronlund, Ethan Hill, Caleb Huizenga, Claire Hussey, Anya Jones, Mattie Jones, Sabrina Kintz, Abbi Kitts, James Lees, Hannah Lingle, Jack Maher, Emily Mikkelsen, Tate Mueller, Dmitri Mutchelknaus, Elie Richards, Lauren Sharkey, Annabelle Simpson, Lisa Stein, Sophie Stueven, Sydney Theobald, Jordan Thompson, Layne Uecker, Ryan Warne.

Remember the Georgia Morse Middle School band/chorus concert and art show tonight (Thursday). The concert at the Riggs theater begins at 7 p.m.

In a note sent to me inside a birthday card, Beverly Mickelson reported she had been to Cottage Grove, Wis., this past fall to visit with long-time Pierre resident Marguerite (Palmer) Scovel, who turned 99 years old earlier this winter. Marguerite, who many years ago was choir director at First United Methodist Church, suffers from macular degeneration and arthritis, so her life is quiet though her health is generally good for a 99-year-old. Mary Lou lives with her now, Lonnie visits often from Rhode Island, and Ray lives only 10 minutes away.

The East of Westreville band and legendary fiddler/violinist Kenny Putnam will perform on this year’s Pierre-Fort Pierre Kiwanis Club concert fund-raiser at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Riggs theater. The doors will open at 6 p.m. Tickets cost $12.50 in advance and are on sale from any Kiwanian or at American Bank and Trust, Dakota Prairie Bank and Prairie Pages Bookseller. The price at the door will be $15. The proceeds from this annual concert go to scholarships and youth programs in the community.

Pat Brown’s last day as an employee at Central Dakota Eyecare was yesterday. She has been on the staff there for 31 years.

Friends of Eric Johnson, distinguished actor/director/mentor/teacher/cheerleader for hundreds of people in the performing arts over the years, are raising funds to “buy” seats at the Performing Arts Center of Rapid City’s Historic Theatre. Each seat will bear a plaque denoting it to be a tribute to Johnson, who died on Feb. 14 at Calvary Hospital in New York City. The cost of each seat is $300. Anyone who would like to contribute to the cause in Eric Johnson’s memory can go to Dennyce Korb’s Facebook page, then scroll down to find Eric’s photo and details on how to donate. A memorial service for Johnson will be held at a later date to be determined. He grew up in Miller where he graduated from high school in 1970. He attended USD where he studied theater and music. He spent many summers onstage at Black Hills Playhouse. He is survived by his sister, Janet Albers of Rapid City; four nephews and nieces and four great-nephews and nieces.

It is not stunning news to hear that Brad Huck has bowled another perfect 300 game, but he has done it again. The latest 300 came in the Thursday night Capital City League at Lariat Lanes last week.

History Day projects created by seventh- and eighth-grade history students at Georgia Morse Middle School will be on display Tuesday from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Cultural Heritage Center. The South Dakota State Historical Society will host the students and their projects, and everyone in the community is invited to stop by to see them without any admission charge. The 2018-19 History Day theme is “Triumph and Tragedy in History.”

Josh Wilson, whose wife is the former Kassi Schuetzle, has been named Teacher of the Year in the Meade School District. The Wilsons live in Sturgis.

The Governors wrestling team as a group was named Athletes of the Week last week by the Pierre Athletic Coaches Association.

The Snyders posted a great family photo on Facebook this week after Dave and his wife, Jan, went from their home at Lead to the Kansas City, Kan., area where Carly (Snyder) Ericson and her husband, Morgan, and Jaime (Snyder) Hamm and her husband, Nathan, all live. Also there were Nate’s parents, former Pierre residents Dave and Paula Hamm, from Lakewood, Colo.

Emily Mikkelsen, who was nominated for her work in girls basketball, is the recipient of the Warrior of the Month recognition for February at Riggs High School. The award is presented each month in cooperation with the South Dakota Army National Guard. Other students nominated were Adeline Abernathy for one-act play, Phil Adam for newspaper staff, Gage Gehring for wrestling, Emily Hughes for art and Matthew Heilman for the Gov-to-Gov program.

Becky Lamb has been selected as Teacher of the Year in the Sully Buttes school district. She teaches math at the high school in Onida.

Michael Parker, 63, died Feb. 26. A memorial celebration of his life will be held at 10 a.m. next Thursday, March 14, at Feigum Funeral Home. He was the youngest of five children of William and Winifred Parker and attended school in Pierre. He married Jo Livermont in 1979. He worked for the city for more than 30 years, first at the airport and since 2000 with the parks department. Survivors include his son, James Parker; two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife and all four siblings.

Pierre Swim Team competed at the South Dakota short-course state “A” championships last weekend, placing fourth overall as a team. Caleb Huizenga and Ella Ward-Zeller set new state records—Caleb in the 50-yard freestyle and Ella in the 200-yard individual medley.

For a complete listing of the results go to this link:

http://www.drgnews.com/pierre-swimmers-swim-well-at-short-course-state-meet/

You can also watch Caleb’s race at this link:

https://www.kdlt.com/2019/03/02/caleb-huizengas-record-highlights-state-swim-meet-saturday/

Artist James Pollock and poet Steve Boint have joined together to produce a remarkable book of imagination where art and poetry lead down new roads as well as old roads of half-remembered events. The book entitled “Sketchbook 91.1.1” is available from Amazon books. Find information at this link:
https://www.amazon.com/Sketchbook-91-1-1-James-Pollock/dp/172574362X

Michael Echols, 75, the first chief financial officer of the South Dakota Housing Development Authority starting in 1974, died at Dow Rummel Village in Sioux Falls after a long battle with chronic obstruction pulmonary disease. In 1980 he was appointed executive director of the SDHDA and served in that capacity for 15 years. He and his wife Pam moved to Sioux Falls in 1996, and he joined Home Federal Bank at that time. His survivors include his wife; their son, James Echols and his wife DeAnn; three sisters-in-law, three nieces and eight nephews. A memorial service is planned for 11 a.m. Friday at Miller Funeral Home’s Southside Chapel in Sioux Falls.

Rapid City football official Brandon Cruse, who is working games in the new Alliance of American Football (AAF) in its first season, worked a game in Salt Lake City last weekend that was played in a snowstorm.

Two professional women with distinct Pierre connections are among those men and women featured in the “40 Under Forty: Standout Billings Business Leaders” series which has been appearing in The Billings Gazette in that Montana city. To read the articles go to billingsgazette.com and look for that series under the Business section. One of the two to whom we refer is Robyn Clausen Bauer, who owns Bauer & Clausen Optometry with her husband, Dr. David Bauer. The title of that article was “You Don’t Have to Put Your Family On Hold for Your Career or Your Career on Hold for Your Family.” The other article to which we refer is “Giving the Gift of Communication,” which featured Crystal Bleu Dvorak, whose husband is Pierre native Jamie Dvorak. Crystal is a doctor of audiology with Rehder Balance & Hearing Clinic as well as a captain with the U.S. Army Reserves.

Former Sully Buttes/Blunt teacher Thelma King, who lives with her husband Lowell at Edgewood, sustained a broken hip in a fall Monday night. She underwent surgery Tuesday.

Harold and Betty Dean of Wessington Springs, parents of Pierre’s Greg Dean and three other sons, observed their 75th wedding anniversary March 5. The family gathered for a celebration last weekend. The elder Deans also have eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Kari Kebach, 2001 Riggs High alumna, is in her fifth school year as one of the associate athletic trainers at Colorado University in Boulder where she works with not only the soccer teams and the men’s golf team but also the ski team. That latter point is important this week as Kari and the Buffs ski teams are in Stowe, Vermont, for the NCAA championships.

Susan (Huffman) LeDuc, 69, died at home in Pierre Feb. 25. A celebration of life was held at the Isburg Funeral Chapel Monday morning. Susan came to Pierre with her family at the age of 10 and graduated from Riggs High School in 1968. She married Ed Tourville in 1968, and they raised two daughters before divorcing. Susan married John LeDuc in 2004, and they later divorced. Susan worked for 40 years in state government for the Department of Education, the Division of Alcohol and Drugs, the office of the attorney general, and the Division of Motor Vehicles. She also worked at the Card & Candy Shop. She is survived by her daughter, Shauna Kolda, and two grandsons, and daughter Tennille Tourville, all of Pierre; her mother, Shirley Huffman of Spearfish, and her brother, Roger Huffman of Deadwood.

One last reminder: Andrew Kightlinger’s film, “Tater Tot and Patton,” has its South Dakota premiere at the State 123 Theatre Friday night with showings at 7:15 and 9:30 p.m. Andrew himself (Riggs High Class of 2004) will be there live for a question-and-answer session following the early show as he begins a statewide tour for similar Q-and-A sessions as his film debuts in several cities.

WHY?

Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator in the hope that something new to eat will have materialized?

PARKER’S COLUMN

45 years ago deer hamburger contained magic ingredients

It was February 1974, only 45 years ago this basketball season, and the “new” Sully Buttes High School was in its fourth year of consolidation. On the boys basketball front (girls basketball didn’t begin until a year and a half later!) Dan Sutera’s Charger team let a game get away at Chamberlain on Jan. 11. The coach’s wife, Helen, did not fix him a supper of deer hamburger before he left for the game, and that may have been the problem.

Before each subsequent game Helen did her job—it was deer hamburger for supper for Dan whether he liked it or not. The result was wins over Northwestern, Stanley County, Agar, Wessington Springs, Faulkton, four other teams and three District 15 opponents. The Chargers were rolling, and after two conference championships, a 12-game winning streak, a district title, and a 20-2 record, they were headed into the regional tournament.
An ample supply of deer hamburger remained available in the Suteras’ freezer.

In its first year of the reorganized district, Sully Buttes had won the district by taking out Highmore in an overtime semifinal and beating Agar in the finals. But in the regional opener West Lyman went on a 16-2 run to erase an eight-point Charger lead and oust Sully Buttes, 68-60. Jamie Lamb was a freshman starter for Coach Gene Schlagel, and the other starters were Frank Pautz, Rick Ramler, Dewayne Robbins and Terry Hofer with Buddy King seeing a lot of action.

Now three years later the Chargers with Sutera at the helm took out Agar in the first round, 70-64, starting the game with a 16-3 edge. Kevin Logan had 22 points and Steve Mikkelsen 20 for the Hi-Pointers while Jamie Lamb had 16, Monte Mosiman 13 and Robbie Robbins 13 for SBHS.

On to the semifinals, Stanley County came out firing and led the Chargers 18-7 after a quarter, but SBHS righted the ship and led 43-36 after three periods. Monte Mosiman scored 32 and Jamie Lamb 28, and those boys’ rebounding totals were 13 and 12, respectively. For the Buffs Pat Duffy scored 14, Dick Halligan 11 and Paul Titze 10.

On championship night District 15 lived up to its reputation with an emotion-draining overtime thriller against Gettysburg. The Chargers led 62-58 with 57 seconds left in regulation time after Jeff Lamb’s two free throws, but the Battlers scored twice to force overtime. In the extra period Monte Mosiman stuffed the ball for a 66-62 lead. One Battler free throw cut the lead to three, but a key defensive stop by the Chargers set up Robbie Robbins with 27 seconds left. Swish! Swish! His two free throws made it 68-63. Gettysburg scored, but SBHS with 10 seconds left got the ball across the center line, and the Battlers had to foul Robbins again. He made two more free throws, and a 70-65 final was the result.

The story making the rounds later was that a Battler player had said to Robbins as he stepped to the line, “If you make these free throws, I’ll see you after the game.” He replied something like, “O.K., see you after the game.”

Monte Mosiman had 15 rebounds and four blocked shots, Robbins four steals, Jamie Lamb four assists, Monte and Jeff 20 points apiece, Jamie 12, Robbie 11 and Larry Mosiman seven.

Victory No. 13 in a row was a 74-56 win over Lyman in the regional at Fort Pierre, and the team’s record was 21-2. Jeff Lamb scored 23, Monte Mosiman 19, and the Chargers’ rebounding edge was again a key. But up next was the regional final played in Miller against the state’s No. 2 team, Wessington Springs, a club the Chargers had beaten by five on the Spartans’ home court in January.

The armory in Miller was filled with a standing-room-only crowd of 3,000, and it was estimated that a thousand of them were Sully Buttes fans filling the west stands bottom to top. Even legendary sportscaster Norm Hilson was up from WNAX at Yankton to broadcast the game to most of the state. But also there as he was for every Charger game was KCCR’s Jim Thompson.

The Spartans had a 6’7″ center, Dean Christenson, but guard Tim Hinrichs couldn’t miss from outside. The Charger deficit reached 10 points in the third quarter at 41-31, but suddenly the Purple and Gold caught fire and tied the game at 47-47 with one quarter left. From then on the game see-sawed with a state tourney trip on the line.

Jeff Lamb tied the game at 55. Monte Mosiman’s tip-in with 1:40 was matched by Christenson for a 57-57 tie. Mosiman scored again with exactly a minute to play. Sully Buttes rebounded a Spartan miss but turned the ball over. Another SBHS rebound gave the Chargers a possession that ended with Robbins sinking another crucial free throw to make it 60-57. The clock read 0:25.

Steve Lee scored for Springs (60-59). Then came clinching time. The Spartans had no time-out available, so they couldn’t freeze Robbins, who found himself at the free-throw stripe yet again. He struck twice more, so the Chargers had the luxury of allowing Lee to cruise downcourt to score unmolested. When Monte got hold of the ball after that layup, he held onto the ball for three seconds, and suddenly the Region 4 title was ours.

Forty-two rebounds, only nine turnovers, only four second-half fouls—those were some of the Charger stats that night in Miller. And every point counted—Monte’s 18, Jamie’s 18, Jeff’s 11, Robbie’s seven, Larry’s five and Pat Jolley’s two.

Players, cheerleaders and coaches were treated to a victory banquet at the Lips Hotel afterward, courtesy of Sully County Bank and Lamb’s Chevrolet, and the drive home didn’t seem long at all.

As the team was sent off to state with a pep rally in the SBHS gym the following week, somebody remarked that they knew SBHS had the regional title in the bag when they saw Jeff Lamb crack a smile.

At the state “B” in Sioux Falls the Chargers suffered a 68-63 loss to eventual state champion Hamlin as those other Chargers’ Steve Brown made 15 free throws among his 33 points. Hamlin had also beaten Sully Buttes at a Christmas tournament in Watertown two months earlier.

In the consolation semis the Chargers bounced back impressively, destroying Wagner, 83-46, as all 12 players saw action and 10 scored. In the fifth-place game on Saturday the Chargers got 28 points and 18 boards from Monte Mosiman on the way to an 82-73 win over Bennett County. The team coached by Sutera and Bruce Brugman finished the season with a 24-3 record.

Monte Mosiman, Jamie Lamb, Robbins, Jolley and Mike Porter were seniors on that memorable ballclub. Steve Sutton, Ray Schultz and Larry Mosiman were juniors. Jeff Lamb and Jeff Garrett were sophomores, and Kevin Richter and Curt Byrum were freshmen. The cheerleaders were Barb Hoover, Leonda Haskins, Dena Stephens, Mary Marshall and Margie Davis.

At the welcome-home event on Sunday, words from The Brothers Karamazov were quoted: “And even if we are occupied with important things, even if we attain honor or fall into misfortune—still let us remember how good it was once here, when we were all together, united by a good and kind feeling which made us better perhaps than we are.”

Those weeks of tournament ball 45 years ago still bring back chills. But now that it’s state tournament time in 2019, those Chargers of then are in their 60s, and it’s time for a new crop of teen-agers to make golden memories on the basketball court, not only for themselves but for all those who tag along for the ride.