THOUGHT FOR TODAY

“While it is February, one can taste the full joys of anticipation. Spring stands at the gate with her finger on the latch.”
— Patience Strong

PIERRE GOVERNORS SPORTS ROUNDUP

Girls wrestling: Four Governors won individual titles at last weekend’s tournament. The Pierre placers: Division 1, Sydney Uhrig first; Division 2, Mary Chessmore, second; Division 3, Gianna Stangeland, first; Division 4, Hattie Baldwin, second; Division 5, Mary Mehlhaff, third; Division 6, Marlee Shorter, first, and Emalee Larson, second; Division 7, Ciara McFarling, first.

Boys wrestling: Four Pierre wrestlers won championships at the Les Tlustos tournament in Brookings. The Pierre placers: 106 pounds, Lincoln Schoenhard fourth, and Matthew Hostler sixth; 113, Noah Williams eighth; 120, Tristan Spencer fourth and Nate Williams fifth; 126, Blake Judson first; 132, Kahlor Hindman second; 138, Hayden Shaffer second and Chase Carda third; 145, Tyson Johnson first; 152, Deegan Houska first; 160, Jayden Wiebe fourth; 170, Lucas Chamberlin fifth; 182, Gavin Stotts third; 195, Jacob Larson fourth; 285, Preston Taylor first.

This week’s schedules:
— THURSDAY
Girls basketball: at Sioux Falls Washington, 7 p.m.
Boys basketball: home vs. Sioux Falls Washington, 7 p.m.
— FRIDAY
Wrestling: at Yankton, 6 p.m.
— SATURDAY
Wrestling: at Yankton invitational, 9 a.m.
Gymnastics: at ESD conference meet, Huron, 10 a.m.
Girls basketball: home vs. Brandon Valley, 5 p.m.
Boys basketball: at Brandon Valley, 5 p.m.
— TUESDAY
Boys basketball: at Huron, 7 p.m.

Gymnastics: Pierre outperformed Rapid City Central and Stevens in a triangular in Pierre, heading the field with a 140.2 team score. Lexy Petersen was second in the all-around standings atr 34.45. She won the vault event while Marissa Matthews won on the balance beam.

Boys basketball: Matthew Mors had 26 points to lead Yankton to a 61-52 win in Pierre Saturday night. But on Tuesday at the Corn Palace, the Governors stunned one of Mitchell’s best teams in years, 46-44, giving the third-ranked Kernels only their second loss in 12 games. Pierre led at halftime by 25-24. The Govs fell behind in the final quarter, but an 8-0 run fueled by two Matt Hanson three-pointers kept Pierre’s bopes alive. At the end, Mitchell came out of a time-out with possession of the ball, but they tried to force the ball inside to a well-covered big man, and the ball was turned over. Lincoln Kienholz drove toward the rim and floated the game-winning shot up and over the Kernel defender with 21 seconds left. Mitchell had chances to tie or win the game but missed. Kienholz finished with 17 points and six rebounds, and Hanson had 12 points on four three-pointers. Mitchell shot 1-of-14 from long distance and committed 12 turnovers. Pierre’s record is 5-7.

Girls basketball: The Governor girls won easily at Yankton, 51-22, led by 10 points each from Layni Stevens and Caytee Williams. On Tuesday Pierre gave Mitchell a good game but lost to the 11-2 Kernels, 50-45. It was the eighth straight win for Cole Knippling’s team. Pierre opened the second half with a 9-0 run to take the lead, but Mitchell ended that period with a 12-2 run of its own to retake the lead. Remi Price had 21 points for the Govs, Ayvrie Kaiser 10 and Williams eight. Pierre’s record is 6-7.

Postseason basketball status: In “AA” boys basketball the Governors have moved up to 11th place among the 18 teams, and the top 16 qualify for the SoDak 16. The top four in order are Washington, Yankton, Harrisburg and Mitchell. In “AA” girls basketball the Governors are ninth of 18. The top four in order are Aberdeen, Mitchell, Brandon Valley and Harrisburg.

Postseason wrestling status: In the Class “A” rankings of teams choosing to compete to get into the state team dual tournament, Pierre currently stands fourth. The top eight qualify for that event in Rapid City three weeks from now. In order the eight qualifying teams as of today would be Brandon Valley, Rapid City Stevens, Harrisburg, Pierre, Watertown, Madison, Mitchell and Tea Area. Just out of the top eight right now are, in order, Chamberlain, Dell Rapids, Huron, West Central, Spearfish, Milbank, Douglas, Rapid City Central and Aberdeen Central.

Athletes of the Week: The honored students this week from the Pierre Athletic Coaches Association are Deegan Houska of the wrestling team and Aleise Christopherson in girls basketball.

STANLEY COUNTY BUFFALOES SPORTS ROUNDUP

This week’s schedules:
— THURSDAY
Boys basketball: home vs. Chamberlain.
— SATURDAY
Wrestling: home for Stanley County invitational, 10 a.m.
— MONDAY
Girls basketball: at Potter County.
Boys basketball: at Potter County.
— TUESDAY
Girls basketball: home vs. Miller.

Wrestling: At Potter County’s quadrangular in Hoven, the Buffaloes won all three of their duals—42-6 over Cheyenne-Eagle Butte/Dupree, 42-12 over Sully Buttes and 36-12 over Potter County.

Girls basketball: The Buffaloes earned their first win of the season in a 33-31 cliff-hanger over Bennett County. It was the first SCHS win in two years. On Saturday the girls lost at Lower Brule, 64-48. Tuesday’s Lakota Tech game was postponed. The SCHS record was 1-13.

Boys basketball: The Buffaloes are 7-4 after two more wins. SCHS defeated Bennett County, 49-45, and squeaked by at Lower Brule, 63-62. Tuesday’s Lakota Tech game was postponed to a later date.

SULLY BUTTES CHARGERS SPORTS ROUNDUP

This week’s schedules:
— FRIDAY
Girls basketball: home vs. Potter County.
Boys basketball: home vs. Potter County.
— TUESDAY
Girls basketball: home vs. Herreid-Selby Area.
Boys basketball: home vs. Herreid-Selby Area.

Wrestling: At Potter County’s quadrangular at Hoven, the Chargers lost to Cheyenne-Eagle Butte/Dupree, 24-12; lost to Potter County, 24-18, and lost to Stanley County, 42-12.

Girls basketball: The Charger girls are 7-8 after going 1-2 this week. SBHS lost to Hitchcock-Tulare, 43-40 as Lydia Hill scored 13 points and Stevie Wittler 12. The girls dominated Warner, 64-41, led by Stevie Wittler with 23, Jill Hofer 10 and Tailynne Bradford 10. On Tuesday the girls lost to Jones County, 47-32, with Stevie Wittler high scorer with nine points.

Boys basketball: The Chargers whipped Hitchcock-Tulare, 63-41, led by Landon Hepker with 16 points and Garrett Petersen with 15. In a 52-36 loss to Warner, Caleb Chicoine had 11 points and Dwight Kinney seven. The Chargers fell into a big 15-3 hole in the first period and never recovered. On Tuesday the boys topped Jones County, 71-49, led by Petersen with 22, Rafe Wientjes with 12 and Hepker with 12. SB’s record is now 6-7.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

Directions: Draw a box of 16 squares in a 4×4 format. Number the squares in your top row 1, 2, 3 and 4 from left to right. Number the squares in your left-hand row 1, 5, 6 and 7 from top to bottom.

Clues:
ACROSS—
(1) Certain animals’ feet.
(5) TV quiz show “Weakest —-.”
(6) Rice and lentils Indian dish.
(7) After this one.
DOWN—
(1) Think ahead.
(2) Assistant.
(3) Jackrabbits’ radio home.
(4) Short theater episode.

WEDDING DATES

May 1: Dan Nielsen/Kim Borbely.
June 18: Chris Rumrill/Katya Vakshteyn.
July 31: Jack Carpenter/Leesa Johnson.
Oct. 2: Jordan Lamb/Abbey Fjeldheim.

COLLEGE SPORTS ROUNDUP

North Dakota State football (Grey Zabel): The Missouri Valley season for the Bison begins at home with a Sunday game Feb. 21 against Youngstown State.

Augustana women’s basketball (Aislinn Duffy, Katie Bourk): The Vikings dominated Upper Iowa in two games. In an 82-39 win Aislinn was 6-of-13 (1-of-4 in threes) for 13 points with seven rebounds, four assists and a steal. In a 92-42 blowout she was 5-of-10 (3-of-4) and 2-of-2 for 15 points with six rebounds, five assists, one block and one steal. Augie, now 6-3 overall and 5-2 in the NSIC, goes to Southwest Minnesota State Friday and Saturday.

South Dakota State track-field (Addison Eisenbeisz): At the UND Open the SDSU teams finished second behind NDSU and ahead of UND. Addy missed all three of her tries in the high jump to record no height. This weekend the Jackrabbits go to NDSU’s Bison Open.

Colorado Mines women’s basketball (Liz Holter): The Orediggers defeated CSU-Pueblo, 61-50, as Liz was 1-of-4 (0-of-2) for two points with two rebounds, five assists and a steal. Saturday’s game against Adams State was postponed. Mines is home Friday vs. Metro State and Saturday vs. Colorado Christian.

Mary wrestling (Lincoln Turman): The Marauders edged Minot State, 24-20, in a dual. Lincoln did not wrestle in the varsity or JV matches. Now 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the NSIC, Mary wrestles at MSU-Moorhead Thursday.

Augustana wrestling (Jebben Keyes): In Augie’s 29-12 dual win over Southwest Minnesota State, Jebben won his 157-pound match, 7-3, earning two takedowns, a reversal and a riding-time point. Augustana wrestles at home Thursday vs. Upper Iowa.

South Dakota women’s basketball (Chloe Lamb): The Coyote women were idle last weekend because their home games vs. Omaha were canceled. USD plays at SDSU Friday and Saturday at 5 p.m. each night on Midco Sports Network. (Note: Mick Garry has a great story about Chloe online at www.goyotes.com. In the story Chloe is called “Coach P’s thermostat who knows how to fire up her squad or calm then down when they need it.”)

Summit League women’s basketball standings: USD 6-0, SDSU 6-0, NDSU 7-3, Oral Roberts 4-2, Kansas City 4-5, Denver 2-4, Western Illinois 3-7, UND 1-8, Omaha 0-4. (Top 8 qualify for postseason tournament.)

Black Hills State women’s basketball (Racquel Wientjes): The BHSU women swept their weekend RMAC opponents. In a 69-61 win over Metro State, Racquel was 5-of-15 (0-for-4) and 6-of-6 for 16 points with two boards, four assists and a pair of steals. In a 74-46 thumping of Colorado Christian, she was 6-of-12 (2-of-5) and 2-of-2 for 16 points with eight rebounds, two steals and two assists. Now 9-4, BHSU goes on the road to Adams State Friday and CSU-Pueblo Saturday.

South Dakota men’s basketball (Max Burchill): The Coyotes remain unbeaten in Summit League play at 8-0 as they head to SDSU for two games at 7:30 p.m this Friday and Saturday on Midco Sports Network. USD swept Omaha. In a 91-59 blowout Friday, Max got into the game for two minutes and had one assist and was 0-for-1 from the field. USD won the Saturday game, 97-93.

Summit League men’s basketball standings: USD 8-0, SDSU 4-0, NDSU 8-2, Oral Roberts 6-2, UND 4-6, Kansas City 3-5, Western Illinois 1-7, Omaha 0-6, Denver 0-6. (Top 8 qualify for postseason tournament.)

Tennessee women’s basketball (Caleb Currier): The Lady Vols won twice this week, 68-67 over Mississippi and 79-65 over Florida. Tennessee is at Mississippi State Thursday and at Texas A&M Sunday.

Morningside men’s bowling (Alex Badger): In their home invitational Jan. 23, the first bowling meet since early November, Alex placed 21st with a 737 score. At Hastings College’s invitational in Nebraska last weekend, the Morningside men placed seventh Saturday with a 6610 total score and ninth Sunday with a 6238 score. Alex finished in the top 10 on the individual scoreboard at ninth place. The Mustang bowlers are off now till Feb. 27 at Coe College’s tournament in Cedar Rapids.

Iowa Western Community College baseball (Peyton Zabel): The Reivers have an indoor practice facility in Council Bluffs, so the winter weather in that region hasn’t hurt preseason drills too much. Peyton and his team open their season Feb. 27-28 with four games at Crowder College in Neosho, Mo.

South Dakota State baseball (Landon Badger, Garrett Stout, Brady Hawkins): Landon is a senior outfielder, Garrett a freshman infielder and Brady a freshman pitcher. The Jacks are scheduled to open the season Feb. 19-22 with four games at Kansas.

Northern State baseball (Spencer Sarringar): Redshirt-junior catcher Spencer and the Wolves have awhile to get ready for their season. Northern is set to open their season with three games at Wayne State (Neb.) March 20-21.

South Dakota Mines track-field (Erick Colman, Theron Singleton): At Black Hills State’s Dave Little meet Erick placed sixth in the shot put with a best throw of 14.36 meters. He is a junior thrower, and Theron is a redshirt-senior distance runner. This Saturday the Hardrockers go to Chadron State’s invitational.

Black Hills State track-field (Kelsey Van Den Hemel): At the Dave Little meet in Spearfish Kelsey placed sixth in the 5,000-meter run in 19:58.43. Her junior year continues Feb. 12-13 at home in the Yellow Jacket Open.

Mount Marty men’s basketball (Lincoln Jordre): The Lancers are 9-15 overall, 6-13 in the GPAC, as they prepare for the last game of the regular season at Northwestern (Iowa) Saturday. Mount Marty won over Midland, 79-78; lost to #9 Morningside, 78-71, and won last night at Hastings, 82-67. Lincoln did not play in these games.

Dakota Wesleyan men’s basketball (Bradley Dean, Nick Wittler): DWU defeated Briar Cliff, 86-76; beat Hastings, 92-76, and lost to Morningside, 87-77. In the Hastings game Nick got in for two minutes on the court. Now 16-5 overall, 12-4 in the GPAC, the Tigers play at Concordia Saturday and host Dordt next Wednesday.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

“We can’t be lulled into complacency by the euphoria of the moment, sedated into inaction by the return of rational, compassionate leadership in the Presidency or distracted by the cheap high of a political win.

“We who have kept our eyes open for the past four years cannot afford to fall asleep now. We need to be more diligent than we have ever been, relentless in our collective efforts for justice, steadfast in exposing and condemning this inhumanity and not permitting it to go unabated.

“If we allow this thing to remain alive and to gain strength, we will soon find our Republic mortally wounded, and these present victories will have simply postponed our inevitable demise.

“But the beauty of the moment is that we know this, that we see with absolute clarity the urgency of the day, that we are capable of transcending political and religious affiliations and assembling around our shared humanity to defend it.

“We will remember that we are not simply terrified potential victims, cowering in a corner just awaiting to be devoured. We are fearless warriors for the common good who will not allow malevolence to have the last, loudest word. Yes, evil dies hard, but goodness will not relent.”

— John Pavlovitz

COUNTDOWN

1 day: State one-act play festival, Brandon/Rapid City/Brookings (Feb. 5-6).
3 days: Super Bowl LV, Tampa (Feb. 7).
8 days: State gymnastics meet, Watertown (Feb. 12-13).
13 days: Ash Wednesday (Feb. 17).
19 days: Georgia Morse Middle School musical (Feb. 23, 25).
21 days: State wrestling tournaments, Rapid City (Feb. 25-27).
21 days: NSIC basketball tournaments, Sioux Falls (Feb. 25-28).
23 days: Twins spring training opener (Feb. 27).
24 days: Golden Globe awards, NBC (Feb. 28).
27 days: NAIA indoor track-field national meet, Yankton (March 3-6).
29 days: State JV boys hockey tournament, Expo Center (March 5-7).
29 days: State girls hockey tournament, Watertown (March 5-7).
30 days: Summit League basketball tournaments, Sioux Falls (March 6-9).
35 days: State girls basketball tournaments, B Huron, A Watertown, AA Sioux Falls (March 11-13).
36 days: State boys hockey tournament, Sioux Falls (March 12-14).
38 days: Daylight Saving Time begins (March 14).
38 days: Grammy Awards, CBS (March 14).
42 days: NCAA Division I wrestling national championships, St. Louis (March 18-20).
42 days: State boys basketball tournaments, B Aberdeen, A Sioux Falls, AA Rapid City (March 18-20).

PARKER’S PERSONAL NOTES

• Good grief! Expect something coming in Rolling Stone Magazine. A reporter from that publication—for some reason!—showed up at press conferences at the Capitol in Pierre last week.
• It sounds as if we’re finally going to get some bitterly cold weather this coming weekend. I have to share a sentence from “Axios: Tampa Bay,” a newsletter focusing on Tampa and St. Petersburg that appears online each day. In Monday’s issue there was this warning: “Brace for the cold: high of 63 today and 52 tomorrow.”
• How do these people keep getting elected! In Arizona one state legislator introduced a bill to give their legislature the power to toss out election results. But we’re far from immune from such nonsense. A bill was introduced into our legislature which somehow would give the state the power to ignore executive orders from the President of the United States. Gee! Funny such a bill was never thought of during the past four years!
• You care to guess where the instructions in this case came from? KELO-TV’s investigative reporter, Angela Kennecke, was refused interviews by the state Department of Education and the Department of Labor and Regulations.
• The most interesting bit of news coming out of the Legislature in the past week was the introduction of—and the reaction to—House Bill 1089, which would allow the people of the state to know how much taxpayer money has been spent and continues to be spent for security during all of Governor Noem’s jet-setting trips around the country. One of the most conservative of the Republican legislators, Rep. Taffy Howard of Rapid City (her husband is Blunt native and Sully Buttes alumnus Mark Howard) had the courage—or the gall, if you’re a Noem fan—to introduce the bill. Almost immediately Rep. Howard’s phone and e-mail were flooded with messages from Noem supporters although she also received support from people who probably don’t agree with her very much otherwise. A mass text was sent to many voters in Howard’s District 33 from an unidentified phone number, publicizing Howard’s phone number. At least two persons have now filed an ethics complaint with the secretary of state’s office. The mass text showed a photo of Rep. Howard with Biden and Harris and asked why she was “working with liberals” against Noem. The search is on to see from whom that mass text came. Meanwhile, one news story said that “Republicans are fleeing” from HB 1089, unwilling to stand up to the governor. Some of the co-sponsors of HB 1089 were summoned to the woodshed (the governor’s office), and at least three of them were intimidated enough there to withdraw as co-sponsors. A couple others signed on after the meeting. But Howard says she is being pressured by fellow Republicans in the Legislature to withdraw the measure. If it is still alive, the bill will be heard in committee this week and will probably die a quick death there as Republicans cower under the threat of some of Noem’s war chest of money being used to fund primary opponents next year against anybody who dares to cross her. And while the subject of paying for her trips to Trump campaign events and wacko conservative meetings continues, be advised she’s on her way to another one. CPAC 2021, the next convention of the Conservative Political Action Conference, is coming up in Orlando Feb. 25-28, and you-know-whom is listed as one of the featured speakers. Your tax dollars at work?
• And members of the Trump crowd are still making themselves heard, threatening Senator Thune with opposition next year because he said the election win by Biden was not stolen. Now this coming week we get the impeachment trial, and we will see if any Republican senators follow the oath they took to be impartial jurors and vote to convict Trump. Or are they all scared to death of the opposition the Trumpers will provide in their respective campaigns the next times they are up for election. What a country this has become in the past four years, and obviously it’s not changing any time soon.
• There are official U.S. post office stations in several of our local supermarkets and drug stores. A great service so that we all don’t have to go to the main post office and stand in line! But one of these stations twice in the past week has been out of stamps—no single stamps, no books of stamps. SO GO GET SOME STAMPS THEN!!! What’s a post office without stamps!
• The name of Ward Whitwam may not have been familiar to most South Dakotans, but the Sioux Falls architect who passed away at age 97 Jan. 25 has left his mark. His most profound legacy is the nine concrete tipis he designed, one of which stands at each of the nine rest stops along I-90 and I-29 in this state. Mr. Whitwam also designed office buildings in Pierre, the chapel at Augustana University, his architectural firm’s own building, and the home where he and his wife lived for 50 years, overlooking Tuthill Park and the Big Sioux River.
• Thanks to the very many people who sent birthday greetings to me yesterday—people from Onida years, Pierre years, teaching years in Wessington Springs and Huron and Blunt and Onida, Capital Journal years, retirement years, Vermillion years, church family, fellow theater enthusiasts, and on and on. I am still clicking from one greeting to the next, remembering how I have known each of you who sent a message. As the late Cicely Tyson said in the thought I posted yesterday as my daily Facebook message, “Age is just a number. Life and aging are the greatest gifts that we can possibly ever have.”

HOCKEY UPDATE

Oahe Capitals girls varsity: The girls lost a 4-2 game to Watertown Saturday. Scoring goals were Olivia Swenson and Jenna Keyser. In goal Abigail Stewart Fromm made 35 saves. The Capital girls are home Saturday at 2 p.m. vs. Huron and Sunday at noon vs. Sioux Falls.

SDAHA girls varsity standings (wins-losses-ties-OT losses=points): (1) Aberdeen 12-0-0-0 24. (1) Sioux Falls 12-1-0-0 24. (3) Brookings 8-3-0-0 16. (4) Mitchell 6-7-0-1 13. (5) Sioux Center 6-5-0-0 12. (6) Watertown 4-7-1-0 9. (7) Huron 3-9-0-0 6. (8) Oahe 1-9-1-1 4. (9) Yankton 0-9-0-0 0.

Oahe Capitals boys varsity: The top two teams in the SDAHA boys league played a thriller Sunday with unbeaten Brookings escaping the Capitals with a 2-1 win, scoring the deciding goal 21 seconds into overtime. After two scoreless periods Brookings took the lead in the third, but Raef Briggs converted an Elliot Leif pass with eight minutes left in regulation time to tie the score at 1-1. Carter Schulz made 28 saves in goal. Now 9-0-0-1, the Caps go to Sioux Falls this weekend to play Sioux Falls #2 at 8:15 p.m. Saturday and Sioux Falls #1 at 10:15 a.m. Sunday.

SDAHA boys varsity standings (wins-losses-ties-OT losses=points): (1) Brookings 11-0-0-0 22. (1) Sioux Falls #2 11-2-0-0 22. (3) Oahe 9-1-0-0 18. (3) Rushmore 9-2-0-0 18. (5) Sioux Center 8-4-0-0 16. (6) Sioux Falls #1 7-5-0-0 14. (7) Huron 3-11-0-2 8. (8) Yankton 3-9-0-1 7. (9) Watertown 3-8-0-0 6. (10) Aberdeen 2-10-0-1 5. (11) Mitchell 1-11-0-0 2.

Aberdeen Wings: Still with only one loss all season, the Wings beat Minot, 3-1. This weekend Aberdeen is home Friday and Saturday vs. Minnesota Wilderness.

Sioux Falls Stampede: The Stampede came close to a perfect weekend but still earned five of a possible six points in the standings with a 10-4 win at Lincoln, a 1-0 win at Sioux City and a 3-2 overtime loss at Sioux City. Now 11-2-2, Sioux Falls is home Friday and Saturday vs. Tri-City.

Rapid City Rush: In a three-game series against Wichita, the Rush won 3-0, lost 4-1 and lost 5-2, then beat Kansas City 4-3. The long road trip necessitated by the presence of the stock show in their home arena concludes with Friday and Saturday games at Indianapolis. Then the Rush will be home next Wednesday vs. Tulsa.

Minnesota Wild: In the Western Division where the top four teams qualify for the playoffs, the Wild remained in one of those spots this week, going 2-2 in four games. Minnesota beat Los Angeles, 5-3; lost to Colorado, 5-1; beat Colorado in overtime, 4-3, and lost to Colorado, 3-1. The Wild finish a four-game string against the Avalanche Thursday, host Arizona Saturday and Sunday and host St. Louis Tuesday.

GOLF UPDATE

PGA Champions Tour (Tom Byrum): The next date on the tour will be the Chubb Classic at Naples, Fla., Feb. 14-16.

BASKETBALL UPDATE

Midco Sports Network live TV games this week:
— Thursday, 6 p.m.: Girls basketball, Yankton at Harrisburg.
— Thursday, 7:30 p.m.: Boys basketball, Yankton at Harrisburg.
— Friday, 5 p.m.: Women’s basketball, USD at SDSU.
— Friday, 7:30 p.m.: Men’s basketball, USD at SDSU.
— Saturday, 5 p.m.: Women’s basketball, USD at SDSU.
— Saturday, 7:30 p.m.: Men’s basketball, USD at SDSU.
— Sunday, 1 p.m.: Volleyball, USD at UND.

Minnesota Timberwolves: This week the Wolves lost to Golden State, 123-111; lost to Philadelphia, 118-94; beat Cleveland, 109-104; lost to Cleveland, 100-96, and last night lost a late lead to fall to San Antonio, 111-108. Minnesota plays Friday and Saturday at Oklahoma City and Monday at Dallas before a Wednesday home game against the Los Angeles Clippers.

FOOTBALL UPDATE

A Super Bowl quote from Reddit: “The Bucs perfectly capture the spirit of Tampa by their feature player being a middle-aged man who spent his career in the Northeast and then moved to Florida to retire.” The Super Bowl LV game between the Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs kicks off at 5:30 p.m. CST on CBS-TV with pre-game shows for hours prior to that.

BASEBALL UPDATE

Pierre Trappers: This week’s additions to the 2021 roster included:
— Clay Odenbach, left-handed pitcher from South Dakota State, from Thompson, Ill.
— Beau Atkins, right-handed pitcher from Central Methodist, from Riverton, Ill.
— Nick McCollum, right-handed pitcher from Georgia Southwestern, from Richmond Hill, Ga.
— Noah Borwege, left-handed pitcher from Concordia-St. Paul, from Chaska, Minn.
— Colin Adams, catcher from Long Island University, from Upper Chichester, Pa.

Expedition League: The league is expanding into a 12-team circuit with two six-team divisions for this summer. The Sioux Falls franchise that was to have begun play last year is still going to happen, and new franchises are coming in in far-away Butte, Mont., and Caldwell, Idaho. The Trappers will play in the Clark Division along with the Sioux Falls Sunfish, the Spearfish Sasquatch, the Hastings Sodbusters, the Western Nebraska Pioneers at Gering-Scottsbluff, and the Fremont Moo. The Lewis Division will involve the Canyon Count Spuds at Caldwell, the Badlands Big Sticks at Dickinson, the Casper Horseheads, the Souris Valley Sabredogs at Minot, the Wheat City Whiskey Jacks at Brandon, Manitoba, and the Mining City Tommyknockers at Butte.

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES

Thursday, Feb. 4:
Charlene (Hyde) Bietz, John Barber, Blake Deal, Chelsey (Roberts) Renemans, Tom Valentine, Jaremy Joy, Alec Espeland, Sheila Ring, Eric Paxton, Anne Eichstadt, Jamie McQuistion, Avery Burger, JoAnne Hipple, Jake Miller, Tom Gerken, Ethan Hight.
— 32st anniversary, Randy/Jodi Hartmann.
— 48th anniversary, Steve/Peggy Stout.

Friday, Feb. 5:
Wade LaRoche, Sam Shives, LaJena (Johnson) Gruis, Bob Judson, Ben Merrill, Pamela Cronin, Kara Lyn (Fouts) Brewer, Chad Coppess, Nick Osterkamp, Jonathan Semro, Devin Dodson, Spencer Richey, Amanda Schmitgen.

Saturday, Feb. 6:
Stacie (Ries) Swanstrom, Declan Murphy, Adam Gallagher, Alex Hillestad, Jenifer Palmer, Colin McDaniel, Weston Fuller, Deleight (Kelly) Sudmeier, Mary (Morris) Weinheimer, Thea Deffenbaugh.

Sunday, Feb. 7:
Liz (Kirk) Van Camp, Tony Blake, Alexandra Voeltz, Sandy Zinter, Dave Hofer, DaVida (Anderson) Jaqua, Marilee Johnson-Geary, Kennedy Williams, Maisie Rumpca, Franklin Nebelsick.
— We fondly remember Hyrma Zakahi, who passed away 4 years ago today.

Monday, Feb. 8:
Habie Swenson, Karen Authier, Randy Stoeser, Karon Schaack, Alana (Tennant) Lacina, Lindsey (Quinn) Nichols, Stephanie (Arne) Davison, Steph (Hull) Joens, Alex Plumage, Colby Wagner, Jean Deffenbaugh, Chad Binger.
— 1st anniversary, William/Katherine (Van Gerpen) Cedeno-Torres.

Tuesday, Feb. 9:
Karen Day, Bauer Hunt, Jennifer McKillip, Jamie Lomheim, Steve Smith, Mandy Braun, Dawn Hurney, William Weingart, Elsie Ann Shoup, Dessa Bryant, Carolyn Severyn.

Wednesday, Feb. 10:
Carie (Olson) Butter, Luke Ross, Ericka Deneke, Jessie Williams, Kelly (Kindle) Hipple, Ellioit Harmon, Jeanita (Adams) McNulty, Hart Hoover, Chris Dvorak.
— 4th anniversary, Adam/Andrea Baker.

Thursday, Feb. 11:
Jonathan Urbach, Kerry (Johnson) Bowers, Megan Tousley, Carly Feiler, Aaron Engberg, Jackson Sleger, Josh Baker, Jerilyn (Cass) Roberts, Beth (Miner) O’Toole, Beth Sachtjen, Chris Dockter, Kristin Gabriel, Colleen (Doyle) Lamb, Cheryl (Ulmen) Beckwith, Kelbie Frederick.

COVID-19 UPDATES

• Just like the Summit League for its basketball tournaments, the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, which includes Northern, Augustana and USF, will play its tournaments at the Sanford Pentagon without any fans present.
• In Iowa, despite continued high infection rates, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill that requires school districts to provide full-time five-day in-class learning to parents who request it for their students. Education professionals in the state said it is dangerous to require staff who have not yet received vaccine to be in their classrooms.
• At Beresford the district closed its schools last Friday due to COVID-19 spread among the student body and canceled its boys basketball team’s participation in their Big 8 Conference tournament.
• Chicago schools opened Monday for the first time since last March. In St. Paul the lower elementary grades went back to school in-person Monday for the first time since last March, but the high schools are staying remote-learning-only for now. In Minneapolis they will start the return to in-person school next week.
• Issued by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the nationwide requirements for face masks on airlines and public transportation went into effect this week. So far as the airlines are concerned, the mandate affects passengers while they are waiting, boarding, flying and disembarking. Oh the outrage!
• The Department of Health admitted this week an under-reporting of COVID cases in the state and the nation.
• While the COVID-19 death toll in this state alone nears 1,800, the pathetic souls in this state and country who can’t lower themselves to wear masks or just stay home can probably not imagine how the whole nation of Australia—that entire self-contained continent!—has had a death toll of only 909 through the entire pandemic. One way is that they are strict and serious about their people’s health and well-being. In the city of Perth on the west coast, for example, one single solitary positive case of the virus the other day led to a five-day lockdown of that city’s two million people. Oh the horror! Oh the outrage! Their freedoms! In the metropolitan city of Melbourne on the southeast coast, from June to October last year (that’s winter down there), residents could leave their homes for only one hour per day.
• The St. Patrick’s Day parade in Sioux Falls scheduled for next month has been canceled for the second straight year.
• The National Women’s Hockey League has canceled the rest of its season.
• Senate Bill 125, which would institute a mask mandate statewide, was introduced by a Democrat, but Republican leadership scoffed at the notion immediately, citing the desire to let people choose their own degree of personal responsibility. Gee, that sounds familiar. Going through the motions, the Legislature was to hear the bill first in a Senate committee hearing yesterday. Stunningly enough, the measure passed committee without recommendation by a vote of 5-2 after the bill was amended to have the mask mandate last only through April 30. Now the bill goes to the Senate floor.
• South Dakota COVID-19 death toll through last Wednesday: 1,739.
• Thursday: 24 deaths; total 1763.
• Friday: 5 deaths; total 1768.
• Saturday: 7 deaths, 1775.
• Sunday: 3 deaths, 1778.
• Monday: 0 deaths, 1778.
• Tuesday: 1 death, 1779.
• Wednesday: 3 deaths, 1782.
• As of yesterday, the number of active cases, which last Saturday dipped below 3,000 for the first time since Sept. 22, is down to 2,552. Even so, 1 in every 500 South Dakotans died from the virus, and 1 in every 8 contracted the virus. In the United States in January alone more than 95,000 died, making it the worst month yet.
• On Monday the state passed the 100,000 mark in vaccinations.
• The Department of Health yesterday announced that beginning Monday, Feb. 8, the minimum age for vaccinating those in Group 1D will be lowered to 75.

NEWS OF PEOPLE AND EVENTS

Kai and Kayla Hanson of Minneapolis have added a second daughter to their family. Zoey Ann Hanson was born Jan. 25, weighing 7 pounds, 3 ounces, and measuring 22 inches. The Hansons’ older daughter, Elouise, will be 2 in June. Kai is a senior analytics consultant at Bright Health.

Post 8 baseball’s fund-raiser by the Dueling Duos piano team, which was called off last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has been rescheduled again for March 13 at Drifters at 7:30 p.m. Tickets from last year are still good for this show. Tickets are also on sale at All-Around Graphix. If you want a table of eight, the cost is $250.

Karen Wyly returned yesterday from Houston where she and her sister, Susan Earley of Boise, Idaho, had been for the last two weeks, staying with Karen’s daughter, Kayleen Fulton of St. Lawrence, while she had been having outpatient appointments at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Medical Center. Kayleen had been there since Dec. 29, first with her daughter, Mackayln, for a week of outpatient appointments, and then with her husband, Paul, for two weeks in the hospital for intensive treatments related to the clinical trial she is participating in for her lung cancer. Kayleen will be returning to Houston every three weeks for two years for continued treatments. “So far things are going very well as long as we can avoid COVID-19,” Karen said.

Former Pierre attorney Richard Duncan, 87, Custer, died at home Jan. 27. A memorial service was held Wednesday at Living Outreach Church in Custer. Dick attended high school at West Des Moines, Iowa, and served in the U.S. Marine Corps. He married Mary Rew, and they became parents of four children. After finishing law school at USD, Dick moved to Pierre where he worked for the attorney general’s office and was state’s attorney for several years before going into private law practice. She served for a number of years as state banking director. While he was in Pierre, he served as chairman of the board for Capital University Center during its founding years. Dick married the former Grace (Haverly) Williams in 1977. Their mutual passion was sailing on Lake Oahe. They retired to the Black Hills in 2004. Dick served as president of the board of the Custer Senior Center. After Grace died, Dick married Roberta Kesselring. He is survived by his wife, Roberta; his son, Doug Duncan of Luverne, Minn.; his daughters, Sally Donald of Wall and Lisa Duncan of Rapid CIty; six grandchildren; numerous great-grandchildren; his brother, Frank Duncan of Des Moines, and his sister, Becki Probst of LIncoln, Neb. Among those who preceded him in death was a daughter, Sandra Yellow Robe.

The state high school one-act play festival had been scheduled to be at one site—Brandon Valley High School’s theater—this weekend. Due to COVID-19 concerns, the event was divided into three sections by class with Class AA at Brandon, Class A at Rapid City Central and Class B at SDSU. Riggs High School’s play will be performed at 4 p.m. Friday. Three Sioux Falls schools—Lincoln, Washington and O’Gorman—as well as Harrisburg chose not to send their students in person so their plays will be entered in the festival virtually. The two Rapid City schools—Central and Stevens—will perform their plays along with the Class A schools at Central rather than making the trip across the state to Brandon.

Sully Buttes sophomore Chase Yellowhawk won the gold buckle Sunday in the bareback event at the high school rodeo session of the Black Hills Stock Show. He earned a 73 score, one point better than Rapid City Central’s Cooper Filipek. Last year at the state high school finals rodeo, Filipek was first and Yellowhawk second in that event.

David Allen “Willie” Burtts, 60, Pierre, formerly of Brookings, died Jan. 29 under Avera At-Home Hospice Care after a courageous eight-month battle with metastatic Stage 4 lung cancer. A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Friday, Feb. 5, at Feigum Funeral Home followed by burial at Mount Calvary Cemetery. Face masks will be required at the service. David was born and raised in Pierre and graduated from Riggs High School in 1979. Following graduation he traveled throughout the state working on the dredging crew of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. He moved to Brookings in 1983. David worked for Quality Tool Inc. for 20 years until his career was cut short due to terminal cancer in May 2020. Then David came home to Pierre to be closer to family and health care. He is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Brady and Hailey Will, and grandson Kamden of Volga; his daughter and son-in-law, Brittany and Weston Burgeson of Colton; his siblings and their families, Larry Burtts of Fort Pierre, Caroline (Thad) Uecker of Pierre, Mary (Ron) Wire of Pierre, Daniel Burtts (Bill) of Palm Springs, Calif., and Lena (Tyler) Hammell of Chamberlain, and many other relatives. Among those who preceded him in death were his mother Rosemary, his father Harold, his sister Katherine, his brother Robert, his sister-in-law Debra Burtts, and his best friend, David Piersol.

When the SDHSAA Board of Control met Monday, spring sports got the go-ahead to begin their season on time with COVID-19 protocols in place. But the spring fine arts events were not so fortunate. All-State Chorus and Orchestra, usually held in late October but postponed at the beginning of the school year to this April, is now in jeopardy, due in part to the size of the chorus, which usually features from 800 to 1,000 singers. One suggestion was to continue with All-State Orchestra as planned but cancel the chorus, but this decision has not been made. A recommendation is expected at the board’s March 3 meeting. If chorus/orchestra is held, the scheduled dates are April 19-20 in Sioux Falls. Meanwhile, All-State Band in Mitchell on the last weekend of March, instead of being divided into two separate bands as in recent years, will now be divided into four separate bands. Two of them will meet and perform on the Friday of that weekend, and the other two bands will gather on Saturday.

Chad Downs and his wife Sonia, who live at Spearfish, will be staying in Denver while he continues chemotherapy treatments as an outpatient. Chad has been fighting the effects of COVID-19 as well as the symptoms of his cancer while undergoing chemotherapy. He will get chemotherapy every two weeks for the next two months after which his oncologist will evaluate the situation and adjust treatment plans if necessary. Meanwhile, the fund-raising page for the Downs family, instituted by Dusti Deal, is still in place on Facebook. Go to the page entitled “Chad Downs Chad’s Cheer Squad” to donate to the fund which will help them with medical and travel expenses while Chad continues his battle.

Brian Oakland rolled the sixteenth 300 game of his bowling career during the city tournament out at Lariat Lanes this week.

Isburg Funeral Chapel is handling arrangements for Ida Stroup, 95, who passed away Monday. She grew up in Lyman County and married Donald Stroup in 1944. They had four sons. The Stroups lived in the Fort Pierre area until moving to California in 1962. She worked for the ASCS, the U.S. Forest Service and General Electric in various states. The Stroups retired to Georgetown, Texas, and lived there for many years. Donald died in 2005, and Ida stayed in Georgetown until coming to Pierre in 2015. She is survived by two of her sons, Scotty Stroup and his wife Jeri of Liberty Hills, Texas, and Randy Stroup and his wife Linda of Fort Pierre; four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Kayle Abrahamson, a member of the Riggs High School Class of 1997, died Feb. 1 at the age of 42. Arrangements are being handled by Feigum Funeral Home. For more information go to www.feigumfh.com.

Dennis Williams, who has been working for the state of South Dakota since January 1965, will retire on Monday. He started in the horticulture department at SDSU and then moved over to Game, Fish & Parks in June 1966. He has now worked for the parks division longer than anybody else, starting as a park planner and now a cultural resource specialist.

Riggs High senior Gunnar Gehring, a member of Pierre’s string of state football championship teams, has signed a letter of intent to play football at the University of Sioux Falls, according to USF’s list of players from National Signing Day yesterday.

A SOBERING THOUGHT TO END TODAY

“It may take four to five years before we finally see the end of the pandemic and the start of a post-COVID normal.”

— Said by a Singapore education minister quoted in the Wall Street Journal

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