Brandon Valley boys' basketball honor late coach Brent Deckert with toughness, advance to state semifinal
Before Brandon Valley’s state quarterfinal matchup against Huron, the players, coaches and entire audience observed a moment of silence for the late Brent Deckert, the former longtime Brandon Valley boys’ basketball coach who passed away after a battle with lung cancer.
During pregame warmups, every Lynx player sported a white shirt with red lettering that read “The game honors toughness,” a phrase Deckert's Brandon Valley teams wore on their shooting shirts.
Every AA coach wore the shirt on the sidelines during the quarterfinals on Thursday to honor the coach that has meant so much to Brandon and South Dakota basketball. The shirt was created by the Brandon Valley boosters, who according to Brandon Valley boys' basketball coach Craig Nelson, were expecting maybe 20 sales but have been absolutely floored by the support from the community.
“That's really cool to see that the state can come together on something like that,” Nelson said.
Deckert led the Lynx to a state title in 2019 and runner-up finishes in 2003 and 2013. The longtime Brandon Valley coach gave Nelson his first job coming out of college, hiring him as Brandon Valley's junior varsity coach.
“I worked my first four years in this area with him,” Nelson said. “I wouldn't be in this area coaching basketball if it wasn't for him.”
Over the past month, Deckert spent time visiting the Brandon Valley boys’ basketball team practices, so the news of his passing Wednesday made for an emotional 24 hours. But with a state quarterfinals matchup against Huron to prepare for, Nelson said his team focused on what they needed to without letting anything else affect them.
“These guys have seen him on our sideline and behind our bench all the time,” Nelson said. “So, they've had that time to reflect on that, and then they have their time to flip the switch and get out here and play basketball.”
The Lynx used that emotion to get out to a strong start on both ends in their 63-48 quarterfinal win over Huron. They built a 10-point lead in the first quarter, shooting 57% from the field while holding the Tigers to just 33% shooting. Brandon Valley also made four 3-pointers and beat Huron on the boards, in the turnover margin, and in points off turnovers in the opening frame.
“We knew how much this would mean to him to go into tonight, and just play how we play,” junior guard Landon Dulaney said of the team’s mindset entering the game. “I know he was watching from above.”
The Lynx played exactly how they wanted to play, letting their bigs touch the ball in the post, read the incoming double teams and swing the ball to their open teammates. Their offense ran efficiently, especially from deep. They shot 56% from beyond the arc and made 10 3-pointers, seven of which came in the first half.
Junior guard Landon Dulaney, who’s typically more defensive-centric, had a great two-way game, guarding Huron's Blake Ellwein and scoring a game-high 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting.
“We didn't want to lose, and it was starting to get close,” Dulaney said of his offensive production. “So sometimes you just have to take it into your own hands and just fight through emotion (and) adversity going through us, through our team, and just (treat) each play like your last.”
Brandon Valley will play Harrisburg in the state semifinal tomorrow night at 7:45 p.m.
Jonathan Fernandez covers high school and college sports for the Argus Leader. Contact him at jfernandez1@argusleader.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JFERN31
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Brandon Valley boys' basketball honor late coach with toughness
