Bulldogs slip past Castlewood to set up title game matchup against Howard
ABERDEEN — De Smet's boys basketball team is on history's doorstep.
The second-seeded Bulldogs earned a chance to become the first Class B school in state history to win four-straight state basketball titles by outlasting fellow Dakota Conference and Region 2 foe Castlewood 40-37 in a semifinal game of the 2024 state B tournament in the Barnett Center.
De Smet not only avenged a regular-season loss to the Warriors but also overcame a seven-point deficit early in the second half to win the defensive struggle.
"It does, it does (feel good to be playing for a fourth-straight championship," De Smet head coach Jeff Gruenhagen said. "It should be fun."
Quincy Thu's 3-pointer with five second left gave Castlewood a 19-17 hafltime lead and the Warriors opened the second half with a 3-pointer by Luke Baumberger and a field goal by Byron Laue.
De Smet's defense held Castlewood scoreless the final 6 1/2 minutes of the third quarter and the Bulldogs reeled off 11-straight points for a 28-24 lead. The senior-laden Bulldogs built their own seven-point lead on Tom Aughenbaugh's 3 with 3:08 left (35-28) and held on.
Aughenbaugh scored 12 points, George Jensen 11 and Kadyn Fast 10 for De Smet. Trace Van Regenmorter added nine rebounds and Grant Wilkinson eight while also leading De Smet's defensive effort against Laue, a 6-foot-9 junior.
Jamison Keszler scored 14 points, Baumberger nine and Laue eight for Castlewood. Laue also pulled down 11 rebounds and Thu nine.
De Smet shot 35 percent (14 of 40) and Castlewood 34 percent (15 of 44) from the field.
Howard 48, White River 42
Fifth-seeded Howard earned a chance to play for its first State B championship since 1964 by knocking off top-seeded White River 48-42 in Friday night's first semifinal game.
The Tigers fell behind 8-0 and trailed 10-5 after one quarter, 23-19 at halftime and 35-32 after three quarters before rallying for the win.
Carson Hinker tallied 11 points and Taiden Hoyer and Luke and Kolt Koepsell each 10 for Howard, which drained seven of eight fre ethrows in the final 29.4 seconds to secure the win. Kolt Koepsell also grabbed 15 rebounds, Luke Koepsell seven and Hoyer six.
Nicolas Marshall (20 points and six rebounds) and Jordan Uhlir (16 and seven) paced White River.
Howard connected on 16 of 43 field-goal attempts for 38 percent and White River 14 of 38 for 37 percent.
Gregory 65, Leola-Frederick Area 64
After losing to three-time defending champion De Smet on a last-second 3-pointer in Thursday's first round, Gregory rebounded to edge LFA in a consolation semfinal Friday on Cruz Klundt's free throw with 2.1 seconds remaining.
Klundt finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Gorillas, who tied the game on Daniel Mitchell's 3-pointer with 40.1 seconds left. Mitchell also tallied 18 points.
Brayden Sumption notched 18 points, Noah Kippley 16 and Winston Clark nine for LFA, which also got eight rebounds from Milo Sumption.
Gregory made 28 of 57 field-goal attempts for 49 percent. LFA shot 34 percent (18 of 53).
Wessington Springs 52, Viborg-Hurley 39
A strong finish (16-6 scoring advantage in the fourth quarter) helped Wessington Springs nail down the consolation semifinal win.
The Spartans shot 41 percent (18 of 44) from the field and received 18 points from Parker Graff, 16 from Blake larson and 11 from Ryder Michalek.
Brady Schroedermeier (17 points and Nick Hanson (15 points, nine rebounds) led Viborg-Hurley, which shot 38 percent (14 of 37) from the field.
Saturday's Games
Leola-Frederick Area and Viborg-Hurley open the day by meeting for seventh place at noon, followed by Wessington Springs and Gregory in the consolation championship at 1:45 p.m., Castlewood vs. White River for third place at 6 p.m. and De Smet facing Howard in the championship at 7:45 p.m.
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Final two days of state Class B boys basketball tournament
