Travis Kriens, KORN News Radio Sports Director
March in South Dakota; the beginning of the spring thaw, state basketball tournaments, and the annual sports debates about how the state basketball field should be decided, where the tournament sites should be and why all the hotels in Aberdeen are booked.
I’d like to propose a solution to one of the debates that would end a lot of issues across the state, mostly in Class AA.
Certain West River AA schools should drop down to Class A for boys and girls basketball.
The South Dakota High School Activities Association failed to move on a measure in January of 2024, that would have allowed schools to move down one class based on their ADM (average daily membership). This is an idea that needs to be revisited.
Of course, this would be on a volunteer basis. Each school would have to look and see if it would be the right move for them.
The biggest factor is if a school hasn’t been competitive for an extended period of time in a certain sport. The benefits of moving down would be numerous. The schools should be more competitive, interest would likely grow and participation numbers would likely increase.
Competitiveness
A move down to Class A for a handful of teams would solve the geography problem of Class AA basketball. West rarely plays East, and when it does, it’s usually not Sioux Falls.
Spearfish girls basketball played 12 games this season vs. AA teams and 8 games vs. A teams. Of those AA games, a respectable eight were against East River opponents (Pierre, Aberdeen Central, Huron, Mitchell, Brandon Valley, Harrisburg, Yankton and Brookings). The Spartans finished 16-4 this season, 9-3 vs. AA teams, and will be the 5 seed for the SoDAK 16. Spearfish won at Yankton on February 28, 50-47. Yankton finished the season 1-19.
Sturgis girls basketball played 10 games this season vs. AA teams and 10 games vs. A teams. Of those AA games, only four were against East River opponents (Pierre, Aberdeen Central, Huron and Mitchell). The Scoopers finished the season with a 10-10 record, the 16 seed for the SoDAK 16. Sturgis had 11 combined wins the previous three season, before winning 10 games this season.
Douglas girls basketball also played 10 games this season vs. AA teams and only five of those against East River schools (Harrisburg, Brandon Valley, Pierre, Brookings and Yankton). The Patriots finished the regular season with a 2-18 record. They are 20th out of 20 teams in seed points and have finished last in AA seed points in three of the past four seasons.
Would it make sense for any of these non-Rapid City schools to move down to Class A? I think it would for Sturgis and Douglas.
That would leave Class AA basketball with 18 teams. This would be a great starting point to have every AA team play each other during the regular season for a total of 17 games. That leaves three other regular season contests to make up a 20 game schedule.
Geography
Rapid City Central proposed in February to bring back Regions for Class AA with five teams being split into four regions. The proposal made it out of committee with votes later on this spring. I don’t sense much support for this idea on the eastern side of the state.
I like the SoDAK 16 format in Class AA. However, West River teams, coaches, administrators and media are in favor of going back to District/Region play, likely due to lack of West River representation at recent state basketball tournament. They also mention the great rivalries and crowds for past District games. Under this proposal, West River teams would be guaranteed at least one spot in the state basketball tournament, which currently isn’t the case.
If this proposal is voted down, a move down to Class A would solve this problem for West River schools. You could have Region games in Class A, which they support. Regional rivalries and the great crowds return.
Currently, there are seven teams in Region 7A and Region 8A. Some shuffling of those Region could happen with the possibility of adding an 8th or 9th team, or finding a spot for those teams in other Regions that might make more sense. Those Regions could use more teams and I think Sturgis and Douglas would be perfect fits.
Ultimately, it would take each school to decide if moving down is the right move for them and for the SDHSAA to allow that to happen.
Sometimes to take two steps forward, you have to take one step back.