This is the first South Dakota Media girls basketball poll for the 2022-23 season. Teams are listed with first place votes in parentheses and points received.
Girls
Class AA
1. O’Gorman (17) 89
2. Jefferson 56
3. Washington (1) 54
4. Brandon Valley 49
5. Pierre 7
Receiving votes: Lincoln 6, Stevens 4, Harrisburg 4, Watertown 1.
O’Gorman won its third State Championship last season, defeating Rapid City Stevens 49-42. It was the second straight runner up finish for Stevens, who is outside the top five.
SF Jefferson defeated last year’s number one seed SF Washington on its way to a third place finish in the Cavaliers first season as a high school.
After being the number one seed the past two seasons and winning it all in 2021, Washington finds themselves at number three in the preseason poll.
Class A
1. St. Thomas More (15) 86
2. Wagner (2) 62
3. Hamlin (1) 57
4. Flandreau 23
5. West Central 14
Receiving votes: Sioux Falls Christian 12, Florence-Henry 5, Tea Area 4, Hanson 3, Rapid City Christian 2, Lakota Tech 2.
St. Thomas More won it all in Class A last season for the first time since 2018, but also for the seventh time since 2012. The Cavaliers knocked off Hamlin in the 2022 State Championship game in Brookings. The Chargers received one first place vote and come in at third in the preseason poll.
Last year’s number one seed was Wagner, who finished fourth after losing to West Central in the third place game. Both the Red Raiders and Trojans find themselves in the top five.
Flandreau is the only team in the preseason top five that did not make last year’s State Tournament, losing to Lakota Tech in the SoDak 16 after an 18-4 season.
Class B
1. Viborg-Hurley (14) 82
2. Corsica-Stickney (4) 69
3. Wolsey-Wessington 43
4. Castlewood 21
5. Centerville 20
Receiving votes: De Smet 11, Howard 10, Freeman 5, Wall 4, Sully Buttes 3, Jones County 2.
Viborg-Hurley is the preseason number one team after make a surprising run to a 2022 State Championship as the number eight seed, knocking off Aberdeen Roncalli, Corsica Stickney and De Smet.