Road to Rapid City: Dakota Valley and Vermillion boys basketball teams remain in state title contention

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) – High school basketball action has wrapped up in Iowa and Nebraska, but the South Dakota scene remains in play as two local teams have packed their bags to head to Rapid City.

Starting off with the two-time defending Class A champs in Dakota Valley, the Panthers are led by the leading scorer in the class in Jaxson Wingert, who averaged 26.6 points per game. DV has plenty of pieces to make another state tournament run. Headlining that group is Luke Bruns, his 18.9 points per game is good for sixth most in Class A.

DV enters the state tournament as winners of 11 of its last 12 games, kicking off its playoff trek with an 87-51 win over Parker followed by a 72-61 comeback win at home over Tea Area in the Class A Region 4 semifinals. DV punched its ticket to state with a 67-32 win over McLaughlin in its SoDak 16 matchup.

Despite it being a whole different group for the Panthers, DV says they’ve stayed determined.

“We’re excited. It’s a whole different group than what we’ve had the last couple of years and that’s new and exciting. This year has been a whole different year and these guys have embraced different roles, stepping into scoring, where last year they might not have played and now we’ve got our leading scorers and those types of roles.” DV head coach Jason Kleis said.

“We’ve been down quite a bit this season, but I think our resilience has helped us come through and push through to win these close games.” DV junior guard Logan Collette added.

The Vermillion Tanagers are making its return to state for the first time since 2021, bringing a four-game win streak to Rapid City. Vermillion has also win six of its last seven games.

Leading the team in scoring is Trey Hansen at 17.8 points per game, a mark that ranks seventh in Class A. Vermillion’s road to chasing its first state title since 1989 has been anything but easy.

All three of the Tanagers’ playoff wins involved overtime. Vermillion defeated Elk Point-Jefferson 77-70 in OT in the Class A Region 4 quarterfinals, pulling off another overtime victory on the road over Lennox in the semifinal round with a 56-52 win. In the SoDak 16, it was Vermillion coming away with a double overtime win to book its spot at State, upsetting Hot Springs 68-59.

A trio of tough games, but outcomes that solidified what they team believed they had.

“We knew we had something special going on with this group and we just realize that we just had to play as a team and play together. That’s what we started to do in late February and March.” Vermillion senior guard Zoan Robinson said.

“Anytime you play in this area in this state with the DAK XII and this region, you’re pretty battle-tested going through the schedule you’ve gone through.” Vermillion head coach Jay Drake added.

Vermillion will play unbeaten and top-seeded Sioux Falls Christian at 12 p.m. MT / 1 p.m. CT while Dakota Valley takes on Pine Ridge at 1:45 p.m. MT/ 2:45 p.m. CT

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