Am-Fam All-USA Preseason Players to Watch
Happy New Year, y’all! There was *a lot* of high school basketball across the state over the past week.
Here is the fourth installment of the American Family Insurance ALL-USA South Dakota high school basketball players of the week.
Have someone you think should be nominated or know of a player who passed a major career milestone? Let us know! You can do so via Twitter (@Brian_Haenchen) or email (bhaenchen@argusleader.com)!
PRESEASON | WK. 1 | WK. 2 | WK. 3 | WK. 4
BOYS
Matt Cartwright, O’Gorman
First, Cartwright set his career-high in scoring with a 23-point, five-rebound, three-steal performance against IMG Academy at the Pentagon. Then, he matched that number against Sioux Falls Christian on Monday, posting 23 against the Chargers. Sandwiched between that game was a 13-point effort against defending Class A champ Minneapolis North.
O’Gorman’s JP Costello (50) goes up for a shot during the Gary Munsen Tournament Championship game against IMG Academy Friday, Dec. 30, 2016, at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls.
JP Costello, O’Gorman
Have yourself a week, Costello. He opened the Mike Miller Classic on Thursday by posting career-highs in points (30) on 12 of 13 shooting, and rebounds (16) in a rout of Mitchell. A night later in Sioux Falls, he posted 14 against IMG Academy. Following a seven-rebound showing against Minneapolis North (the Knights’ third game in-a-row), he put up 13 points against Sioux Falls Christian, the top-ranked team from Class A.
Seth Friesz, Chamberlain
Against Lennox, Freisz hit 12 of 17 shots for 34 points and dished out three assists. He continued his hot shooting against Winner, pouring in 15 points to help the team to a 58-47 win.
Jayce Kittler, Dakota Valley
Kittler put up 17 points and 11 rebounds against Mt. Vernon-Plankinton at the Pentagon on Saturday. He fell a rebound short of posting back-to-back double-doubles on Monday, finishing with 20 points and nine rebounds against Sergeant Bluff-Luton (Iowa).
Mason Larson, Langford
Larson accounted for over half of his team’s points, scoring 31 in Langford’s 60-41 win over Ortonville (Minn.). He knocked down 13 of 18 shots and was 2 of 3 from long-range to surpass the 30-point mark.
WatchList:Vermillion (SD)2018 do-all 6'2G AJ Plitzuweit 36pts(8-13FG 5-7fr 3Pt 15-16FT)10 Reb5Stl. #BarefootClassic pic.twitter.com/t34iMnUmjY
— Jerina (@ncalpremierball) December 31, 2016
AJ Plitzuweit, Vermillion
Plitzuweit helped the Tanagers to three more wins over the past week, racking up a total of 92 points over the three games. He hit 12 of 14 free throws as part of a 30-point effort against Tea, poured in 36 points, hauled in 10 rebounds and picked up five steals against Little Wound, and, most recently, he scored 26 points against Garretson. Plitzuweit is averaging 24.4 points per game.
OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES: The tournaments are all grouped together, so there may be some names listed twice…
Big Bo Classic (Wolsey): Bennett White (Wolsey-Wessington) had a nice statline in a 51-33 win over Platte-Geddes, posting 20 points, 12 rebounds and six steals. Leading the way in the Battlers 74-58 win over James Valley Christian was Tanner Storer (Potter County), who had 25 points. Dawson Simon (Potter County) led the team with 15 rebounds. On the other side of that matchup, Eric Hasert (James Valley Chrisitan) scored 27 points and pulled in 13 rebounds.
Game MVP: 8th grader Connor Libis!! Connor scored 27 to lead the Cards to victory!! pic.twitter.com/eMQfbKbBJZ
— Cardinal Athletics (@DRSM_Athletics) December 31, 2016
Entringer Classic (Brookings): Connor Libis (Dell Rapids St. Mary) scored 24 on 9 of 17 shooting to lift DRSM to a 50-16 win over Estelline. Deuel fell by two points to Oldham-Ramona Rutland, but Brandon Longstreet (Deuel) poured in a game-high 22 points to go with three steals and three assists. Logan Gabur (Castlewood) led his team to a 67-50 win over Lake Preston with a game-high 23-point effort to close out the event.
1 of SD's top tandems, 23 AJ Plitzuweit & 20 Cooper Williams, putting on a show w/ @VermillionHoops @ #BarefootClassic . Lights on @KDLTNews pic.twitter.com/LRXAB67DSX
— KDLT Sports (@KDLTSports) December 31, 2016
Samaritan’s Barefoot Classic (Sanford Pentagon): Tyler Rozell (Warner) led his side to a 63-55 win over Canistota with 28 points. He hit 8 of 17 shots, but was 7-for-11 from the free throw line. Jacob WhiteLance (Canistota) scored 19 points with four 3-pointers. John Porchello (Dakota Valley) notched 22 points in a 70-55 win over Mount Vernon-Plankinton. Cody Mullenburg (Mount Vernon-Plankinton) posted 19 points, four blocks, two steals and two steals in that tilt. Justin Hohn-Mack (Tea Area) picked up five steals in a 65-44 win over Roosevelt. Cooper Williams (Vermillion) had eight dimes and 17 points against Little Wound.
Swiftel Classic (Brookings): The Cubs picked up 19 points and six assists from Gavin Doering (Alcester-Hudson) in a 70-59 loss to Canby (Minn.). Doering finished one rebound shy of the double-double. Thane Witt (St. Francis Indian) hit 8 of 12 shots, including 3 of 4 from behind the arc, as part of a 25-point, four-assist, four-steal performance. Teammate Ty Arcoren (St. Francis Indian) finished with 13 points, six boards and four blocks.
A 15-point effort from Mason Archambault helped Rapid City Stevens down Spearfish 72-43… Christian Beachler (Canton) scored 20 in a 60-37 win over Gregory at the Winner Snowball Classic… Cole Bergan (Aberdeen Central) poured in 16 points in an 88-43 loss to La Lumiere at the Mike Miller Classic in Sioux Falls… There were a pair of 20-point scorers in Miller’s 83-51 win over Lyman. Steven Fernholz (Miller) led all scorers with 23 points and 10 rebounds, while Jesse Schindler (Lyman) chipped in 20 points and four steals for his side… Shay Gibson (Garretson) put up 21 of his team’s 56 points against Vermillion… Karst Hunter (Miller) scored 20 points and added three assist to lift Miller to a 60-44 win over De Smet… Jonah Larson (Beresford) scored 25 points against Irene-Wakonda, which picked up five steals and two blocks from Trey King (Irene-Wakonda)… Conor Libis (Dell Rapids St. Mary) continues to tear it up. The eighth-grader had 27 points on 10 of 17 shooting with five steals and three assists against Estelline on New Years Eve… Max Ring (Highmore-Harrold) scored 22 points in the Pirates’ 70-30 win over Wessington Springs… Spence Schultz (Menno) scored 22 points and tacked on four steals in a 51-40 loss to Irene-Wakonda… Derek Storm (Ethan) posted 20 points and six rebounds in a 55-51 loss at Avon… Cooper Williams (Vermillion) hung 31 points and five steals in a 71-56 win over Tea. For the Titans, Ethan Freidel (Tea) scored 26 points, while brother Noah Freidel (Tea) dished out six assists to go with 16 points.
GIRLS
Morgan Koepsell, McCook Central/Montrose
After posting 17 points, seven rebounds and three steals against Sanborn Central/Woonsocket at the Parkston Classic over the weekend, Koepsell drained 11 of 18 shots (all 2-point field goals) en route to a 25-point showing against Beresford on Tuesday. She finished filling out the statsheet that night with seven rebounds, two steals, a block and a steal. She had zero turnovers.
Sully Buttes’ Chloe Lamb drives toward the hoop in a game earlier this season.
Chloe Lamb, Sully Buttes
Lamb did most of her damage in the first quarter Tuesday night against Mobridge, putting up 15 of her 29 points in the opening frame. Over the weekend, she posted 19 points and dished six out six assists at the Parkston Classic against Ethan (L 59-53, OT) and racked up 18 points and eight rebounds against West Central.
Karlee McKinney, Tea
McKinney made program history against Vermillion, becoming the first female Titan to surpass the 1,000-point mark for her career. She scored 21 points and added four steals in Tea’s 57-52 overtime win over the Tanagers. After tacking on 14 points, five steals and three assists in an overtime loss to Platte-Geddes the next day, McKinney put up 16 points and four rebounds against West Central.
Melia Mounga, Aberdeen Central
Mounga helped the Golden Eagles pick up a pair of wins with back-to-back double-doubles. She scored 20 points and added 11 rebounds to go with two blocks and a steal against Waconia (Minn.) at the Mike Miller Classic on Friday. On Tuesday against Huron, Mounga poured in 16 points and hauled in 10 rebounds.
Myah Selland, Sanborn Central/Woonsocket
Selland had a big weekend, scoring 25 points, pulling in six rebounds and dishing out four assists in a 54-44 win over McCook Central Montrose. She put up fewer points Tuesday night against Bridgewater-Emery, but created more opportunities for her teammates. The South Dakota State commit posted 17 points and eight assists in the 67-34 win to go with seven rebounds and four steals.
Washington’s Maham Shah (40) goes up for a shot during a rescheduled Edith Sanford Breast Center Girls Pentagon Classic game against Crofton Thursday, Dec. 29, 2016, at Washington High School in Sioux Falls.
Maham Shah, Washington
Though the Warriors split their last two games – topping Crofton (Neb.) before falling to Lincoln – Shah put together a couple of nice performances scoring 16 points in both games. She also finished with 11 boards against Lincoln for the double-double.
OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES: Cortney Bauman (Deubrook) had one of the highest scoring outputs of the week, racking up 31 points (10 2-point field goals) against Clark/Willow Lake… Anna Brecht (Lincoln) continued her march towards the Patriots’ all-time scoring record, putting up 28 points in a 58-49 win over Washington on Tuesday… Jessi Giles (Madison) put up 23 points and picked up four steals in a 55-32 win over Redfield… A 15-point effort from Danica Kocer (Brandon Valley) helped the Lynx take down Yankton 66-52… This would make for a fun trivia question: In the aforementioned Tea-Vermillion game, a second player broke the 1,000-point mark for her career with Haleigh Melstad (Vermillion) racking up 17 points to surpass 1k. Kasey Jensen (Vermillion) led all scorers with 24 points… Caryssa Mielitz (Milbank Area) scored 26 points, added three assists, two blocks and a steal in a 64-54 win over Deuel. Britney Lovre (Deuel) scored 23 points, hauled in eight rebounds and tacked on three steals… Malloy O’Malley (Irene-Wakonda) picked up 10 of her 25 points from the charity stripe in a 56-52 loss to Beresford on Friday… Alexis Petersen (Platte-Geddes) posted a 20-20 double-double in an overtime win over Tea, scoring 24 points and pulling in 21 rebounds. For good measure, she also tacked on three steals… Mattilynn Reiner (Tripp-Delmont/Armour) tallied 25 points against Viborg-Hurley on Tuesday… In leading De Smet to a 61-44 win over Miller, Kristen Poppen (De Smet) scored 14 points and pulled in 15 rebounds… Taylor VanderVelde (Washington) scored 15 points in a 59-51 win over Crofton, then added 10 points and a couple of steals against Lincoln… Hanna VanDerWerff (RC Stevens) accounted for 21 points on 8 of 13 shooting to go with four steals in a 71-43 win over Spearfish on Tuesday… Racquel Wientjes (Sully Buttes) scored 18 points against Mobridge and 23 against West Central. She picked up two steals against West Central in Swiftel Classic at Brookings… Brianna Williams (Harding County) notched 24 points in a 47-44 loss against Newell on Tuesday… Elizabeth Woods (Canton) put up 23 in a 72-51 win over Hill City on Thursday… Jen Ugofsky (Harrisburg) notched 15 points and eight rebounds in a 47-23 win over Brookings, then racked up 18 points in a win over O’Gorman on Monday.
Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen .
Lincoln’s Anna Brecht (10) takes a shot during a game against Moorhead during the Edith Sanford Breast Center Girls Pentagon Classic Saturday, Dec. 17, 2016, at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls.
O’Gorman’s JP Costello (50) works to keep the ball from Watertown’s Spencer Waege (52) during a game Thursday, Dec. 15, 2016, at O’Gorman High School in Sioux Falls.
