• The South Dakota Class AA Sodak 16 Playoff Pairings are official. The Yankton Gazelles end their regular season as the 15th seed and will travel to #2 O’Gorman this Friday as they seek to upset the Lady Knights and earn a State Tournament berth. You can catch the action live on all KYNT audio platforms, as well as on KYNTV with Bryce Ladwig. Pregame 530pm, tipoff at 6pm. The 9th seeded Yankton Bucks will also travel for their SoDak16 matchup, squaring up vs #8 Aberdeen Central this Saturday at a time to be determined, but Bryce Ladwig will bring you the action on KYNT and KYNTV.
• Both Class D1 #8 Hartington-Cedar Catholic and Class C2 #4 Crofton Girl’s Basketball team’s know their opening round opponent in the upcoming NSAA Girls State Basketball Tournament. Cedar Catholic squares up against #1 seed Elmwood-Murdock next Tuesday (8th) at 9am at Lincoln Southwest High School. Crofton plays later in the afternoon next Tuesday, facing #5 Ponca at 315pm at Lincoln Southeast High School. Poncas only loss this season was given to them by Crofton. Scott Ulrich will have the call of both games on Riverfront Sports 94.3, the Riverfront Sports Mobile App, and this stations website.
• The #3 Hartington-Cedar Catholic Trojan Boys Basketball Team looks to make a trip to Class C2 State Tournament in Lincoln as well, but first will have to get past #14 North Central tonight on their home court for the Class C2-3 District Final matchup. You can catch the action live on Riverfront Sports 94.3, on the Riverfront Sports Mobile App, or on this station’s website with Scott Ulrich, pregame 530pm, tipoff at 6pm.
• The South Dakota Class B and A Basketball boys playoffs continue tonight and plenty of local teams are looking to move one step closer to their respective classes state tournament.
In Class B, a trip to the Sodak16 Qualifying round is on the line, with #4 Irene-Wakonda taking on #5 Scotland at 730pm, #2 Viborg-Hurley squaring off with #7 Menno at 6pm, and #3 Centerville facing off with #6 Gayville-Volin at 730pm.
Class A boys are also looking for a trip to their class’s Sodak16 Qualifying round, with #4 Wagner taking on #5 Bon Homme this evening. The winner will face #1 seed Hanson on Friday.
• The South Dakota Class B and A Basketball Girls playoffs have reached their Sodak16 rounds, and some local teams are looking to make some noise as they punch their tickets to their class’s state tournament.
In Class B, #2 De Smet takes on #15 Avon Thursday at 7pm in Ipswich.
In Class A, #5 St. Thomas More faces off with #12 Vermillion Thursday in Pierre at 615pm.
• South Dakota Women’s Basketball clinched a share of the Summit League regular season title with a 75-48 win over Western Illinois last night inside Western Hall. South Dakota (24-5, 17-1) will be either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the upcoming Summit League Tournament, determined by the official NCAA NET Rankings released later this morning. This marks South Dakota’s third regular season title in five years.
• Yesterday was the the semifinal round of the Division II NSIC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls. The Minnesota-Duluth men snuck past Upper Iowa University 76-73. The Augustana men fell short 69-53 vs Minnesota State University Moorhead. For the women’s bracket, St. Cloud State University took down Concordia University-St Paul 78-49, and Minnesota-Duluth, much like the men, snuck by their competition, defeating Minnesota State University 69-66. The NSIC men’s final will take place today at 4pm at the Sanford Pentagon, and the women’s at 7pm. with the winners earning an automatic NCAA Division II Tournament berth.
• Tonight is the NAIA GPAC Basketball Tournament Championships for both men and women. For the women, #3 Dakota Wesleyan (25-7, 15-7 GPAC) visits #1 Morningside (27-4, 20-2 GPAC), for a 7 pm tipoff. Both the winner of the GPAC Tournament and the GPAC regular season champion earn a berth to the NAIA Playoffs. In this case, Morningside was the regular season winner, so the other berth will go to the runner up (Dakota Wesleyan) if Morningside is victorious tonight. For the men, #5 University of Jamestown (24-8, 12-8 GPAC) takes on host #2 Concordia (24-6, 15-5 GPAC), at 7 pm.
• Yankton Bucks Soccer player Jacob Kirchner has signed with Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa to continue his academic and athletic careers beginning next fall. Kirchner earned second-team All-State and All-Eastern South Dakota Conference honors in helping the Bucks to the 2021 Class AA boys’ soccer title.
