Day One Results from the 2015 Class AA Boys Basketball Tournament
Three Sioux Falls teams are moving on to the semifinals in the 2015 Class AA Boys Basketball Tournament.
Top seeded Washington opened the tournament with a 60-44 win over Huron. Three starters for Washington had double figure points as Carter Keller led the team with 19 points, Cole Benson added 14, and Ty Smith with 10. Sam Siganos finished with nine. Huron was led by Hyland Heinz's 17 points.
If there is a team that doesn't mind coming to the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center, it has to be Rapid City Stevens. In their previous trip to Sioux Falls, the Raiders defeated Lincoln inside the new facility. They followed up that victory with a 59-38 win over the fourth seed in Aberdeen Central Thursday afternoon. Sam McCloud, who dropped 35 in the win against Lincoln, followed up his last fantastic performance with 18 points. Mason Archambault added 16.
Sioux Falls Washington will play Rapid City Stevens in the championship semifinals round, while Huron and Aberdeen Central will kickoff Friday with the consolation bracket.
The nightcap on Thursday featured the Lincoln Patriots and O'Gorman Knights. First, the Patriots had no issues pulling away from Watertown in the second half winning 58-38. Watertown shot just 29% from the field for the game. Lincoln was led by Addison Park (15), Malik Dunn (13), and Kaleb Johnson (11). As a team, Lincoln shot 46% from the floor and hit five three pointers.
Pierre T.F. Riggs looked like they were on the right path to defeat O'Gorman at halftime, but O'Gorman stormed back in the third quarter to secure their spot in the semifinals. O'Gorman outscored Pierre 19-6 in the third to propel them to a 56-49 win. Braxton Elliott has the tournament high in points scoring 26.
Sioux Falls Lincoln and O'Gorman will meet in the semifinals tomorrow night for the right to go to the Class AA Championship Game. Pierre and Watertown will meet in the consolation semifinals.
Friday's Schedule:
Consolation Bracket:
12:00 - (8) Huron vs. (4) Aberdeen Central
1:45 - (6) Pierre vs. (7) Watertown
Championship Bracket*:
6:00 - (5) Rapid City Stevens vs. (1) Sioux Falls Washington
7:45 - (3) Sioux Falls O'Gorman vs. (2) Sioux Falls Lincoln
*Both Championship Semifinal games can be heard on ESPN 99.1.