Class "B" boys' basketball tournament
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ABERDEEN — Clark-Willow Lake made its presence in the Class “B” ranks known during the 2017-2018 boys’ basketball season after making the move from Class “A.”
The Cyclones won their first seven games of the season and 10 of the first 11 to establish themselves as a team to be reckoned with. They would stumble a bit during the second half of the season, going 5-4, but three of those four setbacks came against Class “A” opponents, including one to top-seeded and unbeaten Sioux Falls Christian.
“We just weren’t playing very well and those setbacks actually made us re-evaluate what we needed to do to get to the next level,” Clark-Willow Lake coach Jerome Nesheim said. “We need to play with a sense of more urgency and with some grit.”
The Cyclones were able to use that renewed energy to ink three postseason wins, including a 54-37 victory against Sanborn Central-Woonsocket in the Round of 16 at Huron Arena to secure their spot in the Class “B” State Tournament field.
“It is a true blessing to qualify for a state tournament,” Nesheim said. “It is a dream for the kids to play in a state tournament.”
It will be the fourth state tournament appearance for Clark-Willow Lake, which competed in the Class “A” state tourney in 2012, 2013 and 2015.
With an 18-5 record, the Cyclones will be the No. 4 seed for this year’s tournament and will face the fifth-seeded Canistota Hawks in the opening round at 1:45 p.m. today at the Barnett Center in Aberdeen.
PHOTOS BY MIKE CARROLL/PLAINSMAN
Next, Clark-Willow Lake junior guard Jacob Prouty goes up for two of his 19 points March 8 versus Sanborn Central-Woonsocket in a Round of 16 game at Huron Arena.
Next, Bradyn Rusher of Clark-Willow Lake drives to the basket against the pressure applied by Spens Schlict of Sanborn Central-Woonsocket March 8 at Huron Arena. Rusher and the Cyclones open play this afternoon against Canistota at the Class “B” State Basketball Tournament in Aberdeen.