HURON –– With a 68-58 victory over the Sturgis Scoopers on March 8 at Huron Arena, the Huron Tigers punched their ticket to the 2025 South Dakota Class AA Boys’ State Basketball Tournament at the Monument - Summit Arena in Rapid City.

The Tigers return to the state tournament after finishing seventh in last year’s competition. The Tigers are headed to back-to-back state tournaments for the first time since a four-year run from 2012 to 2015 (the 2019 team played, and the 2020 team qualified before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the tournament). Huron has not reached the title game since 2009 and has not brought home a championship since 2004, so this year’s team is hoping to end a bit of a drought in Tiger hoops.

Huron has a long history in the state tournament, appearing in 55 state tourneys over the years and bringing home 11 championships.

Huron coach Tim Buddenhagen has been at the helm of a number of those state tournament teams and compares the current team favorably to the 2004 title team.

“With that group, we had a strong young team that we took to the state tournament and got seventh, and then the next year we won it,” Buddenhagen recalled. “That’s like what these guys did last year, so I think the first thing they need to do is get there and be there, then they can put themselves into position to win a championship.”

He continued, “We feel that we’ve established ourselves as one of the better programs in the state, and we feel like we have a chance to win (a championship) this year because of the collection of guys on this team.”

Their first matchup on Thursday afternoon will be against a familiar rival, the Mitchell Kernels. Huron faced Mitchell at the Corn Palace this year and came away with a 47-38 victory on Jan. 14.

“They’re defending champions, so they have a lot to play for,” Buddenhagen explained about his team’s nearest rivals. “We beat them once this year, so we feel comfortable playing them. I don’t think there are any secrets between the two teams. Now it just gets down to execution.”

Buddenhagen recognized the youth of this year’s team, though three seniors start and there are five seniors on the squad.

“Our younger guys have been stepping up, but our senior guys have been looking for them,” Buddenhagen relayed. “That says a lot about the servant leadership of our seniors that they’re looking for our younger guys - they don’t who scores the ball as long as they win.”

Six-foot-nine junior Blake Ellwein leads the Tigers in many statistical categories, averaging 21 points per game, 6.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game.

“I think Blake has multiple roles. He can get us into our offense. He sees the whole floor and has a high basketball IQ, and he can shoot it from the outside,” Buddenhagen explained. “All that combined is a special player, but then he can also change the game defensively because, at his height, he can block shots, he can go guard a guard and put some length in their face, and he can give help and challenge shots.”

Sophomore forward Davis Chase transferred to Huron this season from James Valley Christian, and he’s immediately impacted the club, finishing the season strong to average 11.2 points per game on the year. He also added 5.2 rebounds and 1.1 blocks each contest, typically as the first reserve off the bench.

“I think it was big for him to come in and just find his comfort,” Buddenhagen began about his 6-foot-7 sophomore. “It took him some time to develop that feel with others and we had to work out those rough edges to get where we are today. He’s a really good piece to our puzzle.”

Seniors Bubba Peterson (3.8 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 1.1 APG), Trace Wenz (7.3 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 1.7 APG, 1.3 SPG), and Colt McNeil (4.2 PPG, 1.9 PPG, 1.9 APG) join sophomore Anderson Porisch (8.7 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 1.4 APG, 1.2 SPG) in the Huron starting lineup.

Porisch, a six-foot-five guard, also creates unique matchups for the Tigers.

“When he needs to score, he can,” Buddenhagen noted. “Andy’s willing to do whatever it takes to help us win. He’s had a couple really good weeks of practice leading up to the state tournament, so I’m excited to see how that will translate.”

The Tigers have utilized a deep bench throughout the season, with Buddenhagen often going with the hot hand or top matchup among seniors Logan Leyendecker and Kolby Hofer to junior Mason Jurgens to sophomore Ty Kleinsasser on down to freshman Myles Ellwein and eighth-grader Carter Porisch.

Not all of that bench use has been for rest, as Huron experienced injury and illness that meant the team was rarely at full strength.

“We’ve got a good young nucleus,” Buddenhagen observed. “I think we needed them because we had a lot of injuries, so we needed to get those younger guys ready to play. Now they’re comfortable in their roles and that makes us better this year and in the future.”

“Our depth has caused some teams trouble because we can put pressure on them all game and come out in the fourth quarter and still have fresh legs,” Buddenhagen laughed. “I think we have to continue with that mentality.”

Huron’s success this year has come as the team learned how to play with one another. Offensively, Buddenhagen says he hoped the team has learned to play inside-out, utilizing their height advantage in most games that they have.

“We’ve been moving the basketball well. Our inside game needs to come first before the outside game - and we’ve seen that propel our offense in a number of games,” Buddenhagen stated. “We’re in a really good spot right now.”

Not to look past the Kernels, but Buddenhage eyes a potential rematch with top-seeded Sioux Falls Lincoln in the semifinals as a matchup he’d really like to see.

“I think we’d like to have a chance against Lincoln again because we didn’t have Davis and Colt McNeil sprained his ankle in the third quarter when we were down one,” Buddenhagen remembered. “I think we’d like another shot at them at full strength. They’re unique because they can spread it and shoot, but I think we can slow them down if we have a full arsenal of guys.”

The Tigers (15-6) will play the second game of the day on Thursday when they square off with Mitchell, 18-3. The first game of the day will kick off at noon MT (1 p.m. local) between top seed Lincoln, who brings a 20-1 record into their matchup with Spearfish, 14-7.

The evening session Thursday opens with second-seeded Brandon Valley (18-3) matched up with Sioux Falls Jefferson (10-10). Harrisburg will take an 18-3 record into their matchup with O’Gorman, who is 13-8.

Games can be seen on broadcast on South Dakota Public Broadcasting or streamed on sdpb.org or on the SDPB YouTube channel. Tiger95 (95.3 FM) will also be broadcasting the games on the radio.

Buddenhagen thinks no matter the outcome, his team will be showing up all three days in Rapid City.

“I think this team is very even-keeled,” Buddenhagen concluded. “They come to work every day and work hard. They expect to win and they want to be part of something special.”