State amateur tournaments set for Huron Arena, Feb. 23-24
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HURON — A chance meeting two years ago was the catalyst for bringing the 2018 South Dakota Amateur Basketball State Tournament, which is scheduled for Feb. 24-25, to the Huron Arena.
While attending the 2016 state tourney in Redfield, Huron businessman and sports enthusiast Scott McCaskell was approached by officials from the SDABA about putting things together to bring the state tournament to Huron for the first time in the organization’s 70-year history.
“The first person I see out on the floor, refereeing, was Roger Nelson, who at the time had to have been 80 or 81 years old; he just passed away a year ago. I sat at half court on the bottom row of the bleachers and wait for a timeout, because I’ve known Roger from my dad in his college days so we go way, way back,” McCaskell said.
“Anyway, he comes over at halftime and I said ‘My God Roger, what are doing out here reffing?’ and he said no one else would do it.
“That game gets over and between games Ace Boschee, who is a current board member, and Roger came up to me and said that they didn’t have a place for th 2018 amateur tourney; why don’t you get working on it,” he said of the events that set the wheels in motion to bring the tournament to Huron.
Despite being a bit hesitant to take on the added duties of organizing the event, McCaskell knew other businessmen and basketball enthusiasts in Huron would jump on board to support his efforts.
“Ace knew Dave and Jay Ellwein of Ellwein Distributing and Jim Stahl of the Scoreboard Pub and Grill from our softball days, and got going on me about talking to them about helping out to get the tourney going in Huron,” he said. “I told him I would look into it and Dave and Jay said yes, as did Jimmy.”
As the time approached for the SDABA to select the tournament site, McCaskell was able to secure the funds needed to bring the event to Huron.