By Bob Bakken
MaxPreps.com
Basketball: Krogman Caps Career with State Title
A South Dakota basketball legend ended his high school career with a state title when Louie Krogman's White River Tigers defeated Langford 66-50 for the Class B championship before 8,113 fans at Aberdeen's Barnett Center.
Krogman scored 45 points in the championship game to finish his high school career with a state-record 3,515 points. In doing so, he broke the previous record of 40 points in a championship game set by Harrold's Eric Lappe in 1992.
In the post-game excitement following the end of the contest, Krogman told the Sioux Falls Argus-Leader, "It was our goal all season, and I'm just so happy we won it." He said it was a team effort, and that "everyone stepped up to get us over the top."
While Langford had difficulty getting shots to fall, Krogman was credited with nine of the Tigers' first 11 points for a 17-12 lead after one quarter. Krogman and White River continued to build on the lead, while Langford struggled on offense during the entire contest.
For the night, Krogman was 13 of 28 from the field and made hit on 17 of 20 free throw efforts. Langford was led by Matt McCranie with 18 points.
Basketball: Platte-Geddes Wins Class A
It was a night of firsts for the Platte-Geddes Black Panthers at the Sioux Falls Arena, as Platte-Geddes won its first state championship in boys basketball with a 55-42 victory over Madison in the Class A finals.
At the same time, the Black Panthers kept Madison from winning its first state championship in 63 years, while completing a 23-3 season with the Class A crown.
Madison ended the season with a record of 19-7, but didn't go down without a fight, as the Bulldogs opened the second half with a 14-4 run. But Jordan Johnson scored four points late in the contest that eventually clinched the contest.
Johnson finished with 15 points, complementing Keith Cutler's 18 for the Black Panthers.
Trevor Fleet paced the Bulldogs with 10, as Madison standouts Tony Fiegen and Chad White were held to eight and four points, respectively. White was handicapped with foul problems in the first half that held him out of all but seven of the first 16 minutes of the contest.
Cutler felt the Black Panthers' defense was partly responsible for that, telling the Sioux Falls Argus-Leader after the game, "They are great players, but our zone made them shoot some shots maybe they don't normally shoot."
Basketball: Watertown a Winner in AA
Through adversity off the court during the season, and on the court in the championship game, the Watertown Arrows persevered.
The ultimate reward for that perseverance came with the Arrows' first state championship since 1999, stopping 14-time state AA champion Mitchell 49-40 in Rapid City. It was the third victory of the season for the Arrows over their ESD Conference rivals.
The off-court adversity came when five Watertown (21-4) players were lost during the season for rules violations. The 11 remaining players came together and marched through the tournament, defeating three conference rivals in the process.
The on-court adversity came when the Arrows lost almost all of a nine point lead in the game, only to go on an eight-point run. Watertown was ahead by nine points at halftime and had an eight point advantage in the early moments of the final quarter before Mitchell went on a spurt to get within 41-40 at the halfway mark of the final frame.
That's when Josh Hanson of Watertown hit a trey, followed by another basketball by Jordan Burchatz for a 46-40 lead. Watertown padded the final outcome with three more points to clinch the championship.
Ironically, Watertown defeated Mitchell by the same nine point margin in 1999 when the Arrows won their last state title before Saturday's victory.
Jordan Miller led Mitchell with a game-high 19 points, while Hanson paced the Arrows with 13.
Basketball: Hanson, McGhee, Krogman Win "Spirit of Su" Awards
This year's "Spirit of Su" Award winners for South Dakota boys basketball are Josh Hanson of Watertown, Christian McGhee of Red Cloud, and Louie Krogman of White River.
Hanson won the Class AA award, McGhee was the Class A honoree and Krogman was awarded the Class B citation.
Hanson paced Watertown to the AA state title in Rapid City, McGhee helped Red Cloud finish third in the Class A tournament at Sioux Falls with 16 assists, and Krogman broke Class B tournament scoring records and solidified his statistics as the state's all-time scoring leader in leading the Tigers to the state championship in Aberdeen.
The award is named in honor of SuAnne Big Crow, a standout basketball player from Pine Ridge who was killed in a car accident while driving to the 1992 Miss Basketball Award in Huron.
SuAnne was best known for her accomplishments on the basketball court, but her academic record and her community involvement were equally important to her.
The award is sponsored by the South Dakota Fraternal Order of Police.
