After 39 years and over 600 coaching wins former Langford Area boys basketball coach Paul Raasch picked up his first state championship on Saturday.
Raasch guided the Castlewood Warriors to a Class B title in Aberdeen with a 52-31 victory over Viborg-Hurley. One of the Warriors’ two losses this season was to Viborg-Hurley 49-44 on Jan. 25. Castlewood, which finished third a year ago, was the number one seed in the tournament and Viborg-Hurley was the three seed.
Both the Class AA and Class A championship games were rematches from 2024 and both of last year’s runners-up avenged those defeats from a year ago. Number two seed Brandon Valley ousted defending champ and fourth seed Mitchell for the Class AA crown 53-45, while #1 seed Sioux Falls Christian turned the tables on #2 Hamlin in the Class A title affair 61-51.
Other Class B placing games saw #2 Dell Rapids St. Mary’s stopped #4 Wessington Springs 71-54 for third place, #5 Wall downed #6 Freeman 79-67 for fifth, and #7 Aberdeen Christian stopped #8 Lyman for seventh 64-46.
In Class AA #1 Sioux Falls Lincoln defeated #3 Harrisburg 81-52 in the third place contest, #10 Sioux Falls Jefferson edged #7 Huron 61-60 for the consolation title, and #8 Spearfish got past #6 Sioux Falls O’Gorman 61-55 for seventh.
Class A placing games had #3 Rapid City Christian over #5 Lennox 60-58 for third, #4 West Central downed #7 Hill City 59-54 for fifth, and #8 Groton Area topped #6 Clark-Willow Lake 64-52 for seventh.
Temperature: 34°F Town: Britton, SD
Pressure: 1015 hPa
Wind: 14 mph
