Last Friday and Saturday night, the LHS girls and boys basketball teams claimed their spots in the State basketball tournament.

With the number three seeded girls defeating the Huron High School Tigers on Friday, and the number one seeded boys defeating the Mitchell High School Kernels Saturday, both teams will play for a chance at the State title in Rapid City, South Dakota next week.

The girls will face off against cross-town rivals, WHS in an attempt to propel them into a potential semifinal game against either the number two seeded Harrisburg High School Tigers or the seventh-seeded Rapid City Stevens High School Raiders. The Lady Pats went 13-6 in the regular season, splitting their season series with WHS (a 49-59 loss at WHS and a thrilling 63-62 come from behind win at home). With a powerful offense led by juniors Morgan Hansen and Emma Osmundson, the Pats will look to overpower WHS not only in the paint but from beyond the arc. With the team’s chemistry coming together towards the end of the season, the Lady Pats will try to win the State title for the first time since 2013.

In the boys’ division, the Pats will square off against the eighth-seeded Harrisburg, trying to head to the semifinals, where they could have a potential matchup against either the BVHS Lynx or Rapid City Stevens. The LHS boys compiled an impressive regular season record of 17-2 and were able to defeat their first-round opponents 61-43 just a few short weeks ago. Led by seniors Jared Jaros and Nate Brecht on the offensive side, the Pats will continue to try to match their regular season success in the State tournament and make a run at the title.

Both the girls and boys will begin their postseason runs next Thursday, with the boys playing at 4 p.m. CT and the girls playing shortly after at 6 p.m. CT. If one is not attending the event, the games will be broadcasted on South Dakota Public Broadcasting and the brackets to keep up on how the girls and boys fare can be found on the spreadsheets down below:

Girls AA State Tournament

Boys AA State Tournament