With the girls’ State basketball tournament around the corner, the LHS girls’ basketball team is practicing harder than ever. After playing in the SoDak 16, the girls have secured the number three spot in South Dakota’s class AA girls basketball rankings.

The Girls Class AA State basketball tournament will be held on March 19-21 at the Sioux Falls PREMIER Center. LHS, the number three seed, will play their first game on March 19, against the number six seed, WHS, at 5 p.m. If the LHS girls win that game, they will play on March 20, at 4:45 p.m. against the winner of the number two seed, Rapid City Stevens, or the number 7 seed, BVHS. If LHS loses their first game, they will play on March 20, at 11 a.m.

After losing to BVHS in the championship game last year, the LHS girls are looking for a second chance this year.

“I am very excited to go to State this year because we have nine seniors this year, and I am excited that all the seniors get the State experience,” said LHS senior Mya Wilson.

Wilson is not the only one excited that their team is going to state. LHS senior Brooke Brown is also thrilled to play in the State tournament and ready for the challenge of trying to make it all the way to the championship.

“The championship game is going to be tough,” said Brown.“There are a lot of tough teams in the state right now and it’s going to be difficult, so we are just going to have to play our best game. We have to work hard on offense and defense and come out with a good game plan.” Scott Amundson, an LHS teacher, and assistant girls basketball coach is excited for his team to play in the State tournament because they have been working for this opportunity since the beginning of the year. 

“We are always excited when we get to go to the State tournament because it is a good opportunity for us to finish what we started,” said Amundson. “At the start of the year, our goal is always to win the championship. We don’t have the easiest road to get to the championship but we have the kids that are capable of making plays and doing the things we need to do to get there. If we do the things we think we need to do, I think we will have a very good chance of going to the championship and finish off what we started at the beginning of the year.”