No matter what the order of finish, it has been a great ride for the Tigers. Especially its four seniors - all starters: Pearson Wientjes, Cody Schaefbauer, Daniel Roberts and Zach Dockter.
"We are a team that is led by seniors," Mobridge-Pollock coach Tim Frederick said. "We have a group of young men who have committed to each other and to playing sound defense. We have a solid bench that gives us enough minutes to keep the starters fresh. Conditioning is most certainly a strength of this team. We are not afraid of going end line to end line for 32 minutes."
Sports editor John Papendick
No stranger to state tourneys
Mobridge-Pollock boys' basketball coach Tim Frederick has been part of 11 state tournaments as a coach and served as an assistant to legendary coach Jim Schlekeway for three seasons.
Schlekeway's hometown is Lake City and he graduated from Britton and went on to star in basketball at Northern State. He retired after the 2010-11 season with 501 career wins.
"Jim spends a lot of time in the Sioux Falls area with his family," said Frederick. "I don't see him as much as I used to. He's a great friend of mine. He's given me a ton of knowledge about how to handle kids. It has obviously helped me out."
The name Frederick is no stranger to coaching and high school administration. Tim is the superintendent for Mobridge-Pollock and he has two brothers who are principals: Jim Frederick at Sisseton and Patrick Frederick at Dupree. An uncle, Lynn Frederick, is the head girls' basketball coach at Brookings.
Aberdeen Roncalli defeated Sisseton 56-54 in three overtimes in the region championship so Jim's team almost advanced to state. Dupree is playing at the State B tournament in Aberdeen.
The Frederick name should continue in coaching in the next generation. Tim's son, Sky Frederick, is a junior at the University of South Dakota majoring in education and coaching.
Sports writer Deb Smith
Quickly
- The last four times Mobridge qualified for the state tournament under head coach Jim Schlekeway the tournament was held in Sioux Falls. This is the first time Mobridge-Pollock is playing in the State A in Rapid City.
- Aberdeen Roncalli head boys' basketball coach Todd Neuendorf and assistant coach Kendall Hoellein have been together for five years now with the Cavaliers. Roncalli has qualified for the state tournament all four seasons with a third-place finish in 2010, and fourth in 2011 and 2012. The coaching duo also were assistant coaches at Aberdeen Central.
- Two of the Cavaliers assistant coaches have familiar names. Ross Barton played center for Roncalli and graduated in 2012. Derek Hoellein, whose hometown was Eureka, played basketball at Northern State. He is also assistant coach Kendall Hoellein's nephew.
- Several Aberdeen Roncalli current players had older brothers who played for the Cavaliers, including Dalton (Christian) Cox, Kory (Kyle and Kevin) Schwan, Daniel (Andrew) Holmstrom, Greg (Trevor) Zens and Landon (Brendon) Hoellein.
- This is the first time the consolidated Mobridge-Pollock School District has been in the State A Boys' Basketball Tournament.
- Mobridge-Pollock senior Zach Dockter carries a 4.0 grade point average. His grandfather, James Legg, was a long-time, very successful coach in McClusky, N.D.
- The Aberdeen Roncalli Dance Team performed at halftime of last night's game between Madison and Mobridge-Pollock. They performed to Michael Jackson's song "Thriller."