Jim Hood's last game as a head coach will be at a familiar venue.
The Dupree boys' basketball coach will guide the North during tonight's South Dakota All-Star game. The 27th annual boys' basketball game will be held at 8 p.m. tonight at Wachs Arena.
Hood retired from coaching after leading the Tigers to their second straight State B boys' basketball tournament appearance this past March at Wachs Arena. Prior to Dupree, he coached at McIntosh - where he led the Tigers to back-to-back state tournament berths at Wachs Arena.
"There is a lot of memories that I have had there with the McIntosh team and now the Dupree team," Hood said about Wachs Arena, "and being able to come back and finish it up with the All-Star game. . . . it is a special event for me."
Hood said his most memorable moment at the venue was when McIntosh won the State B title in 1998.
"In '98 was probably my most glorious time there, '99 we made it back and got runner-up," Hood said, "but '98 would have to be a special year for me."
This past season wasn't that bad either, as he guided Dupree to a third place finish and 24-2 record. The Tigers finished seventh two seasons ago at the state tournament.
"It was a great run that I had at Dupree," Hood said.
This is Hood's first time coaching a team in the South Dakota All-Star Games.
"It is a great honor to end this way and it is a special event to be around a bunch of great athletes," he said.
Two from Central, two from Roncalli
A third of the North girls' basketball roster is made up of Aberdeen graduates.
Aberdeen Central graduates Sami Knecht and Brynn Flakus will play for the North in tonight's girls' basketball all-star game. The two former Golden Eagles will be joined by Aberdeen Roncalli graduates Mollee Karst and Morgan Gunderson on the North roster.
"I'm really excited to play with other girls from Aberdeen, and represent our city a little bit," Gunderson said.
The four have never played in a game with each other, but they played in an organized scrimmage in Warner last year. They've also played each other in a few tournaments in recent years.
"I'm excited to play with both Brynn and Sami," Karst said. "Because you always see them in the newspaper or we would go to their games. It will be nice to have them on our team."
Flakus said that the girls stayed in touch during the season and would always root for their friends from across town.
"We knew that they were kind of doing the same for us," Flakus said. "It will be pretty fun to finally play with them."
The Golden Eagles advanced to yet another state tournament this past March and finished fourth. The Cavaliers qualified for their first state girls' basketball tournament in school history in March and placed third.
"To be able to watch them make school history, that was a pretty big deal," Flakus said. "We were all really proud for them and happy for them. We were glad that they got to be able to experience a state tournament."
The State AA girls' basketball tournament was in Rapid City this past season, while the State A girls' basketball tourney was in Watertown. The girls kept track of the other team's progress via Internet during the state tournament.
"Obviously we root for each other," Gunderson said. "A lot of people think it is a rivalry in some ways, but at the same time we know these girls, we grew up with a lot of them and I knew how talented they were coming into the state tournament. We were always checking the scores and seeing how they did and trying to communicate with a lot of those girls."
Knecht and Flakus will play basketball for the University of Sioux Falls. Gunderson will play at Concordia-Moorhead. Karst, the all-time leading scorer in program history, will attend Minnesota State, Mankato. However, she will not play basketball. Therefore, tonight will be her last time playing in a competitive game - although she did mention she will probably play intramurals in college.
"I'm hoping just to have fun and I'm going to play the game that I love," Karst said about tonight's game.
One last volleyball match
Hayley McCarron will play basketball in college, but this week she is all about volleyball.
The Sioux Falls Christian multi-sport athlete will play for the South in the South Dakota All-Star volleyball match on Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Wachs Arena.
"I'm really looking forward to it," McCarron said. "I haven't played a whole lot of volleyball since the season ended, but I miss it and it will be fun to be back out on the court again."
The 5-foot-11 McCarron has signed to play for the Augustana College women's basketball team. She decided to play volleyball this week because two of her teammates - Brooke Van Gorp and Kiara VanderPol - are also playing in the match. Her coach, Darci Wassenaar, is an assistant coach for the South.
Also, one last time time playing volleyball competitively was a factor, said McCarron.
"I'm really going to miss playing volleyball," she said, "but I think it will be fun to have one last game."
Northern State recruits
Twelve future Northern State student-athletes are getting well acquainted with their future college surroundings this week at the all-star games.
The future NSU student-athletes participating in this week's all-star games in Aberdeen include: (football) Jami Walters, Chamberlain; Schyler Kumpf, Aberdeen Central; Kennedy Kosters, Selby; Josh Hilgemann, Aberdeen Central; Zach Page, Brookings; Brian Sumption, Frederick; Garrett Young, Warner; Austin Opdahl, Chester; and Tate Nafziger; (basketball) Bethany Crosswait, Spearfish and Tanner Heiser, Watertown; (volleyball) Lauren McCafferty, Aberdeen Central; and Rachel Rogers, Warner.
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SDHSCA 27th Annual All-Star Games
When: Today and Wednesday.
Where: Wachs Arena and Swisher Field in Aberdeen.
What: Girls' basketball at 6 tonight at Wachs Arena followed by the boys' basketball game at 8; volleyball on Wednesday at Wachs Arena, 5 p.m.; and football on Wednesday at Swisher Field, 7:30 p.m.
Who: Recently graduated high school athletes from across South Dakota make up the teams.
Ticket prices: $5 for adults and $3 for students per night.
What's at stake: Bragging rights for either the North (Blue) or the South (Red).