Most of the Sioux Falls schools have reached the halfway point of their basketball schedules. Here's a look at both Class AA Boys and Girls and where teams rank.

Class AA Boys

Class AA Boys this season seems to be fairly open. Brookings has started their season on an incredible run with a 7-1 record, and their one loss coming in overtime to Huron. Brandon Valley currently leads District 2 with a 7-2 overall record. Out west, Rapid City Stevens is 6-2 while Sturgis Brown is 7-1. Two Sioux Falls schools are right in the mix, one is in the middle of the pact, and one team is looking for a spark.

O'Gorman (7-3 overall. 7-1 vs. S.D. teams. 0-2 vs. out-of-state teams)

The O'Gorman Knights are right in the mix with a 7-3 record. Two of those loses for O'Gorman have come against schools in Minnesota and Florida, and their lone loss within South Dakota was against Rapid City Stevens back on January 6. They have wins this year against Brandon Valley (7-2), Washington (6-4), Lincoln (3-4), and Sioux Falls Christian (5-2).

Washington (6-4 overall. 5-3 vs. S.D. teams. 1-1 vs. out-of-state teams)

Washington suffered a tough loss to O'Gorman last week and followed that up with another tough defeat on the road in Brookings. The Warriors are nowhere near out of the mix when it comes to AA, but they have a tough remaining schedule ahead of them. The backend of the schedule features games against Hopkins, Minnesota (one of the top ranked teams in the country), Brandon Valley, Rapid City Stevens, and O'Gorman. Washington's top wins this season so far are against St. Thomas More (7-2), Marshall Minnesota (10-1), and Sioux Falls Christian (5-2).

Lincoln (3-4 overall. 3-2 vs. S.D. teams. 0-2 vs. out-of-state teams)

The defending champions are in a familiar place at this point of the season compared to last year...Near .500. Lincoln is a mystery team at this point as their three wins have been against opponents with a combined record of 6-18. It's drastic on the other side as well. Lincoln's four losses have been against teams with a combined 31-10 record. Lincoln has four more games this season against teams outside of South Dakota. We'll learn a lot about the Patriots in the final few weeks as they have top tier AA teams left on the schedule including Brandon Valley, Washington, Brookings, Rapid City Stevens, and O'Gorman.

Roosevelt (0-7 overall. 0-6 vs. S.D. teams. 0-1 vs. out-of-state teams)

We imagine that this isn't the way that Mitch Begeman or the Roosevelt Rough Riders thought the season would start. The Rough Riders have lost three games within double-digits, but outside of those three games it hasn't been pretty. Roosevelt has lost games by double-figures to Washington (34pts), Brandon Valley (19pts), Tea Area (21pts), and Edina MN (35pts). They are now on a 10-day break after Bishop Heelan was unable to travel to Sioux Falls for a scheduled contest on Monday night. The Rough Riders have many games left and plenty of time to turn it around, but have a tough schedule ahead that features the likes of Rapid City Stevens, O'Gorman, Washington, and three out-of-state teams.

Class AA Girls

Class AA Girls is also fairly wide open at the midpoint of the season. Three of the top teams are sitting in District 2 with Harrisburg (6-1), Washington (7-2), and Brandon Valley (7-2). Aberdeen Central is 6-2 and leading District 3, while Rapid City Stevens (5-1) is on top of District 4. As of now, District 1 is completely open with three of the four teams right above .500 or slightly below it.

Washington (7-2 overall. 4-2 vs. S.D. teams. 3-0 vs. out-of-state teams)

There was a little bump in the road early for Washington in the first two games. They went to overtime against Rapid City Stevens and won, but lost the following day to Class A powerhouse St. Thomas More. The Warriors have defeated Yankton, O'Gorman, and Brookings this season within Class AA, and have picked up three out-of-state wins against Moorhead, Marshall, and Crofton. Outside of St. Thomas More, the other loss was picked up against Lincoln back on January 3rd. Washington has a tough stretch in the bottom half of the schedule with games against Harrisburg, Roosevelt (x2), Brandon Valley, Lincoln, Rapid City Stevens, and O'Gorman.

Roosevelt (5-4 overall. 3-2 vs. S.D. teams. 2-2 vs. out-of-state teams)

In terms of playing against the other city teams, the Rough Riders are 2-1. They have beat O'Gorman and then split the season series with Lincoln. David Maxwell's team also has an impressive win over Brandon Valley back on December 22nd.

The tough part for Roosevelt on the rest of the schedule is that they won't play on their home floor again until February 18th. They will spend the next month making trips to Rapid City (both schools), Watertown, Yankton, Minnetonka, Wayzata, and Brookings. Add playing at Washington and O'Gorman (Sanford Pentagon) to the list to the long road series. The Rough Riders finish the regular season on February 21st hosting Marshall.

Lincoln (4-5 overall. 3-2 vs. S.D. teams. 1-3 vs. out-of-state teams)

It's weird to see Lincoln in this spot as of right now. With Anna Brecht, Sydney Rosinsky, and Brooke Luitjens returning for this season expectations were high entering the season. Now it's still considered "early" when it comes to high school basketball in the State and it wouldn't shock me if Lincoln made a late season push with much talent on their roster.

As mentioned before, they split the season series with Roosevelt this year. Lincoln has other wins over Marshall, Washington, and Yankton. The out-of-state teams they have played have been very good this season. In three out-of-state losses, the teams are a combined 32-7. The only other loss for Lincoln came against O'Gorman back on December 22nd.

Lincoln's marquee games on the remaining schedule include Brandon Valley, O'Gorman, Washington, and Rapid City Stevens.

O'Gorman (4-7 overall. 3-6 vs. S.D. teams. 1-1 vs. out-of-state teams)

Unlike the other Sioux Falls schools, O'Gorman has had the chance to play mostly South Dakota teams in the opening part of their schedule. The Knights have lost four games this season in single digits, with three of those losses within one possession. O'Gorman has also lost four out of their last five games, which all took place at home. They only have one win in total at home coming against Pierre on January 7th.

Lucky for O'Gorman they only have two games remaining at home when they host Sioux City East and Lincoln on January 24 and 27. They have to take trips to Yankton, Rapid City, Brookings, and Mitchell in the last part of the schedule. The Knights have a couple of games left in town as they play against Roosevelt (Pentagon) and close out the season at the Washington gym.


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