the SD Heat Hardwood Classic Preview
The South Dakota Heat Hardwood Classic has taken a major step up! Three locations and 102 teams competing this weekend.
The SD Heat Classic will be played at Tea Area High School, Augustana, and the Sanford Pentagon. Boys and girls competing from 11u up to 17u. The guys at the South Dakota Heat do it right and they’ve got a nice event for fans Saturday and Sunday.
17u. A twelve team event. Six teams from our PHD 17u rankings (SD Heat, PBC Jewitt, PBC Knippling, Niners Select, ND Cougars, and Niners Elite) are competing. There are also high school teams from Tea Area and SF Washington, three unranked teams from Minnesota, and a team called Black Hills Gold.
South Dakota Heat and the North Dakota Cougars will be the favorites from the AAU world. The Heat has won half of their dozen games so far while the Cougars are playing in the second event. The Cougars were one of the elite teams last spring/summer but they are just getting started. Cougars big Kaedyn Hanson had five Northern Sun programs watching him at the Battle of the Lakes. If Wyatt Hanson is with this team they will be a tough out.
Tea Area and SF Washington will be the most interesting teams to watch. With the South Dakota Storm, BBA Force, and South Dakota Attack not playing this weekend you have to wonder if several of the Washington and Tea Area players that compete with them will be with their high school teams. Guys like Justin Hohn-Mack, Kade Stearns, Kaleb Joffer, and the top 2019 in South Dakota Noah Freidel from Tea Area. Players like Topher Zach and Manny Akot could join Washington.
16u. The 16u division isn’t as big as the 17u group but this eight team battle should be fun. Why? Look at our 16U rankings, all six teams ranked 11 through 16 are in this event. Number 11 Crush, three Pentagon clubs that are 12, 14, and 16, the South Dakota Heat team that is 13th, and the Niners squad that is 15th. This is a chance for one or two of these clubs to make a ranking push up the standings. Add in Southwest Slam (southwestern Minnesota kids) and the SF Washington younger players and you have the 16u group.
15u. A ten team division consisting of six PHD regular AAU clubs, two high school younger teams (Washington and Tea), and then a couple mysteries in the Minnesota Lakers and the Tri State Eagles. The North Dakota Phenom Regional team is already 4-0 against teams in this event having beat the Heat twice, and the Niners and PBC King once each. The Phenom are the favorite of the teams were know about roster wise, and then you have five of the bottom six teams in the latest rankings. Which of South Dakota Network, Niners, Pentagon Friesz, Pentagon King, and thhe South Dakota Heat is ready to make a ranking push? We will find out this weekend.