PHD Weekend Elite (SD)
What South Dakota high school basketball players kicked off their season with great starts? We give you the PHD Weekend Elite.
Paul Bruns of Dakota Valley. Tea Area has nearly a full new line-up on the floor but Bruns never allowed the team to get going as he jumped on them early as he was in attack mode right from the start. Bruns grabbed nearly half the boards for his team (14), was a constant at the foul line (8 of 10 makes), moved the ball helping three other teammates hit double-digits, and scored 26 himself.
Reece Burckhard of Aberdeen Central. Reece is a 6-foot-8, 235 pound junior load inside that Brookings had no answer for on Friday night. The only answer Brookings had for Reece inside was to foul him and even that wasn’t working as he made 9 of his 13 foul shots. Burckhard, who has a North Dakota offer, scored 25 points on 8 of 15 attempts plus collected ten boards. Add in two blocked shots and it was a loaded evening.
Kole Gallino of Wall. The 6-foot-3, 205 pound senior wing opened his season with 26 points against Edgemont. Kole was a role player a year ago rebounding some and scoring a couple times a game but his senior year has started off in a big way. Gallino is a three sport athlete coming off a solid football season.
Ty Mogck of Scotland. Ty led Scotland to a 39 point win over Burke on Friday night with a 28 point, nine board, and four steal performance before taking an early seat for the evening. Mogck hit four of his threes and made most of his foul shots (six) to build up this 28 point night.
Matthew Mors of Yankton. The top 50 level national 2021 prospect opened his season with back to back 24 point games playing in a Friday-Saturday season opener against Spearfish and Rapid City Stevens. Mors had 24 points on 9 of 15 shooting Friday night before taking an early seat. The Bucks earned back to back wins starting the season 2-0.
Ganin Thompson of SF Washington. Thompson is a 6-foot-6 senior that plays up front in an active way. Defensively the Warriors were a nightmare for Brookings to deal with (Washington allowed 40 percent shooting and turned them over 15 times) and Thompson’s activity was a key part of that (blocked shots, deflected passes, disrupted attempts). He also scored 17 points and collected seven boards making all but two of his attempts.