The South Dakota Weekend – PHD Starting Five

<p>What five players in the state of South Dakota shined the brightest over the weekend?  Here is our PHD Starting Five as in our Top Five performers. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="812195" first="Coy" last="Determan"]</strong> of Gregory (6’2 Guard 2022).  Determan kicked off his junior season with a monster game scoring 43 points and getting a very important season opening one point win over MVP.  The Determan motor was on overdrive and his opponents simply had no way to keep a body near him.  Determan burst to five offensive boards, jumped passing lanes/worked to space to get five steals, he worked his way to the foul line for 25 foul shots (made 18 including important ones late), and even though he had to take about half his team’s shots Cory was able to get to space to complete a dozen attempts.  Throw in 17 boards and it was the weekend MVP performance. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="732175" first="Matthew" last="Mors"]</strong> of Yankton (6’7 Small Forward 2021).  Mors and the Bucks traveled west beating a couple teams heavily (Spearfish and Rapid City Stevens) and then returned home safely.  Mors, was good as expected.  This is the final season of [player_tooltip player_id="732175" first="Matthew" last="Mors"] and after his junior year was hurt by some injuries, we expect him to be an absolute monster as a senior.  Spearfish kept the Friday night game close meaning more Mors.  More Mors equaled a career high (and school high) 48 points.  Mors then scored 20 and had an early seat a daily later versus Stevens. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>[embed]https://twitter.com/GeorgeBalekji/status/1338232695801966596[/embed]</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Jaxson Frankenstein</strong> of Redfield (6’3 Wing 2021). Maybe the most efficient player of the weekend was Jaxson Frankenstein who led his team to a 54-53 victory over Tiospa Zina.  Jaxson took five threes, and made five threes.  Frankenstein collected nine boards plus made 10 of 14 shots for the weekend victory.  Jaxson was a second team all league player last year and he starts his season with a near double-double against a top 2019-20 squad to open the year. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="732179" first="Paul" last="Bruns"]</strong> of Dakota Valley (6’4 Guard 2021).  In a match-up of #1 vs #2, Bruns led his team to a double figure victory with a 22 point, 17 rebound, and 5 assist performance. Bruns didn’t have the all around shooting game he wanted but was 9 of 10 from the foul line and his d-board transition push beating Tea Area back up the floor over and over again was the difference in the game.  In the game of the weekend, Bruns couldn’t be contained meaning a huge win for the Panthers. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="975569" first="Chase" last="Merrill"]</strong> of Canistota (6’2 Wing 2021).  A player that really grabbed our focus this off-season was [player_tooltip player_id="975569" first="Chase" last="Merrill"].  Forgive us for keeping an extra eye on him starting the year, but we think his senior season could be huge.  He recently received a NAIA offer and then opened his season with a double-double (20 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists).  The Hawks didn’t start the game well but Merrill began contributing in every way possible which ultimately led to a 40 plus point victory. </p>