PHD Playoff Central: March Madness in South Dakota!

<p>The pigtail/first round of Regional play gets started tonight and with it comes PHD Playoff Central.</p> <p><strong><u>PHD Playoff Central</u></strong>.  Throughout our network in the various states of the Prep Hoops Network we love to talk about the big playoff games, the big match-ups on the floor, the players putting together big performances, and finally we love to honor players that may have had their careers ended but that career was outstanding. </p> <p>South Dakota playoffs are still a few days from hitting a feverish pitch but tonight the initial games of Class B playoffs are being played around the state.</p> <p><strong><u>The Big Stage</u></strong>. The Webster Armory hosts a pair of pigtail games matching the 8/9 game (Great Plains Lutheran vs Britton/Hecla) and the 7/10 game (Leola/Frederick/Wilmot).  That’s region 1, game times are 6pm and then likely 7:30 and it’s the only place in the state where he can catch a pair of games in one location this evening.  </p> <p>In region 3 there are three games but the home team is the host. The two Region 4 pigtail games are at the site of the high seed as are the three pigtail games in Region 5 and Region 6.  </p> <p><strong><u>Upset City.</u></strong>  There are five regions that have games tonight and then the winners will turn around and play a higher seed tomorrow night.  It’s an excellent kick-off and each night we will look to see what the top upset of the evening turned out to be. </p> <p><strong><u>Players to Watch</u></strong>. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1130559" first="Xavier" last="Hare"]</strong> has the spotlight tonight leading Andes Central/Dakota Christian against Bon Homme in the 8/9 game of Region six.  Xavier is a 5-foot-8 senior that is among the Class B leading scorers at 22.2 points a game.  Hare is always on the attack getting to the foul line for 7-8 foul shots a game and shooting 42 percent from the floor against constant defensive attention.  One of the state leaders in steals (3 a game) and one of the best rebounders under 6 feet in the state. </p> <p><strong><u>Hat Tip to the Career.</u></strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="879124" first="Derick" last="Siemonsma"]</strong> of Huron.  It was a rough season for the Tigers but Derick, a senior, was the top Huron and a double figure scoring threat each night.  With Huron not qualifying for the playoffs that means Derick is done for the season but it won’t be the last you hear from Siemonsma.  He recently signed to play football for Dakota State University in Madison.  Siemonsma was in on nearly 180 tackles the past two years as a top linebacker in the state. </p>