Potter County: Season Review (23-3)

It was a special season for the Battlers from Potter County. They only had one loss going into the State Tournament and in the opening round the Battlers avenged that loss by taking down Aberdeen Christian. Potter County had a veteran team with star players. The Battlers placed 4 players on the Yellowstone Trail All-Conference Team. Potter County played a tough brand of basketball which led them to totaling up 23 wins this the year. Congratulations to coach Bryce Hall and the Battlers on a memorable season! <h4>Player Awards/Honors</h4> [player_tooltip player_id="812205" first="Grant" last="Luikens"] - 1st Team All-State, All-Tournament Team at State, All-Conference, selected to the 3-Class All-Star Game, SDBBCA All-Star Game, and he was a SD Mr. Basketball Finalist [player_tooltip player_id="968176" first="Cooper" last="Logan"] - 2nd Team All-State, All-Conference, selected to the 3-Class All-Star Game, and the SDBBCA All-Star Game. Seth Sharp - All-Conference Drake Bassett - All-Conference <h4>Battlers Player Stats</h4> [player_tooltip player_id="812205" first="Grant" last="Luikens"] (2022) |6-3 G| - 21 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 2.8 apg, 2.8 spg, 46.2 FG%, 32.9 3FG% [player_tooltip player_id="968176" first="Cooper" last="Logan"] (2022) |6-1 F| - 19.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 3 apg, 2.5 spg, 48.1 FG%, 31.9 3FG% Colin Arbach (2022) |6-2 F| - 1.6 ppg, 2.7 rpg, .5 apg, .8 spg Ryder Falkenhagen (2024) |5-8 G| - 1.4 ppg, 1 rpg, .8 apg, 1.1 spg Seth Sharp (2022) |6-2 F| - 9.7 ppg, 7.9 ppg, .8 apg, .7 spg, 48.3 FG% [player_tooltip player_id="963825" first="Alex" last="Tanner"] (2023) |6-2 F| - 2.3 ppg, 2.2 rpg, .3 apg, .7 spg, 46 FG% Drake Bassett (2022) |5-10 G| - 12.1 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 1.6 apg, 2 spg, 47.2 FG% <h4>Q & A with coach Bryce Hall</h4> PHD: What were some of the highlights of the season? Coach Hall: "19-1 regular season was pretty nice, wasn’t a goal of ours but we managed a few W’s along the way. It was good to get out and be seen at a couple of classics and win the games. [player_tooltip player_id="968176" first="Cooper" last="Logan"] and [player_tooltip player_id="812205" first="Grant" last="Luikens"] both scoring 1,000 points. 4 players making All-Conference." PHD: Who was your "go-to" player when you needed a basket? Coach Hall: "[player_tooltip player_id="812205" first="Grant" last="Luikens"] and [player_tooltip player_id="968176" first="Cooper" last="Logan"], they would be able to get theirs most of the time, they were consistently our leading scorers." PHD: Which players improved the most for you this season and what did they improve on? Coach Hall: "Drake Bassett improved his scoring at the rim and created plenty of his shots off the dribble, he finished better. Seth Sharp improved his boarding and scoring through contact, [player_tooltip player_id="968176" first="Cooper" last="Logan"] with physicality in the paint, and getting downhill to the rim." PHD: Who were a few of your hardest workers and what did they do well? Coach Hall: "Drake had an incredible motor and went at defenders bigger than him. Seth ran the floor well and crashed the boards." PHD: Can you talk about a time when you and the team overcame adversity? Coach Hall: "We played Aberdeen Christian on the road in Jan and managed to give them a 12 pt lead a few times and managed to get it back to 2 but they hit a 3 with under 5 secs, to secure their win but we did get them in March when it counts." PHD: Who was your best practice player and why? Coach Hall: "[player_tooltip player_id="963825" first="Alex" last="Tanner"] played our scout team but also played some varsity minutes, his size was beneficial for us to practice against." PHD: Who were some of your key bench players? Coach Hall: "[player_tooltip player_id="963825" first="Alex" last="Tanner"], Ryder Falkenhagen, Logan Decker, Colin Arbach" PHD: Can you make a few comments about the seniors that you are losing? Coach Hall: "We are Going to have new leading scorers for the first time in two years with these seniors graduating out. Their leadership and experience within the program will be greatly missed. All 6 have been valuable to our success for the last 2 years." PHD: Who are some of your top players that will be back next season? Coach Hall: "[player_tooltip player_id="963825" first="Alex" last="Tanner"] will be our big and will need to be ready to get plenty of minutes, Skyler Van Well will need to be ready to handle ball responsibility. Ryder Falkenhagen should be a leading scorer for us and run some point. Gonna be a young team and missing plenty of experience. We will be learning plenty about ourselves early in the season, will need to steadily improve throughout the season." <h4>Battlers Scores/Schedule (23-3)</h4> Miller W 76-33 Northwestern W 68-59 Warner W 42-40 Wolsey-Wessington W 56-48 Mobridge-Pollock W 71-51 Strasburg-Zeeland (ND) W 77-31 Aberdeen Christian L 56-61 Herreid-Selby Area W 76-60 Hanson W 69-59 Faith W 73-72 North Central W 72-27 Aberdeen Roncalli W 68-40 Sully Buttes W 72-57 Stanley County W 73-50 Faulkton Area W 70-58 Viborg-Hurley W 83-55 Leola-Frederick Area W 70-36 Ipswich W 69-35 Highmore-Harrold W 73-36 Timber Lake W 83-63 Sully Buttes W 72-26 Faulkton Area W 77-56 Ethan W 78-47 (SODAK 16) Aberdeen Christian W 63-48 (STATE) De Smet L 45-67 (STATE) White River L 75-83 (STATE)