James Valley Thunder 14U: Season Rewind

Today we have the chance to look at a new AAU program coming at you from northeast South Dakota. James Valley Thunder (JVT) had teams from 12U through the 17U divisions. This 14U squad had a very nice summer of AAU hoops. JVT's roster is filled with shooters, athletes, and a ton of size. Get to know these players and James Valley Thunder, you will be hearing a lot about them in the near future!   Team Comments from JVT Director, Justin Hanson   "We were very impressed with this group of young men this summer. It took them some time to get used to playing together and battle an injury here and there, but once Coach Brian Dolan got them to find their chemistry they were a lot of fun to watch. They ended the summer 10-7 through 4 tournaments against some great competition with most of those 7 losses decided by 4 points or less, but our program doesn't put as much focus on the W/Ls, but more focus on the growth of the players and the team. In year 1, most of these boys all showed tremendous growth in their skill sets and also did a great job falling into their roles within this team, but more importantly, they also developed some lifelong friendships! We are super proud of these young men and how they represented JVT Hoops."   "This roster is loaded with talent up and down. It was fun to watch them all settle into their roles because most of them play much different roles with their school teams. Not only were they able to fill it up offensively, but they came together to play some lockdown defense when the ball wasn't falling. Lots of grit and guts in this crew. Take a look at this roster and remember the names as you'll be seeing some of them in the box scores of their high school teams in the near future."   <figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/03/SD-1.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/03/SD-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1399487" width="209" height="130"/></a></figure>   James Valley Thunder 14U - ROSTER   <figure class="wp-block-table"><table><tbody><tr><td>NAME</td><td>HEIGHT - POSITION</td><td>SCHOOL</td></tr><tr><td>[player_tooltip player_id='1548633' first='Keegen' last='Tracy']</td><td>5'10"- G </td><td>Groton Area</td></tr><tr><td>[player_tooltip player_id='1548634' first='Ryder' last='Johnson']</td><td>6'2" - G</td><td>Groton Area</td></tr><tr><td>[player_tooltip player_id='1548635' first='Jack' last='Bertsch']</td><td>5'10" - G</td><td>Aberdeen Central</td></tr><tr><td>[player_tooltip player_id='1548636' first='Winston' last='Clark']</td><td>6'5" - C</td><td>Leola-Frederick Area</td></tr><tr><td>[player_tooltip player_id='1548637' first='Lincoln' last='Stone']</td><td>6'0" - F</td><td>Aberdeen Central</td></tr><tr><td>[player_tooltip player_id='1548638' first='Derek' last='Brueggeman']</td><td>6'0" - F</td><td>Miller</td></tr><tr><td>[player_tooltip player_id='1548639' first='Isaak' last='Hunter']</td><td>5'9" - G</td><td>Miller</td></tr><tr><td>[player_tooltip player_id='1548640' first='Kassen' last='Keough']</td><td>6'2" - F</td><td>Langford Area</td></tr><tr><td>[player_tooltip player_id='1548641' first='Gage' last='Sippel']</td><td>6'5" - C</td><td>Groton Area</td></tr><tr><td>[player_tooltip player_id='1548642' first='Spencer' last='Melius']</td><td>5'7" - G</td><td>Faulkton Area</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>   Q & A with James Valley Thunder Director, Justin Hanson   PHD: Who were a few of your hardest workers?   Hanson: "This whole team pretty much gets after it all game long, but I think you'd have to look really hard to find anyone to outwork the likes of [player_tooltip player_id='1548633' first='Keegen' last='Tracy'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1548642' first='Spencer' last='Melius']. They are absolute pests defensively, and you better get a body on them on the boards or they will make you pay. The points Keegan adds to this team just through pure hustle kept them in tight games when the ball was not going in the hole! Both of these kids play with a ton of heart and leave it ALL on the floor."   PHD: Who was your best rebounder?   Hanson: "[player_tooltip player_id='1548635' first='Jack' last='Bertsch'] at 6'5" and [player_tooltip player_id='1548641' first='Gage' last='Sippel'] at 6'5" have a lot of length with some great bounce. They did a good job controlling the boards all summer. Rebounding is a mentality, and these two have it. Six-foot [player_tooltip player_id='1548637' first='Lincoln' last='Stone'] did a good job of giving these guys a break without the team giving up boards, which was a nice rotation."   PHD: Who improved the most over the season?   Hanson: "This whole team improved all season long, which is what JVT is all about. Coach Dolan focuses on mental toughness and the ability to handle adversity with his coaching style and I can tell you these boys learned and improved a ton in both of these areas. It will be fun to watch these boys for years to come."   PHD: When you needed a big bucket, who was your "go-to" player?   Hanson: "It seemed that when it was time for a bucket, [player_tooltip player_id='1548634' first='Ryder' last='Johnson'] wanted the ball in his hands. Ryder does a great job seeing the floor, penetrating by his defenders, but you cannot sag off or he's going to hit the 3 on you. At 6'2" Ryder is a tough guard because of his quickness. He creates some mismatches defensively and capitalizes on his strengths. Much like Ryder, [player_tooltip player_id='1548639' first='Isaak' last='Hunter'] has the ability to take over a game or go get you that bucket just the same. With Isaak coming in at 6'2" he will pull up and drill a bucket in the defender's face from anywhere on the court."   Who was your top 3-point shooter?   Hanson: "This is a tough one to answer as we had a team full of kids who can shoot. [player_tooltip player_id='1548640' first='Kassen' last='Keough'] is pretty smooth from the arc. His catch and release are very fundamental and when his feet are set, he's hitting it. Kassen plays with a ton of heart and is a great key to this team's success. Watch the Langford box scores this season because I think you'll see some great things out of this Kid!!"

Today we have the chance to look at a new AAU program coming at you from northeast South Dakota. James Valley Thunder (JVT) had teams from 12U through the 17U divisions. This 14U squad had a very nice summer of AAU hoops. JVT's roster is filled with shooters, athletes, and a ton of size. Get to know these players and James Valley Thunder, you will be hearing a lot about them in the near future!