1 More Preview: Elkton-Lake Benton

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We thought that the preview season was over, but PHD was wrong! We have one more Team Preview for the readers. We are looking at the Elks from Elkton-Lake Benton. The Elks have some nice athletes in their program. Take a look at the football team, they went 8-2 this fall. You are not finding that kind of success without quality athletes. Let's hope that success carries over to the hoops season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Make sure you tune in this winter, the Elks should have a competitive hoops squad.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Team:</strong> Elkton-Lake Benton</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Mascot:</strong> Elks</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Head Coach:</strong> <em>Steve Erickson</em> (17th Season)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Assistant Coaches:</strong> <em>Jason DeZeeuw</em> &amp; <em>Toby Gonnerman</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Class:</strong> A</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Region:</strong> 2</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Conference:</strong> Dakota Valley</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Players Lost:</strong> Ryan Krog, Garrett Neil, Anthony Even</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Elks finished the 2022-223 season with a 7-15 record. They won a Regional Playoff game against Flandreau and lost to Sioux Valley in the Region 2A quarterfinals. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>See below for more info on the Elks...</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":1634111,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/10/TeamPreview.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/10/TeamPreview.jpg?w=865" alt="" class="wp-image-1634111" /></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Elks Strengths</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>-Athletic players</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>-Hard-working players</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>-A nice mix of size &amp; speed</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>-Can change things up on O &amp; D</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>-Depth</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Elks Weaknesses</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>-Consistency</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>-Being mentally &amp; physically tough at all times</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Q&amp;A with coach <em>Steve Erickson</em></span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">PHD: Any comments on the team and start of practices?</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"<em>I am looking forward to this year, I like the way our kids compete and get after it. They have had a great first week plus of practice and if they continue to bring that intensity, effort, and attitude each day, we will continue to improve and find success.</em>"</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"<em>Looking forward to the season and the opportunity to compete each day with this group. They genuinely give their best effort and hopefully, by doing that they will continue to improve and grow as players and then in turn as a team as a whole.</em>"</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">PHD: Can you tell us about your top returning players?</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1673295' first='Carson' last='Griffith']- Sr. Post 6'5"</strong> - "<em>Carson was HM All-DVC last year. He will be our leader and a consistent presence on both ends of the floor. He is an athletic kid, rebounds at a high level, can shoot it from outside, and has really good back-to-the-basket moves. Looking for him to have a big year for us.</em>"</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2139734' first='Tanner' last='Drietz'] - Jr. Wing 6'2"</strong> - "<em>Tanner started every game last year as a sophomore and played quality minutes as a freshman. He has improved his game throughout the offseason. He is a great shooter from the outside and has really improved his consistency shooting off the bounce. He is attacking the rim off the bounce more regularly which is going to make him even harder to guard. His biggest improvement I think we have seen is on the defensive end, he is long, athletic, strong, and quick enough to be a pain when guarding the ball.</em>"</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"<em>These two will be our leaders. We will have a number of other Juniors and Sophomores and possibly a couple of freshmen that will contribute.  We will be working to find some rotations/players/minutes that work well and give us the best chances to be at our best. This could come from a number of different players and it might be something that changes on a given evening.</em>"</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">PHD: Can you give us an outlook on the season and some of your opponents?</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"<em>DVC is a tough conference year in and year out. De Smet has obviously been at the top for the last number of years and will be tough again this year. DR St. Mary will be a really solid squad. Castlewood has been to the last few State Tournaments and will be one of the top teams again. Deubrook has a ton of senior athletes that play hard and they will be in the mix. Estelline/Hendricks had a good year last season and returns almost everyone so they will give teams some problems. Colman-Egan has some really good athletes and will be much improved this season. Iroquois/Lake Preston lost some scoring but has some quality pieces back to fill in. ORR has some talented younger kids to go with their size in their upperclassmen. Arlington gained a lot of experience with their younger guys last year so they will look to be improved as well. We have good numbers out this year, sophomore and junior classes with a lot of numbers. We had some of our kids put in the time this off-season so hopefully they are ready to step in and give us some quality minutes. We have a couple of starters back that are good leaders and if we can find some consistency on the offensive end, I think our guys will defend and give us chances in some games.</em>"</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Elks Schedule</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>12/12 - home vs. <strong>Castlewood</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>12/15 - home vs. <strong>Iroquois-Lake Preston</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>12/19 - home vs. <strong>Baltic</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>12/30 - at Brookings (Entringer Classic) vs. <strong>Waverly-South Shore</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>1/5 - at <strong>Waubay-Summit</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>1/8 - at <strong>Dell Rapids St. Mary</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>1/11 - home vs. <strong>Arlington</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>1/13 - at Deubrook vs. <strong>Hills-Beaver Creek (MN)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>1/16 - home vs. <strong>Canton</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>1/18 - at <strong>Colman-Egan</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>1/23 - home vs. Dells Rapids</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>1/25 - home vs. <strong>Oldham-Ramona-Rutland</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>1/27 - at <strong>Great Plains Lutheran</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>1/30 - home vs. <strong>Deuel</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2/1 - at <strong>De Smet</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2/3 - at <strong>Flandreau</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2/8 - home vs. <strong>Estelline-Hendricks</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2/10 - at <strong>Garretson</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2/12 - at <strong>Hills-Beaver Creek (MN)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2/51 - at <strong>Deubrook</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>PLAYOFFS</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"style":{"typography":{"fontStyle":"italic","fontWeight":"800"}},"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size" style="font-style:italic;font-weight:800">Best of luck to Elkton-Lake Benton this season!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":2290360,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/elk.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/elk.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-2290360" /></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image -->