Wall Eagles: Flying High

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>The Wall Eagles were the pride of West River hoops this season, putting together an impressive run that ended with another trip to the State B. Finishing 21-5 against a tough schedule, this group proved they could compete with anyone in the state. Under the direction of head coach Ryan Kjerstad, the Eagles played a fast and intense style that led to plenty of success. Loaded with talent and athleticism, Wall was led by standout performances from [player_tooltip player_id='2126219' first='Teelan' last='Kjerstad'], a 1st Team All-State selection, and [player_tooltip player_id='2311913' first='Emmet' last='Dinger'], who earned 3rd Team All-State honors.</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size">This season marked the second straight trip to the State Tournament for the Wall Eagles, who have now gone 4-2 over the past two seasons at State. Earning both a Consolation Championship (2025) and a Third-Place Finish (2026) at the State B Tournament in Aberdeen. The Eagles were playing their best basketball down the stretch, building momentum at the right time. Their run came to an end in what was widely considered an “instant classic,” as they fell to Freeman by four points in the State Semifinal. Freeman would go on to win the State Championship.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"15px"}}} --> <p style="font-size:15px">See below for team stats, player stats and an in-depth Q&amp;A session.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":3582004,"width":"279px","height":"auto","aspectRatio":"2.1244817578772803","sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/image_b742d5.png"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/image_b742d5.png?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-3582004" style="aspect-ratio:2.1244817578772803;width:279px;height:auto" /></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:image {"id":1842251,"width":"282px","height":"auto","aspectRatio":"1.6019742640578178","sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/SeaonReview-.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/SeaonReview-.jpg?w=865" alt="" class="wp-image-1842251" style="aspect-ratio:1.6019742640578178;width:282px;height:auto" /></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"25px"}}} --> <p style="font-size:25px"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Team Stats</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Record:</strong> 21-5 <strong>PPG:</strong> 73 <strong>OPPG:</strong> 52 <strong>FG's: </strong>748/1,660 <strong>FG%:</strong> 45 <strong>2FG%:</strong> 54 <strong>3FG's:</strong> 202/646 <strong>3FG%:</strong> 31<strong> APG:</strong> 18.3 <strong>RPG:</strong> 33.3 <strong>SPG: </strong>13</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"25px"}}} --> <p style="font-size:25px"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Statistical Leaders</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2311913' first='Emmet' last='Dinger'] (2026) |6'3| -</strong> 15.8 ppg, 44 FG%, 5.1 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.7 spg, 77 3FGM, 34 3FG%</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2275483' first='Dawson' last='Handcock'] (2026) |6'2| -</strong> 8.7 ppg, 45 FG%, 7.2 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.6 spg, 9 3FGM, 17 3FG%</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2275466' first='Carter' last='Sundall'] (2027) |6'1| -</strong> 1.8 ppg, 38 FG%, 1.7 rpg, .8 apg, .7 spg</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2527947' first='Younger' last='Amiotte'] (2026) |6'1| -</strong> 2.6 ppg, 59 FG%, 3.5 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.6 spg</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1894285' first='Jace' last='Mohr'] (2026) |6'0| -</strong> 6.2 ppg, 47 FG%, 3.9 rpg, 4.1 apg, 1.3 spg, 14 3FGM, 38 3FG%</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='3582044' first='Trevor' last='Schulz'] (2026) |6'0| -</strong> 7.3 ppg, 38 FG%, 4.3 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1.8 spg, 18 3FGM, 25 3FG%</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='3582048' first='Austan' last='Kjerstad'] (2026) |6'3| -</strong> 1.8 ppg, 41 FG%, 1 rpg, .2 apg, .3 spg</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2126219' first='Teelan' last='Kjerstad'] (2027) |6'3| -</strong> 27.6 ppg, 48 FG%, 5 rpg, 3.7 apg, 3.7 spg, 79 3FGM, 36 3FG%</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":2508303,"width":"204px","height":"auto","aspectRatio":"1.601901366607249","sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/QA.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/QA.jpg?w=865" alt="" class="wp-image-2508303" style="aspect-ratio:1.601901366607249;width:204px;height:auto" /></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"25px"}}} --> <p style="font-size:25px"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">With Coach Kjerstad</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">PHD: How would you sum up the season for your squad?</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"<em>Most successful season in the history of Wall Basketball, pretty historic for our boys to win a State Football Championship and follow it up with 3rd at the State Basketball Tournament.</em>"</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">PHD: What are some of your best memories from off the court?</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"<em>The State Tournament in general - the sendoff with a police escort from Wall in our charter Bus - all the fun in the hotel, restaurants, practices during the State Tournament experience.&nbsp;The police escorted them back into town upon arriving home.</em>"</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">PHD: Can you talk about a time when you overcame adversity?</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"<em>We faced plenty of adversity this season, with 4 of our losses being decided by 4 or fewer points.&nbsp;We used those lessons to find areas that needed improvement and used them to fuel a great postseason.</em>"</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">PHD: Who was your most improved player?</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"<em>Our entire squad continued to build upon a great foundation.</em>"</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">PHD: Who were a few of your hardest workers?</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"<em>You don't get to where we got with only a few hard workers - our team strived on grit and intensity from the first game to the last.</em>"</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">PHD: Can you talk about your seniors?</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"<em>This is a special group of Seniors who have accomplished more on the hardwood than has ever been accomplished in Wall.&nbsp;They will be greatly missed next season, but they have left a legacy that will be remembered far beyond their time at Wall.</em>"</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">PHD: Who was your best defensive player?</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"<em>[player_tooltip player_id='2275483' first='Dawson' last='Handcock'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2527947' first='Younger' last='Amiotte'] were our two guys that were tasked with defending the opposing team's best players all season.&nbsp;They loved playing this role and were very effective in keeping the best players in check.</em>"</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">PHD: Were there any memorable buzzer-beaters, upsets, or clutch performances?</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"<em>For us to enter the State Tournament as the #6 seed and play De Smet #3 - Obviously most people were taking De Smet, not only because they had a great squad, but they have such a tremendous resume regarding success over the past few decades.&nbsp;For us to go in and knock them off in the opening round was a pretty big deal for our program.</em>"</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">PHD: What lessons from this season go beyond basketball?</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"<em>Using our failures as fuel and transforming those failures into great learning tools for what we needed to work on and get better at.&nbsp;In doing so, those failures changed from failure to positive lessons that made us better and allowed us to win some really big games down the stretch.</em>"</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">PHD: Can you talk about an assistant coach?</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"<em>Coach Handcock and Coach Dinger have been instrumental in our success.&nbsp;Both of those guys love our boys and have done more than I could describe in words.</em>"</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"style":{"typography":{"fontStyle":"italic","fontWeight":"1000","fontSize":"17px"}}} --> <p style="font-size:17px;font-style:italic;font-weight:1000">BEST OF LUCK TO THE EAGLES THIS OFF-SEASON!!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":3582004,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/image_b742d5.png"><img src="https://prephoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/image_b742d5.png?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-3582004" /></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image -->