Season Preview: Watertown basketball teams hope lack of size won't stop them from being competitive
Watertown High School’s boys and girls basketball teams will once again need to overcame a size disadvantage if they want to make their mark in Class AA during the 2021-22 season.
The Arrow girls, who open their season Friday at Brookings, are attempting to snap a state-tournament drought dating back to 2009.
“We’re going to give up some things that we probably can’t control, but I think we’re going to play pretty hard, scrap and fight a little bit,” said Watertown head girls coach Pat McClemans. “We’re pointing in the direction of trying to be competitive defensively and score some points off of our defense.”
The Arrows boys, who make their season debut Friday by hosting Brookings at 7 p.m. in the Civic Arena, have only one state Class AA tournament appearance since 2009.
“We have a lot of kids who have a real good understanding of what we want on both sides of the ball,” said Wevik. “We’re small like we are every year, but we’re also pretty athletic. One thing that’s been a positive for us is that we’re progressing with things quicker than we have in years past.”
GIRLS
• Head Coach — Pat McClemans, 20th year overall and 13th in Watertown. Coached Arrows from 2004-2014 and now in his second year of his second stint as the team’s head coach.
• Assistants — Chad Rohde, Stacy Hendricks and Jim Wright.
• 2020-21 Record — 6-15 overall, 3-5 in the Eastern South Dakota Conference.
• Top Returnees — Jaida Young, 5-foot-6 junior guard (6.3 points per game and 3.9 rebounds per game); Maddy Rohde, 5-5 junior guard (5.5 ppg, 23 3-pointers); and Kendall Paulson, 5-7 junior guard (1.8 ppg).
• Others to Watch — Kayla Vohlken, 5-5 senior guard; Miranda Falconer, 5-5 sophomore guard; Jade Lund, 5-7 sophomore guard; and Grace Ortmeier, 5-7 senior guard-forward.
• Remaining Roster — Addi Johnston, 5-3 sophomore guard; Emery Thury, 5-6 freshman guard; Neely Johnson, 5-6 sophomore guard; Grace Corey, 5-7 freshman guard; and Avery Munger, 5-8 sophomore guard-forward.
• ESD Favorites — Aberdeen Central and Harrisburg shared the ESD title last winter with a 7-1 record. McClemans lists Brandon Valley, Harrisburg and Pierre among the teams to beat and also thinks Huron, Mitchell, Aberdeen Central and Brookings could be very competitive.
• Class AA Favorites — Sioux Falls Washington, led by University of Texas recruit Ndjaklenga Mwenentanda, capped a 20-2 season with the state title last winter. Mwenentanda is back, along with some other talented players, for a Warriors’ team that should again be solid. Defending state runner-up Rapid City Stevens also will be formidable, along with O’Gorman and the top ESD teams.
• Schedule — Watertown will have 11 home dates this winter, including Dec. 14 (Mitchell), Dec. 17 (Huron), Dec. 30 (Aberdeen Central), Jan. 4 (Brandon Valley), Jan. 13 (Yankton), Jan. 15 (Sioux Falls Christian), Jan. 21 (Rapid City Stevens), Jan. 22 (Rapid City Central), Feb. 4 (Sioux Falls Washington), Feb. 11 (Sioux Falls Roosevelt) and Feb. 18 (Pierre). The state tournament is set for March 10-12 at Rapid City.
• Season Outlook — The Arrows did lose All-ESD performer Maggie Heesch and fellow starters Olivia Corey and Abby Bramer to graduation. Heesch was a big factor defensively down low and teamed with Corey to help Watertown hold its own on the boards.
Senior guard Macee Osthus also saw a good share of action last season, but is out for this season after having knee surgery.
Most of the returning players with experience are perimeter-based players.
“We have some kids coming back with some experience, which will hopefully pay some dividends,” said McClemans. “And we’re going to play a lot of kids early in the season, just because there hasn’t been a lot of separation in practice.”
Ortmeier and Vohlken are the two seniors on the team. The Arrows doubled their season win total last winter and would like to keep moving forward this winter.
“I think we may be a year away and what I mean by that, is a year from now we’re going to have a trio of juniors who have been two-year starters. We should have good guards, along with five or six sophomores who will get experience this year, and then hopefully add some size from the freshman class. If we continue to improve, we could shoot for 9, 10, 11 or 12 wins next year and make a bid for a 6-8 seed and play somebody we match up well with in the SoDak 16 playoffs."
BOYS
• Head Coach — Zach Wevik, 28-35 in three seasons at Watertown.
• Assistants — Matti Kranz, Tommy Mattingly, Blake Heiser and Garrett Priest.
• 2020-21 Record — 8-13 overall, 3-5 in the Eastern South Dakota Conference.
• Top Returnees — Drew Norberg, 6-foot-2 senior guard (15.2 points per game, honorable mention All-ESD selection); Cole Holden, 6-1 senior forward (3.5 ppg and 2.9 rpg); Mack Johnson, 6-2 senior forward (2.7 ppg); Evan Hamre, 6-3 senior center (1.3 ppg); Reese Stark, 5-9 senior guard (2.0 ppg); Devon Lewis, 6-1 senior forward (1 ppg.) and Kohen Kranz, 6-0 sophomore guard (3.0 ppg)
• Others to Watch — Dalton Baumberger, 6-0 junior guard; Jake Olson, 6-2 sophomore forward; Jack Heesch, 5-11 junior guard; Sam Bach, 6-1 junior guard; and Izack Redfield, 6-5 junior center.
• ESD Favorites — Brandon Valley won the league title with a 7-1 record and can’t be counted out, but Wevik feels Aberdeen Central, Harrisburg, Pierre and Mitchell are the likely teams to beat in the league.
Aberdeen Central has a solid returning cast off a team that finished fifth in the state and Harrisburg also returns a solid nucleus. Standouts Lincoln Kienholz and Caden Hinker will lead the charge for Pierre and Mitchell, respectively.
• Class AA Favorites — Four Sioux Falls schools (Washington, defending champion Roosevelt, O’Gorman and Lincoln) are likely going to lead the way in AA along with a couple of the top teams in the ESD.
• Schedule — The Arrows boys will play 10 home games this winter, including Dec. 10 (Brookings), Jan. 7 (O’Gorman), Jan. 15 (Sioux Falls Christian), Jan. 21 (Rapid City Stevens), Jan. 22 (Rapid City Central), Jan. 25 (Huron), Feb. 1 (Sioux Falls Lincoln), Feb. 8 (Sioux Falls Jefferson), Feb. 15 (Aberdeen Central) and Feb. 22 (Harrisburg). The state Class AA tourney is set for March 17-19 at Sioux Falls.
• Season Outlook — Like the girls, the Arrow boys return some talent on the perimeter but will be undersized against most of the teams they face during the season.
Norberg is one of the state’s best guards and Holden, Johnson and Hamre battled against taller foes inside a year ago.
“We have kids who work hard and Drew is a talent at the top of the state,” said Wevik. “We have guys around him who are really understanding their roles and other guys who are capable of knocking down shots. The experience factor has been more apparent so far this year.”
Although Class AA should have a number of talented players and teams again this winter, Wevik said a number of the top teams last year featured senior-laden squads.
“It’s going to be a fun year in South Dakota basketball this year and I really think Class AA is really wide open,” said Wevik. “There’s going to be some teams who are inexperienced. We do have some experience back, which we hope to use to our advantage.”
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Season Preview: Watertown basketball teams hope lack of size won't stop them from being competitive
