Native Sun News Today: Lakota Nation Invitational kicks off in South Dakota

Friday, December 14, 2018  

By James Giago Davies
Native Sun News Today Correspondent
nativesunnews.today

RAPID CITY— There are a half dozen talented ball clubs in the 2018 Lakota Nation Invitational Boys draw that could win it all.

This looks to be the deepest field in LNI history. All eight second round match up should be championship quality contests.

After Winnebago tore through the draw for two straight years, the team that was champion before they came, became champion after they stopped coming, the White River Tigers, under Eldon Marshall. Despite the depth of field, the two favorites last year, are the two favorites this year, White River and Pine Ridge.

White River outlasted Crow Creek, 73-69, in OT, to win the 2017 title. On paper, Pine Ridge had the best team, and this paper predicted they would be LNI champs, but they bowed to White River, 61-52 in the semis. To say that the Thorpes are once again, on paper, the best team at LNI, is an understatement. First year Head Coach Casey Means has a team seriously loaded for bear, and on paper they are the best team in South Dakota at any level, including Class AA. The challenge for them is to keep off court turmoil from derailing on court excellence.

We preview the 2018 LNI by looking at key first round match ups:

White River is the top seed this year, and deservedly so, having gone to thirteen straight State Class B tournaments, having won the LNI four times, having lost only point guard Donnie Yackley and role player John Petrik to graduation. The Tigers also added 6-5 junior Luke Wells, and Tiger Head Coach Eldon Marshall, described the 2017 sophomore version of Wells as “one of the best Class A players in the state.”

Wells played for Crow Creek last year. But that program had a meltdown of sorts over the off season, and Wells transferred down to White River. Marshall is not shy about talking the strengths and weaknesses of his team, but he held back on even mentioning Wells was on the roster. This was before the team roster was even posted on the SDHSAA website, and even though that roster has but eleven players, Marshall, and able assistant coach Jared Bouman, again have a team that is battle tested, balanced, and every player knows their role, and knows Marshall expects them to play it. Wells is icing on a cake already baked special, and Marshall said they just have to “get him to play some defense.”

Saturday night, the Tigers had no problem with Jones County, beating their closest neighbor, 71-47. They did this without the services of Tyson Iyotte and Teron Sazue, not allowed to play for off court misbehavior. Hopefully all of these wrinkles will be ironed out by tip off Wednesday morning.

Back court: Junior Izaiah Sorace will take over from last year’s LNI MVP, Donnie Yackley, as point guard. Sorace is squat, strong and speedy. He will get help from any of four flexible players: 6-0 junior Tyson Iyotte (a streak player capable of lighting it up for stretches), 6-0 junior Nick Sayler (strong, athletic, and always hustling), 6-2 senior Jadice Morrison (considered the best player on the team in the Argus Leader Coaches poll), and 5-10 junior Kyler Valandra, whom Marshall feels is a solid addition to the team. All but Valandra will see plenty of time at forward. Underclassmen Joe Sayler, Dylan Marshall, and Colbe Scott fill out the backcourt.

At 6-7, senior Jacob Young has been a limited role player for Marshall in the past. This was true of Camren Folkers who was able to step his game up his senior year. The Tigers could use some of that from Young. Wells is perhaps best suited for the high post, as he moves well with the ball, and is particularly adept at slicing to the basket. That leaves 6-3 junior Teron Sazue to battle hard under the boards. He has lost his baby fat, and will be tough to push around in the paint. All-in-all, Marshall has a much better team than last year, and when this team gets firing on all cylinders, they are going to bury some people. The Tigers draw Crazy Horse in the opening game, easy win, but the winner of Todd County v Cheyenne-Eagle Butte awaits in the second round, two class A schools with the talent to hand White River a defeat.

Crazy Horse is coached by Corry Roberts. They were 6-18 last year and lost four players to graduation. It will be another long year for them.

“I was telling people,” Red Cloud Head Coach Christian McGhee said, “it’s going to be hard to win (LNI). You’re going to have at least two hard games, at least. If we get past Marty, we are going to play Tiospa Zina or Crow Creek, and any one of those teams can be scary.”

Red Cloud lost Louis Her Many Horses, Manny Yellow Horse, and Russell Leader Charge to graduation. Their two best returning players are obvious, Riyen Carlow and Ale Rama, but after that, last year’s underclassman role players will have to step up and replace those losses.

“Over the spring, summer, and fall we’ve had a lot of kids that have been workin’ hard,” McGhee said. “We won’t be as experienced as we were, but I really like the team, there’s no head-cases, there’s no headaches, everybody’s on board, everybody knows their role, everybody’s involved, it’s gonna fun, so I am excited.”

On Saturday night, the Crusaders drove up to Hill City, and easily defeated the Rangers, 69-30. Rama took charge early and served notice he is the same Rama, except better.

“He’s our leader,” McGhee said. “He leads by example, he leads vocally, he leads in the classroom, he leads everywhere, and that’s what a captain should do, and I think he is one of, if not the best player, in the entire state. He’s a coach’s dream to have.”

Praise for Carlow must be reassessed every year, because he keeps getting better by leaps and bounds as well. He is steady, and Rama can count on him to be on the scoring end of a well-placed assist. McGhee calls him “a hard worker that leads by example.”

Marty was 4-19 last year and lost five players to graduation. Coach Galen Drapeaux has them at 1-1 early in the season, having lost to Lower Brule, last Thursday, 77-64, and beaten Santee, 68-28. They could give the Crusaders some trouble in this match up.

Back court: The Thorpes have eleven players on their 15-man roster that can play guard. There isn’t much of anything this team can’t do.

“We’re really deep,” first year Head Coach Casey Means said. “And we got a couple of new kids in, too. Got (Jesse Jensen) from Red Cloud, and then got Charles (Schrader) back from injury, and we got a transfer in from New Mexico, Warlance Black Shawl, he played at a 6A school, he played JV, but he was on a little bit of varsity.”

After the departure of Corey Shangreaux, the Thorpes were left coachless much of the summer. Means had been working with Schrader to get him healthy, and he soon started working with other players, for no pay, so when the coaching position was opened up again, “I threw my hat in the ring.” Means was hired, along with assistant coach Shawn Keith, who had helped Means during the summer. What Means inherited from Shangreaux was one of the most talented teams of the last quarter century. His work with the players has left him feeling “truly blessed.”

“Not one of them complains,” Means said. “They work hard, the leaders help the younger ones, they are motivated, the gym is loud, we’re talkin’, and the energy is real high, it’s real positive.”

It’s tough to pick a starting five from these guys but the back court should be Jesse Jensen and point guard Halin Bad Bear. Jensen has a special gift; he plays his best basketball when the team needs a big play the most. He’s solid in every aspect of the game, and if he gets a tough shot off inside the arc, it is usually money. He is a tough defender that takes no guff off any player. Bad Bear is a huge scoring threat for a point guard. He’s tough enough to crash the boards, and if the team gets in trouble, he takes the lead in fighting back out of it.

Lots of depth at forward. Last year’s best were Corey Blacksmith and Juwon Garnier. Blacksmith is solid and strong and Garnier can light it up for a big man. Means will probably rotate a bunch of players through the front court, though, because the team has role players that would be starters on any team else. Means: “A lot of people forget about Joe O’Rourke but that kid is just a fighter.” When the game is on the line, and you need one shot, it’s a good idea to feed the ball to O’Rourke.

The post belongs to Corey Brown. He has the craziest hairdo in the state, and plays a big 6-3— if you are one-on-one with him under the basket, you lose. He has extremely clever hands when taking the ball up to the hoop. Means plans to cash in on Brown’s versatility, and let him roam a bit around the arc. The rest of the team: DJ Vitalis, Greg Swick, Shelby Steele, Troy Red Cloud, Jarren Crow, Leighton Shangreau, and Terrance Two Bulls warrant mention, because you could split this Thorpes team and either half could make the LNI semi-finals.

“I think we’re the deepest team in the state.” Means said. “We can play fast, we can play big, we can play shooters, we can play smart, we can go a lot of different ways. But right now, defense wins championships, so we’re really workin’ hard, grinding on our defense, on our communication, on rotations, the little things. We’re really stressin’ proper close outs, getting through screens, talkin’ on screens. We want to play championship defense before we even get to the offensive side of the ball.”

The Thorpes open LNI against Oelrichs. The Tigers, under second year Head Coach James Knutson, will play hard but won’t win this game, although they did open their season with an impressive road win over Lead/Deadwood, 67-59. Floren Cross Dog was impressive in that game, on both ends of the floor. The 6-2 senior is strong and aggressive, and settling into his role as the catalyst for Tiger success.

In any other year, given MacKenzie Casey is their coach, and they have Deuce Martin, Mankato Lebeaux, Riley Cross and Tex Janis, Little Wound would be favored to win LNI. But this field has no respect for any other year. Because of that, many have overlooked the excellence of this team. Yes, they have been underachievers in the past, and Casey did have to take over from Jay Jacobs last year during the season, so it remains to be seen if the potential of this team can be routinely realized on the court.

“It was tough coming in midseason when the boys are used to what another coach is doing,” Casey said. “And I wanted to incorporate what I wanted to do, it was a tough transition for a few of the players.”

Mankato Lebeaux and Deuce Martin look to be Casey’s guards: “Both returning guys with a lot of experience, pretty strong on D, and pretty aggressive on offense. They should be a good solid back court for me.”

But Casey wanted to stress the strength of his bench: “We finished up try outs with 15 guys and I think we could rotate guys at least ten deep.”

The front court has big potential as well: “Tex Janis is athletic, long arms, about 6-5, 6-6, and he’s really good around the rim, knowing where he’s at and finishing, and he’s also pretty fast in transition, too. Riley Cross is pretty good at handling the ball and shooting, and on defense he’s fast enough, and strong enough, to handle guys in the post, or go out and guard guys on the perimeter.”

Casey had more to say about his bench: “Daryl No Neck will be a guard coming off the bench. Ralph Bear Killer could probably come in and guard some athletic two guards. Brent Tallman could sub in for Tex Janis, he’s a big, strong 6-5. I got a young guy coming in, a 6-8 sophomore, Dylan Cuny. He’s gotta get in a little better shape, but he could be solid help in the post. Verlin Old Horse could fill the two or three spot.”

At 4-17 last year, St Francis pretty much bottomed out. Coach Troy Lunderman has experience back, and there is nowhere to go but up for the Warriors. Friday night, St Francis hosted Little Wound, and lost, 67-58. This bodes well for the Warrior rematch with the Mustangs in the opening round of LNI. They were in that game down to the final few minutes.

On Saturday, the Mustangs hosted Crow Creek, a program which seemed in disarray after the departure of a coach and key players. But they gave Little Wound all they could handle, three Chieftains lighting it up from beyond the arc, and the final was close, 75-71, but Crow Creek threatened to win right up to the final minute. NSNT would like to thank Oitancan Zephier for his Facebook coverage of these Little Wound games.

Bottom line: St Francis has to be fired up to have a first round LNI rematch with Little Wound. The Mustangs won both games this weekend, but a bounce this way or that in the closing minutes and they could have lost both games. That is why getting a game in before LNI is so important.

James Giago Davies is an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota tribe. He can be reached at skindiesel@msn.com

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