Vincent Bros., Lunday highlight honor squad

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Sioux Valley brothers Kelton Vincent and Oliver Vincent and Flandreau’s Tash Lunday are among the six members of the 2021 All-Register Boys’ Basketball Team.

Kelton, a senior and repeat honoree on the squad, and Oliver are Register Co-Players of the Year.

The Cossacks made program history this season, going 23-2 and appearing in their first state championship game.

The top seed in Region 2A, Sioux Valley defeated Clark/Willow Lake 57-43 in the semifinals to reach the SoDak 16 – where it was the No. 3 seed. The Cossacks cruised past No. 14 Wagner 79-49 to advance to the Class A State Boys’ Basketball Tournament.

Sioux Valley beat No. 6 Chamberlain 53-44 to open state in Sioux Falls.

The Cossacks rallied for a 62-57 defeat of second-seeded Dakota Valley in the semifinals, avenging their lone regular-season loss.

No. 4 Sioux Falls Christian toppled Sioux Valley 84-50 in the final.

The Cossacks went 21-1 and earned the No. 2 seed at state a year ago, before the tourney was canceled due to COVID-19.

Lunday, a junior, is on the All-Register team for a third consecutive season.

The Fliers finished the year with a 16-7 mark.

The third-seeded squad beat Deuel 61-37 and No. 2 Florence/Henry 48-44 in the Region 2A tourney. No. 6 Chamberlain topped No. 11 Flandreau 56-48 in the SoDak 16.

Rounding out the All-Register team are Elkton-Lake Benton senior Matthew Nibbe, Arlington junior Ryker Erstad and Brookings senior Nick Schefers.

The Elks posted an 18-5 record.

The No. 4 seed in Region 4B dropped No. 5 Ethan 50-39 and No. 1 Howard 54-36.

ELB was the ninth seed in the SoDak 16 and fell 58-51 to No. 8 Dell Rapids St. Mary in the game to go to state.

The Cardinals were the No. 6 seed in Region 3B, beating Iroquois/Doland 63-29 before dropping a wild game to No. 3 Deubrook Area 70-66 in overtime in the quarterfinals. They went 9-13.

The Bobcats ended up 3-17, falling to No. 1 Sioux Falls Washington by a 67-38 margin in the SoDak 16.

No nominations were received from Oldham-Ramona/Rutland.

Ryker Erstad – G

Arlington

6-1, Jr.

Erstad averaged 21 points. He added five rebounds, three assists and three steals.

“Ryker was our main offensive threat this year and continued to improve as the season progressed,” said coach Michael Parry.

He was a first-team All-DVC pick.

Tash Lunday – F

Flandreau

6-5, Jr.

Lunday is on the All-Register squad for a third consecutive season after earning repeat All-State second-team honors.

“Tash has been an incredible force for Flandreau the past three years. His high basketball IQ and strength make him a matchup nightmare for opposing teams. Tash already has the career record for rebounds and is second on the all-time scoring list with one season remaining. Tash has led Flandreau to two SoDak 16 games the past three seasons. Even with all of his individual accomplishments, Tash is a team-first player who wants Flandreau basketball to be successful,” said coach Brendan Sheppard.

Lunday averaged a double-double of 21.6 points and 10.3 rebounds per game, adding a trio of assists.

The three-time all-conference selection has more than 1,400 points and 700 rebounds entering his senior season.

Matthew Nibbe – F

Elkton-Lake Benton

6-4, Sr.

Nibbe led a stout Elks squad in 2020-21 and was a Class B second-team All-State honoree.

He put up 16.1 points and 7.9 boards per outing while shooting 57.3% from the floor.

“Matthew finished his career in Elkton as one of the top scorers and rebounders in school history. He was a pleasure to coach and work with over the last five years. He was very coachable, and worked extremely hard on his game throughout his career and it showed with his play on the floor. Matthew’s ability to score the basketball from different positions allowed us to be diverse in the things we did. He improved a great deal as a passer, being able to distribute out of the post when he was double teamed. His footwork in the post was one of the best I have seen at the high school level in my career. A 4.0 student in the classroom, Matthew is a great student-athlete and represents what we strive to have our program represent,” said coach Steve Erickson.

A four-time All-DVC selection – including first-team honors the past two years – Nibbe ended up second in rebounds (729) and seventh in points (1,299) in ELB history.

Nick Schefers – F

Brookings

6-4, Sr.

The Briar Cliff commit was the sixth-leading scorer in Class AA hoops this year with 15.6 points per game.

He added 5.5 rebounds.

Schefers shot 47.9% from the field and 86% at the foul line.

“Nick is one of the hardest working players I have been around. I am really proud of the player that Nick has become. He worked extremely hard in the weight room and in the gym to become a very good AA basketball player and made great improvement from year to year,” said coach Travis Engebretson.

Schefers scored 563 points – 14.1 average – and corralled 217 rebounds – 5.4 average – in 40 career varsity games.

Kelton Vincent – G

Sioux Valley

6-0, Sr.

The point guard scored 381 points – a 15.2 average – and dished out 126 assists – six per game – as the Cossacks advanced to their first state tourney final in program history. He logged 2.5 steals per contest.

The Register Co-Player of the Year hit nine 3-pointers and scored 34 points in the game to go to state.

He was a Class A All-State second-team pick.

Vincent is on the All-Register team for a second year in a row.

He also made the All-BEC and All-LCC squads and was an Academic All-State selection.

Vincent shot 88% at the free-throw line as a senior.

Oliver Vincent – G

Sioux Valley

6-1, So.

Vincent’s 521 points – good for a 20.84 per-game average – were the fifth most in a season in school history.

He is the Register Co-Player of the Year.

Vincent was named to the Class A All-State first team as well as the all-tournament squad for the runner-up Cossacks (23-2 record).