WHITE — Deubrook Area will be playing in the Girls Class B State Basketball Tournament for the first time in school history this weekend.

The Dolphins will be the No. 8 seed in the tournament in Huron, which starts Thursday. Deubrook head coach Brad DeBeer said his team has been surprisingly focused since clinching a spot in the state tournament and aren’t heading to Huron to just have fun.

“The kids are super excited,” DeBeer said. “... They’re excited for the chance to go to [Huron] and win more basketball games. Practices have been pretty focused, surprisingly. You might think that because of the fact that it’s our first time going and we’re an eight-seed, we might take a break. But the kids are focused and are excited. They don’t want to go there just to be an eight-seed. They feel like they can go there and win a couple games.”

The Dolphins were the No. 1 seed in Region 2B and beat Oldham-Ramona-Rutland 78-54 in their first playoff game. They then beat Wessington Springs 65-49 to punch their ticket to the SoDak 16. In the SoDak 16 Deubrook was the No. 10 seed and pulled out a 53-50 win over No. 7 seeded Kadoka Area.

DeBeer said during this postseason run he’s felt his team playing more mature and relying on their defense to help them win games.

“There’s two things that have stood out to me," DeBeer said. "We’ve matured as far as situational basketball. We’re starting to understand the clock and when you should take it to the basket or when you should make the extra pass or pull it out and run some clock. You’d expect that with a lot of juniors, a senior that has played a lot and then a couple sophomores that have played. They’re basically a year older now and at this time of the season that’s what you hope [to see].

“The other thing is that I think defensively we’ve played really well the last three weeks or month of the season. Late in the season, postseason, if you can defend and rebound, you’re going to keep yourselves in games. You might have your nights where you also shoot well and those are the nights where you have the chance to win by double digits. The nights that you’re not shooting well, if you’re playing good defense, at least you left yourself a chance to win.”

The Dolphins have three players that average nine points or more per game on offense. Deubrook is led by junior Matya Gouws, who averages 13.3 points per game. Sophomore Kylee Johnson averages 11.7 points per game and junior Matte Bauman averages 9.8 points per game.

DeBeer said he’s confident in his offense going into the state tournament because they are not reliant on only one player.

“I think it’s really important because it’s hard to scout. … We have [three] kids that average nine to 14 points per game, so nobody stands out and every one of those kids can go out and score 18 or 20 in a given night. Again, you have to go out and produce and execute that stuff. But we do have the capability for those kids to do that. I think it’s big going into the postseason because sometimes it gives other teams a little extra to worry about when they’re scouting,” DeBeer said.

Deubrook will have a tough quarterfinal matchup on Thursday as it will take on top-seeded Centerville. The Tornadoes are 20-0 this season and have won 33-straight games, which is a streak that dates back to Feb. 5, 2024.

DeBeer said his team is looking forward to the challenge of taking on the top team in Class B and believes his team will put up a good fight.

“We have not talked about one thing past Thursday. … Our kids are super focused on Centerville. I truly believe [we have a chance]. Granted, they are the top team, they’re the defending champions, they’re undefeated and haven’t lost since early February of last season. So yeah, we know it’s a heavy thing, but our kids are really excited about the opportunity,” DeBeer said.

With it being the first time that the Dolphins girls are heading to state, the excitement around the Deubrook Area community is high. DeBeer said it will be fun to share this experience with the towns of White, Astoria and Toronto.

“We had a big pep rally [on Tuesday] because we leave early [on Wednesday],” DeBeer said. “There were lots of people. … [The community] is excited. We’ve been fortunate to have a couple volleyball trips to the state tournament. There was the football championship a year ago and in 2012 we won a football state championship. Our track programs have been extremely successful. Since 1989 we haven’t had a team, girls or boys, in a state basketball tournament.

“There’s a lot of people from the communities of White, Astoria and Toronto who love the game of basketball. I’m not saying we’re a basketball school, they just love basketball. For those people, you can see it in their faces and the conversations I’ve had that they’re super excited for the whole community. [State tournament appearances] bring towns together and schools together and our kids understand that they’re going out and performing for more than themselves.”