This one’s O’Gorman’s a keeper - Townsquare Interactivequantumdatasystems-pacesettersports.townsquareinteractive.com/... · O’Gorman. The 6-foot-5 guard averaging 19.4 points

Volume 2 Issue No. 4 February 17 2016-2017

AROUND THE STATE

*Gylten, Cavaliers stay No. 1:*Bridgewater-Emery boys 16-0*Skater turned into hoops star

*Youth tournaments coming up

Augustana keepsO’Gorman’ssweet shoooter Matt Cartwright inside the borders

This one’s a keeper

By Bruce Strand

Matt Cartwright leads top-ranked Sioux Falls O’Gorman

with 19.4 points per game.

South Dakota

Augustana’s nationally promi-nent men’s basketball team

does not recruit many South Da-kotans but they’re eager to suit up one player right in their back yard, Matt Cartwright of Sioux Falls O’Gorman.

The 6-foot-5 guard averaging 19.4 points for the top-ranked Knights (14-3) has signed with the Vikings, and is regarded as likely to make an immediate impact. In a Sioux Falls Argus feature by Matt Zimmer this week, he’s described as a combo guard and possibly the best pure shooter in the state.

“Matt’s the real deal,” O’Gorman coach Derek Robey told the Ar-gus. “He’s one of the best shoot-ers we’ve ever had here and one of the best teammates, too. For him to score almost 20 points a game at the ‘AA’ level, especially with the other good players that we have on our team, really says something.”

Robey noted that O’Gorman has sent several players to the college ranks where they’ve done well

in recent years — including Ced-ric Lang (Texas-El Paso), Sterling Nielson (St. Olaf), Keaton Moffitt (South Dakota State) – and “he’s right up there with those guys.”

Cartwright’s father, Bill, was a 6-foot-8 post for South Dakota State, scoring over 1,000 points

there. He coached Matt’s teams all the way up the youth basketball ranks. Bill’s daughter Kate also played for O’Gorman and son Jack is a freshman on the JV.

Robey said Cartwright works as hard as anyone he’s coached in his 30 years, starting with the summer youth program where he would “hang out all day long.”

Augustana coach Tom Billeter said of Cartwright: “Matt is a young man we identified early in the recruiting process as a complete offensive player. He has excellent ball han-dling, passing and scoring skills. We have also seen a definite im-provement in his defensive skill-set the last couple of seasons.”

Augustana captured its first national championship last season. The top three scorers graduated. The Vi-kings are 19-7 this year. Their only home-state player is Steven Schae-fer, junior guard from Rapid City Stevens who’s averaging 8.7 points off the bench.

Pacesetter Newsletter South Dakota Basketball News February 17 Page 2

Gylten-led St. Thomas More still Class A team to beat St. Thomas More graduated six players after winning

its third straight Class A crown (and fourth in five years) but the Cavaliers are right back in business with an 18-0 mark and No. 1 ranking.

Their key veteran is Dru Gylten, 5-11 guard who signed with Utah in December. Along with playing on three state championship teams, she got national experience competing around the country and in Europe with North Tartan AAU of Minneapolis last summer.

The Cavaliers’ marquee game so far was a 53-51 win over Ethan, the only loss for the top-ranked Class B team, on Jan. 14. Klaire Kirsch had 16 points, Aisling Duffy 13, and Gylten nine points, seven assists and four steals. Karly Gustafson hit 23 for the Rustlers (18-1).

In another duel of unbeatens, the Cavaliers turned back Belle Fourche 47-36 on Wednesday evening with Gylten sinking 18 points and Kirsch 14.

Bridgewater-Emery, top-ranked in Class B boys with a 16-0 record, has cruised in every game but

for a 46-39 win over Warner (14-4) and a 54-46 win over Sanborn Central-Woonsocket (12-6).

Two sophomores lead the Huskies in scoring, each with 15.2 points per game currently. They are 6-3 guard Sawyer Schultz and 6-2 forward Jamin Arends, both also excellent passers averaging about 4.5 assists each. Sam Arend, 6-1 senior guard, averages 12.2 points and 6.8 rebounds, and Cade Schmitt, 6-5 senior center, av-erages 9.7 points and 5.8 rebounds.

Jamin Arend is 48-for-107 on three’s. He drilled six of them and totaled 26 points as the Huskies beat No. 2 ranked Corsica-Stickney on Saturday. He beat defend-ing state champ Warner with a late 3-pointer Jan. 21.

Lady Blackhawks run table in conference

The Sanborn Central/Woonsocket girls, ranked No. 2 in Class B, finished conference play 8-0 with a 53-16 win over James Valley Christian. Maya Selling scored 27 points and made her 500th career assist. Megan Poyer chipped in 14 points for the Lady Blackhawks (17-1).

Hamlin girls (21-0) pulling out close games

The Hamlin girls have survived five close games on the way to a 21-0 record. The No. 2 ranked Class B team, coached by Tim Koisti, has edged DeSmet 63-62, Dell Rapids 52-48, Castlewood 37-32, Webster 55-50 and

Flandreau 62-59. The Chargers had no such drama last Saturday, though, thumping Sioux Valley 69-39 with Lexi Wadsworth notching 19 points and 16 rebounds, Bryann Alfson and Logan Kessler 13 points each, Chloe Grantham 11 and Grace West 10.

SPORTS WRITERS STATE RANKINGS

Boys Class AA — (1) Sioux Falls O’Gorman 14-3 (2) Brandon Valley 14-3 (3) Brookings 15-2 (4) Rapid City Stevens 11-4 (5) Huron 11-5

Boys Class A — (1) Madison 14-3 (2) Sioux Valley 16-2 (3) Sioux Falls Christian 12-4 (4) St. Thomas More 13-5 (5) Vermillion 14-3

Boys Class B — (1) Bridgewater-Emery 16-0 (2) Cor-sica-Stickney 14-2 (3) Langford Area 15-2 (4) Wolsey-Wessington 15-1 (5) Sully Buttes 13-3

Girls Class AA — (1) Harrisburg 15-1 (2) Brandon Valley 15-3 (3) Sioux Falls Roosevelt 13-5 (4) Aber-deen Central 11-5 (5) tie, Sioux Falls Lincoln 12-7 and Rapid City Stevens 12-4

Girls Class A — (1) St. Thomas More 17-0 (2) Ham-lin 18-0 (3) Lennox 17-1 (4) McCook Central-Montrose 17-2 (5) Little Wound 16-2

Girls Class B — (1) Ethan 18-1 (2) Sanborn Central-Woonsocket 17-1 (3) Sully Buttes 17-1 (4) Warner 17-2 (5) De Smet 15-3

Soph duo leading top-ranked Bridgewater-Emery


Questions? Call Pacesetter at 320-243-7460 or email: [email protected] • www.pacesettersports.net

Follow our Facebook page: Pacesetter Basketball

All grades refer to the 2016-2017 school year.All players on a team must either be enrolled in the same school system or live in the

same city, the same school district or the same tribal community. Smaller schools may combine to form one team if the combined enrollment of their high schools for grades 9-12 is 400 or fewer. Schools that combine should be from the same area.

Region Playoff Schedule

FREE Timberwolves

Tickets(2017-2018 season)

All players will receive a free ticket offer!

Sioux Falls Hurricanes - 5th Grade Boys 2016 Great Four-State Champs

REGION PLAYOFFS

North Region: Madison

Saturday, Feb. 25Boys Grades 4, 6 & 8Girls Grades 5, 7 & 9

Sunday, Feb. 26Boys Grades 5, 7 & 9Girls Grades 4, 6 & 8

South Region: Vermillion

Saturday, March 4Boys Grades 5, 7 & 9Girls Grades 4, 6 & 8

Sunday, March 5Boys Grades 4, 6 & 8Girls Grades 5, 7 & 9

Region Champion and Runner-up are invited to the South Dakota State Championship April 1-2 in Yankton.

Top two teams at STATE advance to Great State in the Twin Cities.

The South Dakota state champion and runner-up in each grade are invited to the

Great Four-State Championship in the Twin Cities.

Send check with this entry form to: PACESETTER, PO BOX 222, PAYNESVILLE, MN 56362Registration also available online at www.pacesettersports.net

If registered by Dec. 30: $145/teamStarting Dec. 31: $155/team3-4 game guarantee

All players are from one school district. School district

Combined team. List all school districts

(See back for details)

Site Grade Circle Boys or Girls Circle Rating: Strong - Good - Fair - Weak

Team Contact Person Team Color

Cell # Alt #

Mailing Address

Email address

Alternate Contact Person Cell #

Team Entry Form - SOUTH DAKOTA Region Playoffs

(needed if two teams from same school register)

(Street) (City) (State) (Zip)

(Email address required - Confirmation will be sent via email - Please write legibly)

DEADLINE: Mail – Prior Saturday Online – 12:00 noon Monday

Email Erik Olson at [email protected]


By Jeff McCarronPacesetter Director

There is a tug-of-war on for basketball players. This battle splits two ways: the groups that offer all-star team or club team tournaments and the groups that of-fer school team or community team tournaments.

At Pacesetter, we provide for the “hometown team” group, where youth basketball teams in grades 4-9 that are school-based or community-based now have a “Fi-nal Four-style” playoff system, the Pacesetter Great Four-State championships, that involve over 900 teams in four states: MN-IA-ND-SD.

Pacesetter Sports started this system in 2010 to give school teams an exciting playoff to match or surpass the lure of AAU teams traveling to tournaments around the country. All players must either attend the same school or live in the same city, school district or tribal community. Smaller schools (under 400 in 9-12) may combine if the total enrollment adds up to 400 or less.

Teams begin with Region Playoffs in February-April in their own section of their state, seeking to advance to state championships. The top two teams in their state tournaments then advance to the Pacesetter Great Four-State championships in the Twin Cities. The Tar-get Center hosted the championships from 2010-2016. Due to construction this summer, the championships will be held at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

Last year Minnesota and North Dakota won four “Great State” titles each, Iowa three and South Dakota one. Here are the 2016 Great Four-State champions:

MINNESOTA7th Grade Boys – Stewartville9th Grade Boys – Perham8th Grade Girls – Eden Valley-Watkins9th Grade Girls – Mountain Iron-Buhl

NORTH DAKOTA4th Grade Girls – Bismarck Showtime6th Grade Girls – Central Cass7th Grade Girls – Dakota Thunder8th Grade Boys – St. John’s/Four Winds

IOWA4th Grade Boys – Pella5th Grade Girls – Xavier Catholic6th Grade Boys – Mason City

SOUTH DAKOTA5th Grade Boys – Sioux Falls Hurricanes

Fliers, further information and registration are avail-able at www.pacesettersports.net.Teams in the Great Four-State are invited to a meeting in the Marriott or Radisson ballroom, a Timberwolves suite, or the Target Center floor, the night before their event. Players are introduced in front of the hundreds of players, parents and coaches. The next day they play on the home of the Timberwolves and the Lynx. It doesn’t get any better than that.

The road to Minneapolis-St. PaulYouth teams now have ‘Midwest Madness’ Playoffs


The 2017 Pacesetter Winter Classic Basketball tournament will be held at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, MN.

These tournaments are open to all boys’ and girls’ teams in grades 4-5-6-7-8. All players must either be enrolled in the same school system or live or attend school in the same city, the same school district or the same tribal community.

Each date it limited in the number of teams that can be a accepted. These are ONE day tournaments. All teams will play 3-4 games.

Championship teams will receive a team plaque and top finishers will receive individual medals with neck ribbons.

2017 Winter ClassicMarch 4 - 5Circle gender: Boys or GirlsCircle grade: 4 5 6 7 8

Team Entry FormQuestions?

[email protected]

Team rating: (confidential)

Strong Good

Fair Weak

School Team Color (needed if two teams from same school enter)

Team Contact Email address (required - confirmation will be sent via email)

Cell # Alternate #

Mailing Address (Street) (City) (State) (Zip)

Alternate Contact Cell # Make check payable to Pacesetter and send with form to Pacesetter, PO Box 222, Paynesville, MN 56362

Up to Dec 30. $150/team per tournament * After Dec. 30 $160/team per tournamentRegistration also available online at www.pacesettersports.net

Registration also available online at www.pacesettersports.net • Follow us on Facebook: Pacesetter Basketball

$10 discount if registered

by Dec. 30

Saturday, Mar. 4Boys Grades 4, 6, 8 & Girls Grades 5, 7

College of St. Benedict, St. Joseph

Sunday, Mar. 5Boys Grades 5, 7 & Girls Grades 4, 6, 8

College of St. Benedict, St. Joseph

$150/entry if postmarked by December 30, 2016. $160/team if postmarked after December 30.

Limit of 16 teams per grade/gender • Register by Feb. 24

Pacesetter Newsletter Minnesota Basketball News February 17 Page 6

By Jeff McCarronPacesetter Director

Ex-Gopher Richard Coffey, I recently read, volunteered to coach his son Amir’s (starting Gopher freshman) 3rd grade AAU team because he wanted him to play the point - in case he didn’t grow tall, he could still play big-time. It worked. When is the best age to start learning basketball? I have had the joy of teaching kids in camps for 41 years – all ages K-12 – and I look at it this way: Stage 1: Building Excitement - Ages 1-5

It is helpful to get kids excited in a sport early – by al-lowing them to watch games, to be around players, to dribble, pass, shoot at low baskets and have fun. Stage 1 can start as soon as they can sit up and roll a ball and can continue through ages 1-5 at small baskets with fun and excitement – not technique - as the focus. Stage 2: Teaching Skills - Grades K-2

Kids in K-2 can be taught ball handling, passing and shooting skills, plus footwork, and defensive skills. They may not pick it all up, but if “fun and excitement” are happening and competitive drills and little games are played to keep their interest, they will stay engaged and do their best. SHOOTING NOTE: Players should definitely be playing at low-er baskets at the K-2 level, so cor-rect shooting form can be taught and they can have success making baskets. How low? If a player can make 1 of every 3 shots or better, they can get hooked on shooting. Let them ad-vance out farther at the same basket or to higher baskets only after shooting 50% or better. PLAYING NOTE: I learned a lesson at camp a few years ago. I had been teaching K-2 camp sessions with 3-on-2 games at the peak of their competition. We could get them to “pass to the open teammate” since there was an extra offensive player. Some real games could be played and baskets scored. We had tried 5-on-5 early in our camp years, but it had often turned into runaways with the ball, dribbling excursions away from the basket, little passing, little shooting, and a sort of

mass chaotic madness that often caused piles of bodies …. as other passive players drifted off seeking pigeons in the rafters. Then a few years ago, I had an espe-cially fascinating collection of characters, cute, funny, energetic, positive. So I gave in to my own desires and announced impulsively, “Let’s play full court!” “Yea!” they yelled. “The big court?” one boy asked unbeliev-ingly. “Yes, the big court!” “Yea!” they yelled again. The game was ON and it became a fantastic madness! Not unlike what I described earlier, but when it was all done, they were sweating and smiling. It brought tears to my eyes, to be honest. They just loved to play! And compete! I’ll never forget that game and will also nev-er forget what Michael Jordan said, “Let them have fun. They can learn the game as they go.” Stage 3: Play Competitively — Grades 3-4

Almost all kids in grades 3-4 can get the ball over a 10-foot rim. Still, it would be helpful to have lower baskets to raise their interest level and keep it there. IN-TEREST and EXCITEMENT TO COMPETE are keys that should be maintained while learning and practic-ing, even through the highest levels. In grades 3-4, skill work on fundamentals is important, so kids learn good habits early. It is hard to break habits later. They can start playing on real teams at this level. They will understand team play concepts fairly well in third grade and be able to start focusing and playing as a team in 4th grade. Games with scores at this level are healthy, and provides an excitement they want and need. People differ in opinion on starting this early, but from what I have seen, if your school or community is wait-ing until grade 5 to organize teams, the teams that have been playing in grades 3-4 are going to give them a “whoopin” which will hurt the all-important PRIDE and INTEREST level. Kids and parents don’t like to lose. If you are not going to start your kids playing competi-tively until grade 5, then be careful not to schedule the best teams that started in grades 3-4, or you could risk a demoralizing situation in your program. A friend of mine coaching his grandson’s team has reported scores like 60-4 in situations like this. That is not healthy for either team. If you start your kids later, get them com-petitive through practice and in-house games before playing the much-better teams. So, get them excited ages 1-5, teach them basic skills and keep them excited grades K-2, and start them on teams with real competition in grades 3-4. And always, keep it FUN and EXCITING…at every age.

When should kids start basketball?

Jeff McCarron


South Dakota REGION Youth Playoffs consolidated into State Championships

The Pacesetter REGION play-offs set for Madison and Ver-million have been cancelled due to low numbers. The 43 registered teams will get an automatic berth in the South Dakota Youth Basketball State Championships at the Summit Center in Yankton April 1-2. The champion and runner-up will be invited to represent South Dakota at the Pacesetter Great Four-State Champion-ships at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul in mid-summer. Saturday, April 1: Girls grades 5-7-9 & Boys grades 4-6-8

Sunday, April 2: Girls grades 4-6-8 & Boys grades 5-7-9

All teams at state will play 3-4 games with 16-minute running time halves. All brackets of 4-16 teams will be a full tournament. All South Dakota school or community-based teams may register through Friday, March 23 at www.paceset-tersports.net. Registered teams will also be posted on the same site. Maximum per grade/gender group: 16 teams Team entry fee: $155 Questions? Write Paceset-ter Director Jeff McCarron at [email protected] or Office Manager Tracey Haines at [email protected].

A Hamlin team was runner-up in the 2016 Great Four-State Champion-ships at Target Center.

For a fellow who played hockey until eighth grade, Tate Martin became a pretty good basketball player.

Martin, featured this week in the Mitchell Daily Repub-lic, is high-scoring Dakota Wesleyan’s career leader in assists with 805, and has scored 1,204 points. The swift 5-11 senior point guard is second in the nation with 9 as-sists per game, and third on his team with 14.5 points per game, while directing an offense scoring 91.7 per game, fifth in the nation. They’re 21-7 and ranked No. 7.

Martin grew up in Mitchell and helped the Kernels fin-ish state runner-up his last two seasons, after belatedly making basketball his main sport, rather than just playing occasional pick-up games."I played soccer and hockey a lot as a kid and to tell you the truth, soccer was my sport for the longest time," Mar-

Torrid Wesleyan offense sparked by ex-hockey player tin told the Republic. "Then I played hockey up until about eighth grade, and growing up in a basketball town with coach (Gary) Munsen coach-ing the high school team, it was kind of like a no-brainer to go over to the basketball side.”

Dakota Wesleyan coach Matt Wilber said Martin is the best passer he's ever seen and has markedly im-proved his shooting, too. A rival coach, Bill Gavers of Hastings College, agreed: "He makes the machine go. (Dakota Wesleyan) is really efficient offensively and a lot of that is Tate Martin.”

Set for April 1-2 in Yankton; All teams grades 4-9 invited

Tate Martin

This one’s O’Gorman’s a keeper - Townsquare Interactivequantumdatasystems-pacesettersports.townsquareinteractive.com/... · O’Gorman. The 6-foot-5 guard averaging 19.4 points

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