Ranger boys make history with first ever trip to state

The Hill City boys basketball team has made history. 

The Rangers qualified for its first ever state tournament in the school’s history with a win over Cheyenne Eagle Butte in the SoDak 16 March 11.

Playing on neutral ground in Sturgis, the Rangers took on the Braves with everything on the line. The stands were packed as both teams gathered to cheer on their team. Hill City had a huge showing for the event. 

As the green and gold poured in the door, it was jokingly asked if there was anyone left in Hill City and that they hoped someone had remembered to turn out the lights.

The Rangers turned out the lights alright. 

The Rangers ran away with the game in the first quarter that ended 21-1. The deficit was largely in part to Zane Messick, who shot the lights out, putting up 15 of the Rangers first 21 points. 

Referencing Messick’s dominant first quarter, head coach Laramie Harvey said, “When he’s hitting like that, you get him the ball and get out of the way. It was fun to watch.”

“The first quarter was crazy. It was exciting. The energy and the atmosphere and everything just got us going,” said Harvey.

The second quarter saw a different Braves starting five and an entirely different game as they worked their way back into the game, outscoring the Rangers 19-10 and decreasing the Ranger lead to 31-20 at the half. 

“They sort of worked their way back into it a little bit but credit our boys to keeping them at bay for most of the game, to keep it right about 10. Most of that, in my mind, happened because of that huge lead we built in the first quarter,” said Harvey.

The Rangers held their lead in the third quarter with both teams landing 11 points, but Hill City continued to climb in the fourth quarter, and finished strong with a 55-38 final score.

 The win qualified them for their first-ever State A Boys Basketball Tournament.

Harvey said making the state tournament was the highlight of the season and a goal that the team had set. 

“We had other goals that we set and came up with as a group,” said Harvey. “Qualifying for the state tournament is probably the highlight.”

Messick led the charge with 24 points, followed by Devin Buehler with 15, Dax Frandsen with nine, Everett Sullivan four and Alex Stoekmann with three.

The Rangers will have a send off Wednesday, March 19 at 8:10 a.m. in Gins Gym. The community is welcome and encouraged to participate. 

The number seven ranked Hill City team will take on the number two ranked Hamlin Chargers Thursday, March 20 at 6 p.m. CDT at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls. 

Due to the large number of faculty and families planning to attend the state tournament to cheer on the Rangers, school will be dismissed at 11:15 a.m. Thursday, March 20 and there will be no school Friday, March 21.

The results of the games will be available in next week’s paper. 

All six state tournaments will air live on TV. Both A tournaments will air on SDPB1-TV, the AA’s on SDPB2-TV, and the B’s on SDPB3-TV. 

Every game will also stream live on YouTube and on sdpb.org/basketball. You can also stream the games live on sd.net – all for free.

SDPB will also provide digital coverage of the state tournaments through stories, photos, stats and more at sdpb.org/basketball.