Apr. 1—SIOUX FALLS — Doubling down on his South Dakota Gatorade player of the year award from March, Sioux Falls Christian's Griffen Goodbary was tabbed as Class A boys basketball player of the year to headline the all-state honor team.
The 6-foot-11 senior forward and South Dakota State basketball commit averaged 18 points and 6.1 rebounds, helping lead the Chargers to a Class A state title. He also shot 67.6% from the field and blocked 36 shots.
Joining Goodbary on the all-state first team were teammate Pine Ridge junior guard Marvin Richard III, Hamlin senior guard Easton Neuendorf, Rapid City Christian senior guard Benson Kieffer, Dakota Valley senior guard Luke Bruns and SFC sophomore guard Brant Wassenaar.
Richard III lit up box scores this season, averaging a state-leading 34.7 points per game with six rebounds and 3.8 assists per contest, as well. The 6-foot-4 volume scorer also broke the single-game Class A scoring record with 62 points in a victory against Lakota Tech. He also had a 57-point performance at the Lakota Nation Invitational against St. Francis.
Neuendorf, a Briar Cliff commit, led Hamlin to the Class A title game for the second straight season, averaging 16.9 points, seven assists and 3.3 rebounds per game with 50 steals. Neuendorf, along with Goodbary and Richard III are all repeat first-team selections.
Kieffer averaged 18.8 points, 5.1 assists, 4.3 rebounds and tallied 57 total steals for the Comets. The 5-foot-10 sparkplug's big season aided Rapid City Christian in a Class A state tournament third-place finish.
At 6-foot-2, Bruns led Dakota Valley with 22.8 points per game to go along with 6.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists as the Panthers finished with a 14-8 record.
Rounding out the first team selections, the 6-foot-5 Wassenaar played a crucial role in the Chargers' state title victory alongside Goodbary, averaging 14.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.
The Class A all-state second team included Vermillion junior Trey Hansen, Lennox junior Tate Gerdes, West Central sophomore Connor Mebius, Rapid City Christian senior Julius Frog, Sioux Valley senior Maverick Nelson and Madison senior Ben Brooks.
Winner's Carter Craven was the lone Mitchell-area selection through the Class A all-state squads, as he was named to the third team. The 6-foot-6 sophomore averaged 21.7 points and 11.3 rebounds with 43 steals as he led the Warriors to a 16-6 record and a SoDak 16 appearance.
Joining Craven on the third team was Groton Area junior Ryder Johnson, Hill City senior Devin Buehler, Hamlin senior Evan Stormo, Miller junior Isaak Hunter and Clark/Willow Lake freshman Sullivan Felberg.
Custer senior Kyle Virtue, Rapid City Christian senior Simon Kieffer, Sioux Falls Christian junior Cooper Goodbary, Florence/Henry senior Carson Vavruska, Dakota Valley senior Logan Collette and West Central junior Will Kuhl were honorable mention.
