South Dakota's winter high school sports seasons kicking into high gear

Here's some recently highlights/top performers from area basketball, wrestling, gymnastics and hockey. Some weekend wrestling highlights were published previously.

Girls Basketball

Scores and top performances from Dec. 11 games included:

• Northwestern beat Wilmot 56-42 with 23 points from Ashley Haven and 15 from Breelyn Satter. Jada Cameron scored seven for Wilmot.
• Kailey Cradduck's 24 points and eight rebounds and Liberty Trystad's 13 points led No. 5 Sioux Valley past Sisseton 62-44. Elliot Hortness tallied 15 points and Saylor Langager 13 rebounds for Sisseton.
• Anika Mueller's 18-point, 13-rebound performance helped Faulkton Area slip past Hitchcock-Tulare 41-39. Cambree Hoekman led HT with 12 points.
• Hadlee Holt scord 15 points and Bentlee Holt 12 to lift Iroquois-Lake Preston past Oldham-Ramona-Rutland 58-33. Kenlee Hansen's nine points paced ORR.
• Rylee Voeller tallied 18 points and six rebounds to lead Aberdeen Roncalli past Redfield 57-24. Brynn Giblin had 10 points and Charli Jungwirth nine points and six rebounds for Redfield.
• In season-opening high school games on Dec. 5, Aberdeen Roncalli defeated Northwestern 46-19 behind 11 points from Claire Crawford and nine from Gabby Thomas. Satter and Tara Blachford each scored six for Northwestern. ... Milbank downed Great Plains Lutheran 55-18 with Susie Schuneman scoring 17 points, Anna Neugebauer 12, Avery Schuneman nine and Belle Pauli eight. Kate Holmen and Katherine Prahl each scored five for GPL ... Arlington edged Luverne (Minn.) 50-49 behind Jaelyn Huntimer's 24 points, Emarie Vincent's 11 points and Sony Johnson's 11 rebounds and five steals.

Boys Basketball

South Dakota's high school boys season opened on Dec. 11.

• Estelline-Hendricks rolled past Garretson 86-56 by getting 22 points from Cade Hexem, 21 from Kyler Carlson and 14 each from Drayden Cokens and Larkin Schultz. Hexem added 12 rebounds and Schultz 11. Cokens dished out six assists and Carlson four. Brecken Weir led Garretson with 17 points.
• Sioux Valley topped Sisseton 67-38, with Carter Sapp producing 17 points and nine rebounds, Brady Hiltunen 16 points, Connor Reif 12 points and Holdyn Ruesink eight points and nine rebounds. Derrick Flute had 15 points and seven rebounds and Vincent Donnell nine points for Sisseton.
• Lucas Peskey recorded 23 points and eight steals and Carter Arbeiter 13 points and 12 rebounds to lift Iroquois-Lake Preston past Oldham-Ramona-Rutland 55-46. Brodie Albertson had 19 points and Boyd Pooler 16 for ORR.
• Northwestern topped Wilmot 75-59 with Ty Boekelheide pouring in 27 points. Maddox Foss scored 17 points, Ethan Schwenn 11 and Carson Jurgens 10 for Wilmot.
• Canby fell to Renville County West 90-59 in a Minnesota high school game. Jace Rangaard notched 17 points and eight rebounds, Owen Peterson 15 points and Hunter Kack 12 points for Canby.

Boys Wrestling

• Aberdeen Central improved to 6-0 with dual wins over Sioux Falls Lincoln 66-12 and Sioux Falls Roosevelt 79-0 on Dec. 11 in Rapid City Duals. Jackson Dargatz (126 pounds), Mason Backous (132), Marlon Batista (144), Porter Lozenski (157-165), Grayden Timm (175) and Hunter Herceg (215) each went 2-0 for the Golden Eagles.

OPENING WEEK WRESTLING: Area high school boys and girls wrestlers open the 2025-26 season

Gymnastics

• Harrisburg won the Hub City Invite on Dec. 11 at Aberdeen with a 144.55 score. Watertown was second at 139.5, followd by Sisseton (133.5), Milbank Area (127.15) and Aberdeen Central (126.65). Shauna Evenson of Watertown won the balance beam (9.5) and took third in the all-around (35.7). Emery Gaikowski of Watertown was fourth (34.7) and Izzy Metz of Sisseton fifth (34.05) in the all-around.
• Deuel edged three-time defending state A champion Estelline-Hendricks 134.75-132.8 in a dual on Monday, Dec. 8. Tai Engels won the floor exercise (9.4) and Hannah Cutshaw tied for first in the balance beam (8.9) for Deuel. Maggie Hausman of Estelline-Hendricks won the uneven bars (8.45) and all-around (34.7) and tied for first in the balance beam. Teammate Riah Hartung won the vault (9.25).
• Due to bad weather, Watertown and Aberdeen Central did not compete in the Pierre Invitational on Dec. 6. Harrisburg won the tourney with a score of 147.125. Katelyn Maeschen won the vault, uneven bars, floor exercise and all-around (37.725) titles for Harrisburg.

Boys Hockey

• The Watertown Lakers varsity boys hockey team went 5-0 and won the 2025 Woodchipper Classic Jr. Gold 18U boys tourney Dec. 5-7 at Fargo. Watertown beat Langdon 9-3, Northwood 5-2, Tri-City 6-1, Aberdeen 6-0 and Langdon again 3-0 in the championship. Laker leaders included Aidyn Melville (5 goals, 4 assists), Tyler Roberts (3-5), Colton Kasuske (4-4), Jett Van Gilder (4-1), Jack Elshere (2-5), Boston Butler (3-3), Jake Root (1-4), Bailey Dorneman and Quinten Jorgenson (each 3-1) and Tyson Lawrence (2-1). Goalie Kohl Nygaard made 72 saves in four games.
• The Watertown Lakers varsity girls team improved to 4-1 with a 3-0 South Dakota Amateur Hockey Association win over Mitchell on Dec. 5. Emma Schleusner scored two goals and Lily Murray one. Harper Hendricks, Mikenna Knopf and Gracelyn Webb each added assists, and Kira Reppe recorded 20 saves in net.
• The Aberdeen Cougars went 2-2 inthe 2025 Woodchipper Classic Jr. Gold 18U boys tourney Dec. 5-7 at Fargo. Aberdeen beat Brookings 4-0 and the Fargo Phantams 6-4 and lost to Wayzata 8-2 and Watertown 6-0. Paxton Dallman scored five goals for the Cougars. Dylan Kleffman added one goal and three assists.

Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: [email protected]

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Area high school athletic roundup