(upbeat music) - [Announcer] This is a production of South Dakota Public Broadcasting.

- [Narrator] For a good portion of the year, basketball is a lifestyle in South Dakota.

And today we're gonna take a journey into some of the stories, the people and the teams that make our high school hoop scene in the Mount Rushmore State great.

From all of us at South Dakota Public Broadcasting welcome to "Tales From the Hardwood."

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- Our first story comes to you from a town with a rich basketball legacy that was damaged by a storm this past year.

- On May 12th, the school took a direct hit from a F2 tornado and it sustained quite a bit of damage.

We lost one gymnasium, our multipurpose one, our big gym is still accessible.

We lost our lunchroom, we lost our kitchen and eight classrooms.

Our library, wait room and locker rooms as well.

- So after I pulled the truck in, I noticed the funnel cloud out.

So of course went out, took a couple pitchers and ended up getting a little too close as I saw the weather coming and then I turned around, tried to get in the door, fumbling for keys, barely made it in.

And when I did, the door slammed shut down me, loud bang, dust everywhere, and that was it.

I was sitting in here and for how loud the bang was and the compression and all the fire alarms instantly went off, and that's when I ran over to the gym 'cause I knew about a half hour before there were kids doing play practice and stuff.

And I didn't even notice that the gym roof was off 'cause it was real dark, and then some flashes.

And when I happened to look, I noticed the gym roof was gone and debris everywhere, bricks in the hallways.

(dramatic music) - [Narrator] Castlewood is a strong basketball school, but due to the storm, this passion was challenged.

- Preparing for a season is different this year for sure.

I mean, you lose a gym, you lose where the middle school would practice, where your lower levels could practice, scheduling's a lot harder.

You know, your high school they're sharing morning practices or going late.

You know, a lot of times we can't practice till 4:30, 4:45 because the middle schools have to get their practices in first since they're younger kids and they've gotta get home.

So it ends up being a lot of late nights.

You can definitely see the dedication that the kids have because it's not easy for them to make the change that we've had to make.

But they've taken all that in stride and everybody boys and girls understand kind of what it means to be good around here and that commitment.

(fans cheering) - [Narrator] The gym damaged by the twister was the older original gym, with the newer gyms still intact basketball games this season can still go on, but it's not quite as simple as that.

For most of the summer, the main gym was used as a massive storage locker.

- When we faced the tornado, we didn't have the gym, so we had to go to Watertown and we just had to drive there every day.

So sometimes we would carpool and it helped build team chemistry and we all had something to relate to through the tornado.

(fans cheering) - We had a couple summer team camps where it was the same thing, guys carpooling and, I mean, it's just us building ourselves as a team.

Yeah, this team is special.

I mean, we're a tight knit group of guys.

It doesn't matter if we're hanging out on the basketball court, we'll hang out at somebody's house.

It's these guys we're all hanging out after school, I mean, it's not just a basketball team, it's a family.

- [Narrator] Along with the gym, most of the elementary classrooms also sustained significant damage.

For part of the year K-5 was in churches, but now a solution has been made.

- We brought in these modular buildings from Texas.

There's eight classrooms in there and four makeshift offices.

That's where we've put our elementary as of right now.

And then I had requested that they build some kind of hallway that connected the two buildings so that the kids didn't have to go on the elements, we share so many teachers, so they come over for art, they come over for PE and music and so it just helps get them back and forth without dressing them completely up every time they have to go out.

- [Narrator] Today, remnants of the tornado can still be seen in Castlewood, but each day things improve just a little bit more.

- There's plans for improvement and I think people are excited about that.

We know it's gonna take a little while.

People ask me when I go places, like, "How's the school coming along?"

And it's like, well, it's about a two to three year process.

So, we know that it's gonna be a marathon to get it all figured out, but my numbers have gone up.

We were worried about losing enrollment and we haven't.

We've actually increased.

And so it's just a good community to live in and the building will come back, but the people are still here.

So that's what makes it special.

- Injuries are a part of sports.

This season in De Smet one player sustained an unfortunate end of their season, but while one door closed, another one opened.

- Bring that down.

- [Narrator] Since day one, head coach of the De Smet girls basketball team, Brendan Pitts has been set at point guard.

- [Announcer] Your number five, Emma Albrecht.

- She's meant a lot to De Smet girls basketball and she means a tremendous amount to the players on the team and a tremendous amount to us as coaches as well.

Just from her positive leadership she's offered even since the sophomore.

Not being a senior, she was a leader out there and last year a leader out there.

And then this year coming as a team captain and just the work she's put in in the off season and like I said, her leadership is just encouraging everybody and just playing as hard as she can.

- [Narrator] After a runner up finish a season ago, Albrecht the bulldogs we're looking to head back to this state tournament.

- So we started off pretty good with two wins on the season, then we drop the game, but that always happens.

And things were going really well, we were getting in our basketball and we were playing how we wanna play.

- [Narrator] But it was a home game against Coleman Egan that would turn the season for Albrecht.

- Yeah, I didn't think it was good when it happened.

- [Commentator] She gets in into Ace, listen and down low to loose but too tall.

Albrecht tried to save it.

She went into the pads hard.

- [Narrator] A trip to the ER would reveal that Emma had broken a bone in her elbow.

Not only ending her season but her career on the hardwood.

- [Commentator] She's gonna, didn't really walk back over to the bench.

- But that brought on a new opportunity.

- Now she's kind of helping those younger girls to see that as well and trying to help them develop into the player that she was.

You know, right away she jumped into that role as kind of a, you know, another person on the bench at, walk in the locker room in halftime or right before talking to team at timeout, we could ask her too, like, "Hey, what are you seeing out here?

You know, anything that you wanna, any input you have.

And she started offering that right away.

And that's been a great, great help to us as a team.

- I enjoy helping them and seeing them grow and just being able to, it's such a different perspective being on the bench to see what's actually going on in the game instead of playing.

And as I'm watching these younger girls play, it's just a whole different look of the game and they've improved and I'm seeing lots of improvements throughout the game, so that's awesome.

- [Narrator] During her time on the bench, thoughts were processing.

Could Emma suit up just one more time?

- As soon as this happened and we knew that it was gonna be over, we wanted to do something for her.

I didn't know exactly what that would look like, but I knew we wanted to do something for her as a team.

- [Narrator] And on senior night, number five would take the court again for the Bulldogs.

- Yeah, that was a really special moment to me.

It meant a lot.

It felt great to be on the court again.

I had a lot of emotions, I was just really happy at the beginning of it and I had a lot of adrenaline getting ready in the locker room.

It felt great just to be there one more time with my team and walking off the court one last time was really hard for me.

- [Narrator] Even though the season didn't end how she wanted, Emma still loves the game of basketball.

- [Emma] It's really just brought me a lot, It means a lot because it's brought me a lot of friendships through my past years and just really good relationships with the sport and my teammates and has brought me lifelong friends.

- Within South Dakota's reservation schools.

Basketball is especially strong, but for Lower Brule the goal of winning championships extends off the court as well.

- [Narrator] Basketball is everything for the people of Lower Brule.

Ask anyone and they'll tell you it's in their DNA.

- I grew up playing basketball so it's always been in me.

My dad played basketball, my mom played basketball, everyone played basketball around me so I kind of just like grew up in it and that's what makes it so special.

Just really love the game and how we play.

- Me Brian and all of them been like playing ever since we were like elementary somewhere around there, middle school.

Yeah, just got like really hang of it, team group, chemistry was there.

- Like we always try to get into the gym, just work on whatever we need to fix.

I see the Bee's basketball, it's really competitive I think that we could go and compete with the other schools, you know A and AA, you know, it'd all still be there, close games and stuff.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Last year the Sioux placed second at the state tournament.

Expectations for this year are high again.

- Last year it felt like we won.

The support was from all over.

I can't just say South Dakota 'cause it was Minnesota, North Dakota, Nebraska.

It felt like everybody was watching that game.

It was a lot of people cheering for us, that was different.

You knew everybody was there to support me.

- Just set to play in this state tournament again, just try to get the state championship this year, hopefully get it, it's gonna be a battle try to get in there again.

- [Narrator] This fall Lower Brule won a different state championship in football with the All Nations Football Conference.

- That was a lot special because I was on that team then when we lost to Crow Creek, I really didn't like losing to 'em.

So ever since then I wanted to go back and try to win it I guess.

Which has dedicated their time into us and they helped us a lot and I thanked them for it because without the coaches we have right now, we wouldn't be here.

We wouldn't did what we just did.

And yeah, so I think the coaches for it.

- [Narrator] Like most kids from small town South Dakota, they're on both the football team and the basketball team.

Lower Brule follows this trend.

- A lot of younger kids look up to you 'cause you do multiple sports and we just is really get recognized for it.

I think it's fun, you know, always got something to do.

Never bored or anything.

- [Narrator] For the kids and fans of Lower Brule, it's bigger than being good.

The goal is to be the best and not just for this year but for the future.

- Because everyone wants to go with par in basketball, and like this group that we have right now, we've made it pretty far.

So I think everyone kind of just appreciates us for like, kind of walking in their dreams are like, you know what I mean?

- It's these kids, it's our way of life I mean that's all we know is basketball here.

I mean ever since they're little they pick up a basketball and that's all we do is play basketball ball.

It feels like that's all we know.

Football was a little different for us.

We didn't have too much, like we said, all the guys never really came out.

it was something that we could get together and play ever since we were little.

The kids, that's all they talk about, that's all they know.

I can say it's our way of life.

- The name Joe Sayler is one that will go down in the history books for high school sports in this state, an on the court leader and off the court role model and a unique legacy in a location that is no stranger to elite success.

- Very mild mannered, caring, all around hardworking, really respectful, smart kid.

- [Announcer] Number 11, Joe Sayler.

- Joe Sayler is basketball, from a young age the love of the game has been in his blood.

- My journey with Coach Marshall started really little actually, he's been my coach since probably first grade, honestly.

I played with him and his oldest son, Dylan, played up ever since probably first grade all the way up to fifth grade, sixth grade until we got into middle school.

So we traveled every summer, every winter, he got busy during the season obviously, but that's where it all started.

And then when we were little as well during that stretch where we were playing on that traveling team, we were also managers, ball boys for the team, the high school team.

I was really little when Louie was playing still, so I don't remember much of hi what his season and his career, but I remember mostly Justice and that's when I started.

I was probably a fifth grade when I was a ball boy for them.

And just being at practice, watching the guys work hard and yell around, have energy and just something I wanted to be a part of since I was young.

- [Narrator] Fast forward to today and Joe is in the same conversation as other White River greats who have come before him.

- I mean, Joe, he has earned everything he has gotten.

I mean he's one of the hardest working kids, one of the best kids that I've ever been around.

I mean his family, everybody, they're just rock solid people.

And Joe was right in there.

I coached Joe a little bit in middle school when he was a seventh grader and you could just tell, he just had it all and he's just had all the feel in the world and able to shoot it, and you know, just very coachable too.

I consider Joe a friend and his family and just everybody that way.

- [Narrator] Along with being elite on the court, the way he presents himself off the court is equally as important.

- And he's a great role model.

He's always making the right choices off the court, a 4.0 student in it.

So he is in school every day and the kids will see that, Chris when they come out here, they'll see how competitive he is.

And when he does on the court he can dunk it, and make long threes.

But he interacts with, like I said, kids in the lunchroom wherever we're at, and he's always quick to make sure that, if a young a little little kid wants to talk with them, he's more than eager to go and interact with the young kids.

- I'm a very caring person.

I really care about others and I'm really about my family, my family and my friends, and I think if they were to describe me, they'd be outgoing, energetic.

That also goes to who I am as a person.

I think it really goes hand in hand.

What I am on the court is kind of how I present myself off the court as well.

I think I'm just calm and ready to just do my best at everything I do.

And when you do that, good things happen.

And he's in the gym all the time.

I mean that's where he honed his skills throughout over the years is just getting in the gym every day.

And he's always there along with his buddies.

- [Narrator] The word community describes so many towns in South Dakota.

White River is no different.

- White River is special because it's home.

Obviously I've grew up, I've never been anywhere else.

But I think some things that make it special is just the community, the support it gets, the loving and the caring that they have.

Not only for basketball athletics, but for the whole school department and good basketballs come here.

They've built good base here for basketball and for the program itself.

And I think just growing up into it, it just means a lot to me because it gave me opportunities and open doors that I never knew I could have.

It's small, but at the end of the day it's the people in the community that matters.

- It's not rare to see two siblings playing with each other in our state for sports.

But what is a little more rare are two siblings who are twins going through the journey of high school athletics together.

Our next stop is in the Sioux Empire with Hannah and Brooklyn Harpe.

(basketball bouncing) - And I'd say that I guess if you were to like hear us on the court talk to each other, it can sound like we're being pretty rude, but I think it just, we're obviously so close and we know how each other play and how well we can do that I don't have to put on the like fake nice voice and be like, "Hey, you do better next time."

I can say "Brooklyn don't make that path with a bad pass."

And I wouldn't say that in like a mean tone on purpose, but I don't really have to be nice to her.

I can tell her what it is and she'll change it.

(upbeat music) - Meet Brooklyn and Hannah Harpe, twin sisters who are both seniors for the Washington Warriors.

Like most siblings who are twins, they have a special bond.

- So like ever since we were little, my mom would like put us in matching outfits.

Sometimes we'd have different colors just so like everyone could tell us apart, but we've always been like best friends.

It's never been different friend groups, it's always been us and our friends.

- We like started playing together so young.

Like we used to live in Idaho and we had this big barn and my dad set up a 10 foot hoop, an eight foot hoop, a six foot hoop and a four foot hoop for us to like start learning like at four feet and then keep going up as we got older.

So that definitely helped, is just always playing together.

- You know, whether they were twins or not, same grade, older grade, doesn't matter, they're very talented, very good basketball players.

The thing that's been fun for me is when I came into the building nine years ago, we had just had twins at home, a boy girl set of twins.

Naturally when twins walk into the gym you're like, "Oh, I have twins" and we were just looking through pictures of all three of the Harpe girls when they were in fourth, fifth and sixth grade coming to summer basketball camps and having the chance to know those kids for that long.

- [Narrator] Growing up, basketball and sports have been a strong part of the Harpe twin's life.

- So with my dad, we'd go to Great Life and we'd played basketball, we'd play 21 and I think that kind of taught me my box out skills, my rebounding skills, my dad was a tall guy and so he didn't play easy on us though.

Like he won every single game.

And then with my mom, we'd go on runs with her 'cause she loves to run.

So it's always been like that.

- Yeah, our thing our like Friday and Saturday nights weren't really, we wouldn't really go somewhere.

We have like a hoop in our driveway and we would play out there, we'd see who could make the most free throws in a row.

We did a lot of basketball on the weekends.

- [Narrator] The girls have also had their share of life challenges.

- My dad passed away my freshman year.

He came to like all of our soccer games, but he passed away before our first like basketball season even started.

And so like there was definitely some, like I wish he could have came to all my games and like I know he is looking down from heaven, his got the best seat there is.

But there's definitely been moments, like my freshman year, I started varsity.

And the first thing I was like, I wanna tell my dad but I couldn't.

And instead of like I play for him instead of like feeling sad about it.

Yeah, I'd say like there's definitely moments that I wish he could have been here for like when we won state, like all I could think about is like, I know he's so proud of us, but it sure would be nice to have him tell us that in person instead of, but yeah, like Brooklyn said, he's got the best seat in the house and he's always watching us.

We know we're making him proud.

- [Brooklyn] Yeah.

- Hannah and Brooklyn have worn the varsity jersey at Washington since they were freshmen and now as seniors, another Harpe is working her way up through the ranks following a similar path.

- At one point I think it was against the Roosevelt, we were all at the same time and it was like Harpe, Harpe, Harpe and you can't really tell the difference maybe like points and rebounds wise, but she looks up to us in a way that she's also one of our best friends, in a also a way that she like can speak to us a little differently.

But we let her know that she's still a freshman all the time.

- She didn't just get her varsity jersey 'cause she's our sister.

She had to earn it and she's been doing a lot of like summer basketball and workouts, and she knows her position and she knows she might not get a ton of minutes, but she knows she earned that jersey and she plays really well for like JV and sophomore and she's gotten a few quarters now for varsity that she's been saving for future games.

- Yeah.

- Ever since I'm a young age I've been going to their games and watching them play and just kind of wanting to be like them and trying to imitate what they do.

I don't know, they're a big inspiration for me, and I don't know, I look up to them a lot.

We got closer as we got older, they were more together when we were younger, but as we've gotten older, it's matured and got a little more closer.

- [Narrator] The Harpe sisters are both committed to playing college basketball at the University of Sioux Falls to remain together.

- Brooklyn, Hannah, Dana they've had some life circumstances that it could have turned their life around, and how they persevered, how they stuck together and how they've become great kids.

Along with all of that stuff is you have to be proud of 'em because that's not easy.

- Indiana is labeled a basketball state, if that's true South Dakota can't be that far behind.

The sport defines us.

It's what we think about and it's a lifestyle to so many on a yearly basis.

We hope you've enjoyed "Tales From the Hardwood."

I'm Craig Mattick and thanks for joining us.

(upbeat music)