South Central boys' team returns to state after 50-year absence

BONESTEEL — Randy DeWolf, of Burke, is ready to make the trip to Aberdeen Thursday.

DeWolf, who has been a part of the Burke school system for more than 40 years, will travel to support the South Central boys’ basketball team as it plays in the Class B state tournament for the first time in more than 50 years.

“I’ve been involved in the community in athletics for a long time and everybody is really excited,” said DeWolf, who was a coach for the Burke boys’ basketball team for 10 years since moving to Burke in 1968. “We’ve been knocking on the door a few times and it’s great to watch these guys make it.”

South Central school contains students from Bonesteel and Fairfax. Students from Burke joined South Central in a co-op for basketball in 2002.

The last time any of the schools made the state tournament was in 1959 when Bonesteel earned a berth. Fairfax made the state tournament in 1958, while Burke made the state tournament in 1957.

This year’s Cougars (21-2) earned a berth when they defeated Ethan 63-62 in the Region 6B title game at the Corn Palace in Mitchell.

“Everybody is pretty excited about what happened,” South Central assistant coach Mike Sebern said. “As the team kept winning, more people came to watch.”

South Central is the fifth seed in the Class B tournament and plays fourth-seeded Potter County at 1:45 p.m. Thursday at the Barnett Center on Northern State University’s campus in Aberdeen.

Senior Tyler Frank said making the state tournament is “eye-opening” and is grateful for his team’s following.

“We’ve seen a lot of fans out there that we haven’t seen in the past,” he said. “We’re going to do our best. We want to support our fans like they’ve been supporting us.”

Tags: sports, updates, burke, fairfax, bonesteel