HURON — A chance meeting two years ago was the catalyst for bringing the 2018 South Dakota Amateur Basketball State Tournament, which is scheduled for Feb. 24-25, to the Huron Arena.
While attending the 2016 state tourney in Redfield, Huron businessman and sports enthusiast Scott McCaskell was approached by officials from the SDABA about putting things together to bring the state tournament to Huron for the first time in the organization’s 70-year history.
“The first person I see out on the floor, refereeing, was Roger Nelson, who at the time had to have been 80 or 81 years old; he just passed away a year ago. I sat at half court on the bottom row of the bleachers and wait for a timeout, because I’ve known Roger from my dad in his college days so we go way, way back,” McCaskell said.
“Anyway, he comes over at halftime and I said ‘My God Roger, what are doing out here reffing?’ and he said no one else would do it.
“That game gets over and between games Ace Boschee, who is a current board member, and Roger came up to me and said that they didn’t have a place for th 2018 amateur tourney; why don’t you get working on it,” he said of the events that set the wheels in motion to bring the tournament to Huron.
Despite being a bit hesitant to take on the added duties of organizing the event, McCaskell knew other businessmen and basketball enthusiasts in Huron would jump on board to support his efforts.
“Ace knew Dave and Jay Ellwein of Ellwein Distributing and Jim Stahl of the Scoreboard Pub and Grill from our softball days, and got going on me about talking to them about helping out to get the tourney going in Huron,” he said. “I told him I would look into it and Dave and Jay said yes, as did Jimmy.”
As the time approached for the SDABA to select the tournament site, McCaskell was able to secure the funds needed to bring the event to Huron.
“Luckily, nothing was going on at the Arena when we wanted it, which was a huge part of what I was thinking. If we could tie the Arena into the Crossroads and have everything right there,” McCaskell said. “They are used to playing this tournament in Presho, Redfield and Bowdle.
“I have been around it since 1977 and 1948 was the first year it was ever held and that was held in Mobridge. It’s never been here, so getting this here to me is pretty special,” he said. “It excites me. Playing on the Arena floor instead of playing in Presho, that has to kind of be a draw to these players coming in too. We get to play at the Huron Arena – the best place in the state to watch a game.”
The tournament includes both a Class A and a Class B division, with eight teams in each battling for championships.
“The way they do A and B is not solely on the population of the city. It is on how many former college players you have on your team,” McCaskell said. “If you have more than two college players age 35-and-under you’re in Class A. With two or less you’re in Class B.”
As it is hosting the tournament, Huron will be allowed to have a host team in the tournament. McCaskell’s son, Trevor, has had a team qualify for the state tournament in the past, so that team will fill the role as the host team. Members of the host team include McCaskell, Joey Mitchell, Chase Reid, Terrell Newton, Caleb Carr, Jesse Hajek, Tyler Van Wyhe and Tye Evers.
Sioux Falls is the defending Class A champion, while Watertown is the defending Class B champion.
Huron’s lone state title in the event came in 1993, while finishing second to Miller in 1990 and recording runner-up finishes in 1952 and 1953,
After this year the tournament will be held in Webster in 2019, but the site for the 2020 event is still open. McCaskell is hoping this year’s tournament goes off without a hitch and organizers will be open to returning to Huron in the future.
“We’d kind of like to find three or four communities that want to host this every three years,” he said. “Hopefully this goes well enough this year that we can get on a 3-year rotation basis and know that we would get this every three years and then it would be easy to plan for.”
Mike Carroll/Plainsman Scott McCaskell has been instumental in getting the S.D. Amateur Basketball Tournament to come to Huron for the first time, on Feb. 23-24, in Huron Arena
