Basketball - SDPB State Championship Coverage

South Dakotans might be split on this year’s WNBA Finals as the Las Vegas Aces and Phoenix Mercury are set to tip off in a seven game series that begins Friday night. The Aces are coached by Becky Hammon, while the Mercury are coached by Nate Tibbetts. It’s west river versus east river, but on a national stage.

Basketball is more than a game to the people of Pine Ridge. We meet several community members who tell us more about how it has expanded over the years and impacted the lives of players and their families.

The state of South Dakota lost a good one last month with the passing of Denis ‘Deny’ Lather. Not only was he quick-witted, funny, and extremely sociable, but his knowledge of sports in the state and his passion for coaching – it’s obvious there can only ever be one Deny Lather.

Relive the best dunks from the 2025 South Dakota Boys Basketball Tournaments

Mitch Reed, the superintendent at Florence, was doing radio play-by-play for the Castlewood games on New Country KS93. His color commentator for Thursday and Saturday was Taven Sumner, a fourth grader from Florence. Not only is Taven (probably) the youngest broadcaster to ever call a state championship game, but he’s also blind.

With seven state football championships at two different schools, and experience coaching basketball and cross country, Arlin Likness has built a legacy as one of South Dakota’s most accomplished high school coaches. He joins Craig Mattick on this episode of In Play.