Titans cap historic first Class AA State run with seventh-place finish: Gavin Shawd earns All-Tournament honors after leading all scorers

The Tea Area High School boys’ basketball team added another milestone to program history on Thursday, March 19, making its first-ever appearance at the South Dakota High School Boys Basketball State Tournament Class AA State Tournament. While the Titans were newcomers to the Class AA stage, the program entered the tournament with plenty of state experience, having previously qualified for the Class A State Tournament five times and bringing home two state championships, along with two runner-up finishes and a third-place trophy. After officially moving up to Class AA for the 2024-25 school year, this season marked Tea Area’s first trip to the state tournament in its new classification.

Action began Thursday, March 19, with the Titans facing top-ranked Sioux Falls Lincoln in Rapid City. Tea Area opened the game going toe-to-toe with undefeated Lincoln, trailing by just two at halftime. Lincoln pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring the Titans 14-5, then extended its advantage in the fourth to hand Tea Area a 69-44 loss.

“It is extremely difficult to make the tournament and it is even harder to win at the tournament, especially coming in as the lowest seed, but we put ourselves in a great position to beat Lincoln in round one with 12 minutes to play, but couldn’t keep the momentum after the 20-minute shot clock delay,” said Titan head coach Drew Weber.

The delay occurred at the 4:53 mark of the third quarter when the scorer’s table shot clock malfunctioned. Prior to the break, Lincoln held a narrow 32-28 lead, but the Patriots went on a 7-0 run following the stoppage.

For the Titans against Lincoln, Gavin Shawd led the way with 12 points. He also grabbed nine rebounds, had one assist and one steal. Both Mitch Grant and Lane Sieber finished with 10 points. Grant also grabbed six rebounds and had two assists. Sieber had three rebounds, one assist and one steal. Grifin Wiebenga finished with seven points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Dashle Lowery had three points, while Blake Lundin added two points, four rebounds and one assist.

The loss sent the Titans into the consolation bracket, where they faced off against Watertown on Friday, March 20. Tea Area jumped out early, leading 18-13 after the opening quarter and taking a 28-25 halftime lead. The Titans continued to roll, outscoring Watertown 23-16 in the third quarter. However, Watertown rallied in the fourth, and foul trouble caused the Titans to drop the game, 73-68.

“We played spectacularly in an instant classic versus Watertown in round two, but just couldn’t quite overcome the extreme foul trouble that we put ourselves in,” Weber said.

Shawd put on a show against Watertown, scoring 40 points. He went 15-of-25 from the field and 7-of-8 at the foul line. He also grabbed five rebounds, had two assists and two steals. Wiebenga finished with 16 points, four rebounds, a team-high seven assists and two steals. Grant had seven points, four rebounds, three assists and one steal. Lundin provided three points, six rebounds and one assist. Before fouling out, Sieber had two points, one rebound and one steal. Kayden Williamson finished with eight rebounds, one assist and one steal.

With the loss to Watertown, the Titans moved into the seventh-place game on Saturday, March 21.

Tea Area trailed 17-10 after the opening quarter but used a strong third quarter, outscoring O’Gorman High School 19-9, to secure a 63-51 victory and claim seventh place in its first Class AA State Tournament appearance.

“Saturday’s game versus O’Gorman was a rough start, but we finished with some of our best basketball of the season to earn a huge victory for us to cap the season,” Weber said.

Shawd again had a monster game, scoring 30 points, including three three-pointers. He also pulled down two rebounds, had one assist and one steal. Wiebenga finished with 14 points, six rebounds, three assists and one steal. Grant went 4-of-7 from the field to finish with 10 points while adding eight rebounds, four assists and one steal. Lundin had four points and eight rebounds. Lowery scored three points, while Williamson added two points and eight rebounds. Sieber recorded two rebounds and two steals. Caden Bohnenberger had one rebound and one steal.

“I am very proud of our boys. We played at a high level for almost all of the state tournament. Obviously we wish that we could have been the team to cut down the nets, but this experience was wonderful for our entire program and community,” Weber said. “I am going to really miss our group of seniors and all that they have done for myself and our program. We are excited for what the future will bring with a strong core returning, and hopefully this year’s state tournament experience will push us into more success next year.”

For his outstanding play throughout the tournament, Shawd was named to the All-Tournament Team after leading all scorers with 82 points across three games.