Ethan wins title after tragedy in community
· Yahoo Sports
BROOKINGS, S.D. (KELO) — Ethan has qualified the Class ‘B’ girls state tournament 10 times over the last dozen years, and the Rustlers claimed their second crown on Saturday, but it was with a heavy heart that the team lifted the trophy.
Ethan finished runner up or third five times since it last won the title in 2015. The Rustlers solified three wins in three days with a 48-39 win over Harding County to send the seniors off with a title.
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“All of our hard work paid off,” Ethan senior Rachel Klock said. “(It was) just a sigh of relief, but also super sad because our season is over and all the hard work he’s put in has paid off. But I won’t have any more minutes on the court with all my best friends. So that was really sad. But I’m so proud of us.”
But the feeling of sadness goes beyond this run marking the end of the seniors’ careers. The Ethan community lost one of its own right in the middle of the season. Reed Harter, a 28-year-old teacher and boys basketball assistant coach, died in a crash on Interstate 90 in January.
“My girls took it so, so hard,” Ethan head coach Tom Young said. “There was a period of time that, I think a few of them did not take it even go on. And this has just been a healing part for just for the community and for our team.”
“Losing Harter was really hard for us, but we kept pushing through,” Ethan senior Marissa Storm said. “He gave 100% in everything he did, and we just wanted to carry forward in that in our game. And so that’s just what we tried to do.”
Ethan concluded the season 24-2.
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