Pentagon to host 2023 South Dakota Girls “AA” State Basketball Tournament
07/26/2022 | By Sanford Media Relations
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Another South Dakota state championship will be awarded at the Sanford Pentagon. The South Dakota Girls “AA” State Basketball Tournament is coming back to the Pentagon in Sioux Falls in 2023.
The tournament is scheduled for March 9-11 and will be the second state championship hosted at the Sanford Pentagon. The Pentagon also hosted the South Dakota Girls “AA” State Basketball Tournament in 2021.
Information on tickets, schedules and brackets will be announced later.
“State tournaments are a special time for athletes, their families and the entire community, and we want to give everyone who enters Heritage Court the best experience they’ve had at a high school basketball game,” said Jesse Smith, vice president of operations for Sanford Sports. “If this is the last time some of these athletes step on a court, we want them to leave with memories that will last the rest of their lives.”
The Sanford Pentagon has hosted dozens of elite high school girls and boys games since opening in 2013. The Pentagon has also hosted multiple NCAA and NAIA championships including the 2015, 2016 and 2018 NCAA DII women’s basketball Elite Eight, the 2017 and 2018 NCAA DII men’s basketball Elite Eight, the 2015 NCAA DII volleyball Elite Eight as well as the 2018-2020 NAIA DII men’s basketball tournament.
63 Division I men’s college basketball games and 16 NCAA Division I women's college basketball games have been contested at the Pentagon, including a double header last season featuring eventual national champion South Carolina, Final Four participant Louisville, Sweet 16 participant South Dakota and NCAA Tournament qualifier Arizona.
This season Baylor will play Gonzaga in a rematch of the 2021 men’s national championship game and South Carolina, the defending women’s national champions, will face South Dakota State, the defending WNIT champions.
The Sanford Pentagon is also home to the Sanford POWER Basketball Academy, the region’s premier basketball program where athletes of all ages fine tune their skills to prepare for the prep season.