BROOKINGS — The Brookings Rangers will look to win their fourth consecutive state championship when they host the South Dakota Amateur Hockey Association Boys State Tournament at the Larson Ice Center this weekend.

Entering as the top seed with a 21-1-0-0 record in conference play and an overall record of 30-1-1-0, the Rangers are favorites, beginning with a quarterfinal matchup against eighth-seeded Watertown on Friday at 4:30 p.m. But Brookings is focused on continuing to get better and overcome adversity in each game.

“We’ve done a pretty good job up to this point,” Rangers head coach Garrett Gerstner said. “We’re in a good job heading into the tournament, so we’re just trying to refine some things and have a good week of practice here so we head into the State Tournament on a good note.”

One of the obstacles the Rangers have overcome this season is the turnover on the roster. While Brookings lost Breck Hirrschoff, who is playing this winter with the Sioux Falls POWER development team after leading the state in scoring last season, they’ve seen several players step up.

Senior forwards Owen Schneider (33 goals, 30 assists, 63 points) and Jacob Kahle (27 G, 22 A, 49 P) finished in the top five in the SDAHA in points this season, while junior defenseman Luke Honkomp (6 G, 42, A, 48 P) finished eighth.

Those players had key roles in the Rangers run to the title last season. Others, such as sophomore center Talon Hyde (11 G, 19 A, 30 P) and sophomore forward Jackson Heller (15 G, 7 A, 22 P) have seen their roles increase from a year ago.

While this won’t be the first State Tournament in terms of varsity experience, Gerstner believes that their experience from last year as well as their time playing in State Tournaments at the lower levels will help them this weekend.

“They kind of know the expectation,” Gerstner said. “That’s what we’ve been trying to get through to them. It’s going to be loud and you just go over those things in practice. You make sure you’re communicating because when we get to a game, it’s going to be loud. So we’re just taking it one shift at a time and not letting the moment get too big.”

The Rangers’ defense also plays a key role, as Brookings was the toughest team to score on in the state this year.

Captain David Brink (3 G, 15 A, 18 P) and senior Ren Jacobsen (6 G, 13 A, 19 P) filling out the blue line. The Rangers also boast two starting quality goaltenders — senior Addison Ronning, who has a 10-1-0-0-0 with a 1.73 goals against average and .892 save percentage — and Egan Jensen, who has an 11-0-0-0 with a 0.91 goals against average and.932 save percentage in conference play.

The overall package has helped the Rangers out-score their opponents 157-30 in South Dakota this season but that doesn’t mean they have not faced some adversity. After winning their first 27 games to start the season, Brookings dropped its first game in a 5-0 loss to Sioux Falls East on Feb. 17. They have also allowed the first goal in three of their last five games to close the season.

The Rangers’ last tournament experience also began with a stalemate, as Brookings battled to a 3-3 tie with Edina before winning their next four games to win the Minnetonka Junior Gold Tournament back in November.

“We’ve always responded and that’s been encouraging,” Gerstner said. “We only have one loss but a lot of the games that we’ve played…we’re battle tested and we’ve always responded well to adversity. It’s kind of a good thing going into the State Tournament because you might not get the bounces you want and things might be going your way but we’ve always responded well to it.”

The mindset should serve the Rangers well as they navigate a talented field this weekend. Gerstner said he was interested to see how the No. 4/No. 5 matchup between Sioux Falls East and Oahe would play out with the winner taking on the Rangers-Watertown winner on Saturday night.

The opposite half bracket includes a second-seeded Rushmore team that features Wyatt Reader, who leads the state with 70 points (22 G, 48 A) and Colton Merchen, who is third in the state with 61 points (27 G, 34 A).
Even seventh-seeded Mitchell, who will battle the Thunder at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, jumped out to a 2-0 lead over the Rangers and the No. 3/No. 6 matchup between Sioux Falls West and Aberdeen will be an interesting battle to lead off the tournament at 9 a.m. Friday.

Together, it represents a tall task for the Rangers to win a fourth straight state crown but Gerstner believes his team is up for the challenge.
“We just can’t let the moment get too big,” Gerstner said. “A lot of these guys have played in these games and they’re battle-tested. So we’re just taking it one game at a time, one shift at a time and not get ahead of ourselves. We want to enjoy the moment. It’s only three games so we’re not going to look forward to anything and just earn it day-by-day.”