Paul Raasch of state B boys basketball champion Castlewood and 2000 Watertown High School graduate Jeff Lockner are two of 14 area coaches who have received 2025 region coaching honors from the South Dakota Basketball Coaches Association.
Raasch is the Region 2 Head Coach of the Year and Lockner the Region 5 Assistant Girls Coach of the Year.
Raasch guided Castlewood to a 24-2 record and state Class B boys basketball championship in March. Lockner assisted for a Brandon Valley girls team that went 21-3 and finished second in the state Class AA tournament.
Other area Region Coaches of the Year include Jerome Nesheim of Clark-Willow Lake, Region 1 boys; Andrea Begeman of Clark-Willow Lake and Matt Locke of Groton Area, Region 1 girls; Brad DeBeer of Deubrook Area, Region 2 girls; and Stephen Hettick of Mobridge-Pollock, Region 4 girls.
Clark-Willow Lake’s boys went 18-7 and finished eighth in the state Class A tournament. Deubrook Area’s girls went 18-8 and played in their first-ever State B tourney (taking 8th). Mobridge-Pollock’s girls went 19-5 and placed sixth in the State A tournament. Groton Area’s girls were 15-7 and Clark-Willow Lake’s girls 12-9.
Area assistants honored include Paul Fischer of Aberdeen Roncalli, Region 1 assistant boys; Amanda Bain of Aberdeen Roncalli, Region 1 assistant girls; Jeffrey Sikkink of Castlewood, Region 2B boys; Ryan Kemnitz of Mobridge-Pollock, Region 4 assistant girls; and Trey Frederick of Mobridge-Pollock, who shared the Region 4 assistant boys honors with Adam Courtney of Rapid City Christian.
Denise Clemens of Northwestern (girls) and Hank Taken Alive of Mobridge-Pollock (boys) each were honored as the top lower-level coaches in Regions 1-4.
Other Head Coaches
Region 3 — Brian White of Sully Buttes, boys; and Rob Baruth of Sanborn Central-Woonsocket, girls.Region 4 — Kyle Courtney of Rapid City Christian, boys.Region 5 — Craig Nelson of Brandon Valley, boys; and Kent Kolsrud of O’Gorman, girls.Region 6 — Jacob Hinker of Lennox, boys; and Tucker Tornberg of Centerville, girls.Region 7 — Craig Bruening of Parkston, boys; and Cole Knippling of Parkston and Michael Koupal of Wagner, girls.Region 8 — Christian McGhee of Maȟpíya Lúta, boys; and Matt Rama of Maȟpíya Lúta, girls.
Other Assistant Coaches
Region 2 — Brian Relf of Flandreau, girls.Region 3 — Jim Noyes of Huron, boys; and Terry Becker of Pierre, girls.Region 5 — Jared Jansen of Sioux Falls Lincoln, boys.Region 6 — Taylor Becker of Tea Area, boys; and Paul McVey of Lennox, girls.Region 7 — AJ Kortemeyer of Mount Vernon-Plankinton, boys; and Max Schaffer of Mount Vernon-Plankinton, girls.Region 8 — Justice Morrison of White River, boys; and Amanda Carlow of Maȟpíya Lúta, girls.
Lower Level Coaches
Regions 5-8 — Ken Bruckner of Menno, boys; and Tera Koupal of Wagner, girls.
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: S.D. Basketball Coaches Association: 2025 Region Coaches of the Year