Dustin Monke

Legendary basketball coach Don Meyer captivates during speech in Lemmon

LEMMON, S.D. — Becky Engel was holding up the line.

Everyone behind her would have to wait though. The man who had just spoken for an hour was now listening intently to her.

Engel, an 18-year-old senior at Faith (S.D.) High School who is in remission from leukemia, was one of hundreds who listened to legendary basketball coach Don Meyer speak Tuesday afternoon at the Lemmon Armory.

Meyer, one of the winningest college basketball coaches of all time and a cancer survivor, spoke for about an hour on the subjects of leadership and character.

“It was nice to know that he still has the encouragement with all that he has gone through, and he gives me encouragement too,” said Engel, who was diagnosed last August. “… It helps me see that you have to stay strong through it all and keep going.”

The 67-year-old captivated an audience of mostly northwest South Dakota schools high school students and Lemmon community members with anecdotes, jokes and motivational talking points.

He struck a chord with Engel, however, because of his backstory.

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1-on-1 with Austin Dufault

Colorado’s Austin Dufault, front, gets a rebound against California’s David Kravish during the semifinals of the Pac-12 tournament in Los Angeles on March 9. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

On Monday night, I spent 20 minutes chatting over the phone with Colorado senior forward Austin Dufault. The 2008 Killdeer High School graduate and former North Dakota Mr. Basketball winner leads his team into their first NCAA tournament game since 2003 when they face UNLV at 8 p.m. Thursday at The Pit in Albuquerque, N.M.

Below is our complete interview. In bold is a brief overview of the questions I asked Austin. Make sure to check out my feature story on Dufault in Wednesday’s edition of The Dickinson Press.

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Hettinger 4, Regent 2: Players, coaches and officials recall the infamous low-scoring basketball game

42 Game — This image, taken from the Hettinger County Herald, shows the lack of action that was prevalent during the District 24 boys basketball tournament game that was played Feb. 27, 1992, at Bowman’s Solberg Gymnasium. Regent, a heavy underdog against Hettinger, chose to slow the pace of the game and take advantage of its four-corners offense. What ensued was a contest that likely will never be duplicated.

Curt Honeyman knew the idea was a little crazy.

Then again, it was also so simple he wondered if it also wasn’t the perfect plan.

In the days leading up the 1992 District 24 boys basketball tournament, Honeyman preached patience to his Regent Rangers team.

“Patience to the extreme,” said Scott Sheldon, the Rangers’ sophomore guard and leading scorer that season.

Honeyman’s theory was that if the Rangers could sit in their fourcorners offense long enough, they could force the taller, more talented Hettinger Black Devils into defensive errors, put points on the scoreboard and keep the game from spiraling out of their reach.

On the evening of Feb. 27, 1992, at Solberg Gymnasium in Bowman, Honeyman sent his team onto the court with simple goals: be deliberate and patient on offense and control the tempo.

He never expected, 20 years later, people would remember the game.

Then again, he also never expected the final buzzer to sound with this score: Hettinger 4, Regent 2.

“We knew we couldn’t play with them basket for basket,” Honeyman said. “We had to try and keep the score close and keep it low. But nobody in the gym, including myself, knew that it was going to turn out that way.”

Dickinson State has lost a great athletic contributor with the passing of alumnus and volunteer Tyler Plummer

Tyler Plummer poses with his wife, Annika. Tyler died Wednesday of a massive heart attack. He was a tireless volunteer and supporter of Dickinson State athletics, particularly its wrestling and rodeo programs.

The Dickinson State wrestling team lost one of its biggest fans, supporters and volunteers Wednesday when Tyler Plummer, 33, passed away.

Though the Baker, Mont., native never wrestled for the Blue Hawks, he played an integral role in the program. DSU head coach Thadd O’Donnell said he did it all for free and for no other reason than he loved being a part of the team.

Plummer spent several years helping O’Donnell run his statistics programs, even designing a tournament program that DSU used for years, and keeping score at nearly every DSU wrestling event. He also played a role as a volunteer recruiter for the Blue Hawks. His biggest recruit? Three-time national champion and current DSU assistant coach Justin Schlecht.

Tyler also helped with DSU’s rodeo team. His wife, Annika, works in the school’s Ag Department and his sister, Jennifer Obrigewitch, is the rodeo team’s assistant coach.

One of Tyler’s greatest claims to fame was his stunt man role in the movie “Wooly Boys” that was filmed in the North Dakota Badlands. His job? Getting bucked off a horse in place of actor Joe Mazzello. O’Donnell said Tyler would love to tell people about his acting career and getting to hang out with the movie’s stars, Peter Fonda and Kris Kristofferson. You can catch a quick glimpse of Tyler’s work in the “Wooly Boys” trailer here. He gets bucked off at the 1:05 mark.

In Tyler Plummer, the southwest North Dakota community– not just DSU — lost a person who can not be replaced. Read more about him in his obituary.

Former DSU football player killed fighting fire in Black Hills

I was alerted to this story this evening and it is definitely worth sharing.

Former Dickinson State football player Trampus Haskvitz died Thursday afternoon from injuries suffered after he was caught in a burn over while fighting a fire near Edgemont, S.D.

Trampus and his twin brother, John, joined the Blue Hawks in the fall of 2006 as redshirt freshmen. John left the team after that season but Trampus, a wide receiver, stayed on for the next two seasons, playing mostly on special teams.

Trampus went to Hot Springs (S.D.) High School. Along with his brother, he was employed by the South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression Division.