EDITORIAL: FLYERS GIVE, FANS GIVE BACK

Freeman High School’s remarkable return to the State ‘B’ Boys Basketball Tournament could not have come without the anwavering support, not just of the Flyer faithful, but the community.

Thank you, Freeman.

Thanks for showing up for the Flyers’ Region 4B game against Gayville-Volin last Friday night and cheering on the home team in support of a big win.

Thanks for showing up in Parkston the following afternoon to witness a game that will be talked about for a long time, especially that brilliant shooting performance in the first half that helped carry the Flyers to a signature win against a Hutchinson County rival. Freeman’s 86-76 win over the Trojans was an instant classic, and you helped make it happen.

Thanks for showing up in Mitchell — in droves — Tuesday night to overpower the Howard faithful and raise the Corn Palace roof. This includes students and adults, not just those who are part of the Freeman Public School District constituency, but beyond. Like the Parkston game over the weekend, Tuesday’s 72-60 upset win over the defending State B champions won’t be soon forgotten. Not by a long shot.

Sometimes, in professional sports, they talk about the crowd being the sixth man in basketball or the 12th man in football, and for good reason. It’s a relationship of mutual understanding between player and fan; the players performing and the fans bearing witness to that performance — and doing so loudly. To be fair, that’s hard to do when success is not before the beholder, and we could all do better, but mighty easy when there’s plenty to cheer about, which the Freeman High School boys have given us throughout this season. So, of course Freeman was going to show up for these high-stakes games, but to that level? Players donning those signature maroon and whites, strikingly similar to those worn in that distinctive decade of the 1980s, could no doubt feel the energy in their souls as they willed themselves to the biggest wins of their lives, sixth man in tow.

And their reward? The State Bs — the ultimate in high level and high stakes competition at the prep level, across classes and across gender. There is nothing like the boys B, and over the course of three days in Aberdeen next week, on the Barnett Center court that has hosted some of the most thrilling games in South Dakota high school basketball history, the Flyers will be looking to extend this remarkable run in exhilarating ways.

It’s the ultimate reward for a team whose commitment extends beyond oneself and a tribute to what the coaches and players have given the Freeman community, and what the Freeman community has returned in spades.

This is an amazing time.

Jeremy Waltner | Editor & Publisher

Jeremy Waltner | Editor & Publisher