MHS Basketball Season to Start With New Free Throw Rule

The Bulldogs and their head coach, Logan Diede, will soon get their swish! The first game of the 2023-2024 basketball season is coming up on December 7.  Diede says, “As always, the boys and I are excited to get rolling!”

Diede says he has an experienced varsity team this year with five seniors, including four returning starters. Yohana Ajwanga has played two years – both as a starter. Garrett Mertens has been on the team for four years – three as a starter. Mertens was selected as an All-Conference player last season. Jaxson Wildung and Joe Schulte each have three years under their belts with two years as starters. Schulte also made the All-Conference list last year. Senior Micah Seyer joins the team this season.

Diede says he is very excited to have a majority of his core back with his four senior starters and Graham Lightfield. “We will lean on these guys a lot.”  He is also excited about some of the younger players, who were on varsity last year and also had a really good offseason. “Jack Howard, Braylen Bowsher, and Emmett Hanson look to be in position to compete for substantial varsity minutes and will give us some important depth.”

Diede cites valuable experience as one of Milbank’s biggest assets, but notes the team is athletic and coachable and they compete well together. He says, “Last year our strengths were finishing at the rim and rebounding.”

Areas he hopes to improve are shooting in general and from three-point range and the free throw line in particular. He says, “If we shoot better percentages this season, it will help us immensely in our quest to take another step forward as a program.”

A change in the official rules that begins with the first game in 2023-2024 might help to give the Bulldogs a boost at the line. Diede explained the change: “There will be no 1-and-1 Bonus free throw situations (earning the second by making the first). When a team commits five fouls in a quarter, the other team enters the Bonus for the rest of that quarter. The Bonus now results in two free throws each time and not a 1-and-1. Also, the team fouls will reset every quarter, the only carryover will be from the fourth quarter to overtime.”

The regulation change goes into effect nationwide. If you are a fan of women’s basketball, this rule will already be familiar to you as it is identical to that of women’s collegiate basketball.

“The rules committee studied data that showed higher injury rates in rebounding situations and saw this as an opportunity to reduce rough play during rebounds. Additionally, resetting the fouls each quarter will improve game flow and allow teams to adjust their play by not carrying foul totals to quarters two and four,” stated Lindsey Atkinson, NFHS Director of Sports and liaison to the basketball rules committee in a release from the National Federation of High Schools.

Another change for Milbank is an increase in the number of Bulldogs who want to play basketball. Their unofficial roster tops out at 36. “We typically have 27 to 30 each year,” Diede says. “It’s great to have a lot of excitement around the program and  a lot of boys who want to be a part of our basketball family!’

Justin Peters and Travis Lester will serve as his assistants. Peters heads up the JV team and is in his fourth year as a varsity assistant.  Lester is coach of the C-Team and in his third year as a varsity assistant.

“I am extremely fortunate to have both of these guys,” Diede says. “They do a fantastic job with the boys. We all work great together, and they love Milbank Basketball!”

Diede starts his seventh year as the head boys basketball coach for MHS. Overall, this year marks his 13th year as a basketball coach and his 10th season as a head basketball coach.

He sees a tough schedule ahead with lots of great opponents.  “Lennox, Hamlin, Dell Rapids, Groton, Madison, Waubay-Summit, and Tiospa Zina are a few of the very good teams on our schedule every year.”

See the Bulldogs when they host the Sisseton Redmen in their first game on Thursday, December 7, at the Milbank Armory. Varsity tip-off is at 7:30 p.m.  The C team gets the ball rolling at 5 p.m. The JV squad follows.

Photo: Seniors – Yohana Ajwanga, Garrett Mertens, Jaxson Wildung and Joe Schulte. Not pictured -Micah Seyer