#SDSportsAwards, boys basketball: Ty Hoglund's drive leads Quarriers

Dell Rapids basketball standout Ty Hoglund is the rare player who imbues confidence in the face of duress. No moment was seemingly too big for the 6-foot-3 Dell Rapids point guard, who electrified the state scene as a senior with highlight-reel game-winners, breakaway broken plays and no-look, behind-the-back passes.

“I don’t know if anyone really shut him down in any way, shape or form this season,” said coach Jason Fersdahl. “I think he got to the level where he was truly an unguardable player this season.”

Hoglund claimed school records as the Quarriers pushed through a brutal schedule and stacked wins. The senior set school marks in career scoring (1,600 points), points in a season (604), points in a game (44), career three-pointers (160) and career steals (199). As a result, he was named the Lewis Drug South Dakota Sports Awards boys basketball player of the years.

He wasn’t party to a one-man show, though — he scored with efficiency and got his teammates involved. Hoglund finished the year averaging 26.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 3.1 steals per game. From the field he shot over 50 percent and knocked in 52 treys.

MORE: See other winners of the S.D. Sports Awards

“Ty was pretty well-known coming into his senior season,” Fersdahl said, “and he just took his game to another level with his playmaking ability, and also just stepping into that leadership role. His individual success and our team’s success was indicative of how he elevated the team.”

Even as the Quarriers’ season ended in dramatic fashion in the Region 3A championship game — against eventual champion Sioux Falls Christian — Hoglund stood tall. His 29 points and dominant first half pushed the Chargers to the brink, and SFC only found success upon double- and triple-teaming the Dakota Wesleyan basketball recruit.

“It starts with all the hours and hard work he’s put in to make himself the best basketball player he can be,” Fersdahl said. “He’s going to be a great college basketball player as well. He’s very driven. He’s the hardest worker at all times when he’s on the floor — in every practice and in every game.”

The confidence under duress isn’t an accident.