Working all off-season with ambitions of taking their place upon the Region 6 throne, the South Prairie Royals charge into the new year with optimism after an 11-8 finish to their 2021-2022 campaign.

Inherently gunning to rule the competition and take the crown as Class B champions, South Prairie head coach Jordan Cooper made it clear that they have other obstacles to overcome on the way to conquering the kingdom of North Dakota high school basketball.

Cooper explained, “We are really trying to make the regional tournament for the first time in school history. We have made it to the regional play-in game for three years in a row and have come up short each time.”

Determined to finally break the curse that seems to hang over the Royals’ heads, returning impact players in the form of Gage Olson, Carter Korslien, Ethan Dobson, Josh Groninger, Cameron Sys, Connor Johnson, and Drew Klein have trained doggedly since the end of last season and look to utilize the gains in their individual skills and growing team chemistry to propel South Prairie to their deepest post-season run in school history.

To help bring this monumental goal to fruition, Coach Cooper intends to capitalize on the depth and experience of the Royals’ bench to push the team into uncharted territory.

Elaborating on his expectations, Cooper stated, “We have a lot of guys that saw a lot of time last year, but they will be expected to take on even larger roles this season.”

Cooper continued, “We will have the necessary depth, so we will have a lot of boys competing for playing time.”

When asked if he could highlight one thing in particular that he felt the team has improved on that could push them over the top from where they were last year, Cooper wasted no time in pointing out, “If we want to make a regional tournament and win a championship, we are going to have to dig in and make defense our identity.”

The South Prairie Royals will open the new season on Dec. 13 at the Velva Tournament.