Nov. 1: Former Aberdeen coach Pierre duCharme (July 7, 1943-Nov. 1, 2022) of Dent, MN, died at age 79. DuCharme was a native of Moorhead, MN, who was a three-sport athlete (football, basketball and baseball) at NDSU. He coached boys’ basketball and taught at Dickinson (ND) High School for three seasons before coming to Aberdeen in 1969 to get his master’s degree at NSU and serve as a graduate assistant under Wolves’ men’s basketball coach Bob Wachs. DuCharme then became a teacher and the head boys’ basketball coach at Aberdeen Central for six seasons (1970-76). He led the Golden Eagles to two Eastern South Dakota Conference titles and three state tournaments (fourth and two third-place finishes). He then served as men’s basketball coach at Mayville (53-61 from 1976-81) and Southwest Minnesota State (93-162 from 1981-90). He also was the Mustangs’ athletic director for five years. He and his family owned and operated duCharme’s Corner Store for the last 20 years on Star Lake.
Nov. 2: The Pierre Trappers summer collegiate wood bat baseball team announced they were officially done, and thanked their fans for their support over the last five seasons. Pierre was a charter member of the Expedition League, which was down to two teams when the season ended in August. Last month, owners of a new Pierre summer collegiate team named the Oahe Zap said they would replace the Trappers and play in a new league starting next summer.
Nov. 2: South Dakota native and WNBA coach Becky Hammon will join ESPN starting in December as a studio analyst focusing on the NBA. She led her Las Vegas Aces to the WNBA championship in her rookie season as head coach earlier this year and served eight seasons as an NBA assistant coach (first woman to do so) on Gregg Popovich’s staff with the San Antonio Spurs.
Nov. 2: For the second time in the 118-year history of the World Series, four Houston pitchers combined to throw a no-hitter in the Astros’ 5-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. Starter Cristian Javier and relievers Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero and Ryan Pressly accomplished the feat. The only other no-hitter in World Series history was Don Larsen’s perfect game for New York in the Yankee’s 2-0 win over Brooklyn in Game 5 on Oct. 8, 1956. Larsen pitched for the Aberdeen Pheasants in 1947-48, coming to South Dakota right out of high school with a $500 signing bonus and making $150 a month (Larsen was making $13,000 a year in 1956). Larsen pitched 71 innings mainly as a reliever in 1947 with a 3.42 earned run average on an 82-36 Aberdeen team that lost the Northern League championship series. In 1948, Larsen was 17-11, pitched 211 innings and finished with 151 strikeouts (second in the league). The Pheasants finished 64-49, and again lost the Northern League championship series. Larsen was the winning pitcher in the 1948 Northern League All-Star game. Larsen also was a great outfielder and hitter with a .272 average, hitting two homers and a triple in one game for the Pheasants.
Nov. 4: It was arguably the biggest night in South Dakota high school football for the 2022 season. There were 16 games, two championships (Todd County won the Class A All Nations state championship and Lower Brule won the Class B division) and the rest semifinals in seven classes. But it was blowout city on the biggest stage as the average margin of victory for the 16 games was 31.1 points per game. The only one score difference in the 16 games was West Central’s 24-20 win over Beresford in the Class 11A semifinals.

Nov. 4: Onida native Caleb Currier has joined the Georgia Tech women’s basketball staff as director of recruiting operations. A 2019 University of Tennessee graduate, Currier worked with the Volunteers women’s basketball program as a graduate assistant from 2019-2021.
Nov. 5: The NSU volleyball team defeated Bemidji 3-1 to make coach Brent Aldridge the Wolves’ winningest volleyball coach in school history. Aldridge is 224-98 in his 12th season at NSU.
Nov. 6: The best distance runner in state prep history, sub 4-minute miler Simeon Birnbaum of Rapid City Stevens announced his commitment to the University of Oregon track and field team.
Nov. 9: The return of A.J. Plitzuweit was nothing short of incredible. The USD guard scored 33 points on 9-of-11 shooting to pace the Coyotes to an 85-77 win over Lipscomb on their home court in Vermillion. On the same court 20 months ago, Plitzuweit suffered a gruesome leg injury that forced the Vermillion High School graduate to miss the 2021-22 season and an injury that many thought would end his career.
Nov. 10: Hitchcock-Tulare capped a perfect season by defeating previously unbeaten Herreid-Selby Area 50-28 to win the State 9B football championship. MVP Carter Binger led the winners with 238 yards passing (four touchdowns) and 133 yards rushing (one TD). H-SA senior back Brenden Begeman set two all-time state records in the game: most rushing yards in a season (2,977) and a career (6,807). The career record was held by Luke Loudenburg of Howard, who had 6,806 career yards.
Nov. 11: Elk Point-Jefferson defeated Winner 21-14 to win the State 11B football title and snap the Warriors’ 34-game winning streak. The last team to beat Winner was Bridgewater-Emery-Ethan 21-14 in the 2019 11B championship. The Winner seniors graduated with a 45-2 record, two state titles and two runner-up finishes.
Nov. 11: Gonzaga defeated Michigan State 64-63 on the flight deck of the active aircraft carrier the USS Abraham Lincoln in front of 3,572 fans and a worldwide ESPN audience. One of the officials for the game was Kelly Pfeifer of Mitchell.
Nov. 12: Lincoln Kienholz led Pierre to its sixth state football championship in a row with a with 35-20 win over Tea Area. Kienholz finished his career with three state championship game MVP awards, 9,100 career passing yards (best all-time) and 104 TDs, and 3,502 rushing yards and 44 TDs.
Nov. 12: In just its second year in existence, Sioux Falls Jefferson defeated Harrisburg 48-21 to win the State 11AAA football championship.
Nov. 12: Dakota State closed out its 2022 football season with a 13-0 win over Waldorf Univeristy. It was the last game the college would play at its Trojan Field (opened in 1968) as the college is building a new facility.
Nov. 12: The South Dakota Mines football team defeated Chadron State 28-7 to finish 7-4, its first seven-win season since 2010. It also snapped a 15-game losing streak to Chadron as Mines last win over the Eagles was 10-3 on Sept. 5, 1987.
Nov. 12: The No. 1-rated SDSU football team ended its regular season with a 31-7 win over Illinois State. It marked the Jacks’ first outright Missouri Valley Football Conference championship and the first 10-win regular season in program history. Combined with last season’s SDSU’s men’s (18-0) and women’s (17-1) basketball programs, the Jacks went 43-1 in conference play in those three sports by the end of 2022.

Nov. 14: The University of Sioux Falls has fired football coach Jon Anderson after six years and five (Covid-19) seasons. The Cougars went 40-17 (8-3, 8-3, 8-4, 7-4 and 9-3) under Anderson and 4-1 against rival Augustana and made two playoff appearances. This year the Cougars started 7-0, but lost three of their final four games and missed the playoffs for the second year in a row.
Nov. 19: Sioux Falls Christian won its sixth state volleyball tourney in a row. SFC has won all the State A titles since 2010 except for the two won by Dakota Valley (2016 and 2013).
Nov. 20: For the first time in school history, the SDSU football team is the No. 1 seed in the 24-team FCS national tournament.
Nov. 21. Timber Lake native and SDSU tight end Tucker Kraft will enter the 2023 NFL Draft. With two years of college eligibility remaining, the 6-foot-5, 255-pound Kraft is projected by many to be a top draft choice.
Nov. 21: The SDSU women’s basketball team defeated No. 10 Louisville 65-55, its first top 10 win in the Jacks’ Division I era. Myah Selland (Letcher) led the way with 25 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots.
Nov. 22: The University of Washington has signed first-year football coach Kalen DeBoer to a contract extension that adds two years and $1 million per year in value to his existing contract. The six-year contract will pay DeBoer $26.7 million in base salary. The Milbank native has coached the No. 13 Huskies to a 9-2 season so far — UW was 4-8 last season. DeBoer was to be paid $3 million this season, and he is now scheduled to make $4.2 million next season.
Nov. 23: The Blacks Hills State men’s basketball team crushed previously unbeaten Montana State-Billings 97-38 by making its first seven three-pointers. It was Black Hills’ largest margin of victory in 58 years. The unbeaten Yellow Jackets are ranked fifth in the nation while MSU-B (4-1) was an honorable mention selection in the DII national polls.
Nov. 25: Unranked Iowa State, coached by former SDSU coach T.J. Otzelberger, defeated No. 1-rated North Carolina 70-65 in men’s basketball.
Nov. 25: Career nights by two Wolves led NSU past Texas A&M-Kingsville 95-88 in men’s basketball. Roncalli graduate Augustin Reede scored a career-high 31 points while Jordan Belka scored 20 to become the 59th member of the NSU 1,000-point club. The next night on Nov. 26, Reede helped the 5-2 Wolves defeat Presentation College, ending a weekend where he made 12 of his 15 three-point attempts.
Nov. 26: Former Tea Area and Jackrabbit standout Noah Freidel led James Madison past his former college team SDSU 79-60. Freidel, a junior (extra year due to Covid), transferred in April after scoring 857 points for SDSU in 63 games over three seasons.
Nov. 26: The 114th Apple Cup in Pullman, WA, had a distinctive South Dakota flavor. This year’s edition of the college football rivalry between the University of Washington and Washington State had two head coaches with all sorts of South Dakota background. UW coach Kalen DeBoer is a Milbank native, a University of Sioux Falls graduate and former coach for his USF team. WSU coach Jake Dickert is a former assistant coach at SDSU, Augustana and USD. The No. 13th-ranked Huskies (10-2) won the game 51-33 to take a 75-33-6 lead in the series. DeBoer is in his first season with UW, while Dickert has led the Cougars to a 10-7 record over the last two seasons and is 1-1 in Apple Cups.

Nov. 26: The USD volleyball team (29-3) won its third straight Summit League Championship and will make its fourth NCAA DI Tournament appearance in the last five years. This season was the first time in USD program history that the Coyotes won both the Summit League regular-season and tournament championships.
Nov. 27: The Los Angeles Chargers used a touchdown followed by a two-point conversion with 15 seconds left in the game to beat Arizona 25-24. The Cardinals had just scored their own TD to go up 24-17 with 89 seconds left. The NFL game reunited former University of Sioux Falls teammates Trey Pipkins III of the Chargers and Dennis Gardeck of the Cardinals. The two got to exchange jerseys after the game.
Nov. 28: The Black Hills State basketball teams defeated rival South Dakota Mines in Rapid City. The BH women won 72-42 (Mines leads the series 55-53) while the BH men won 78-58 (BH leads the series 109-90 since 1948 — as far back as the records go). The Yellow Jacket men (6-0) are off to their program’s best start since the 1927-28 team started 8-0. Last season, Black Hills advanced to the national semifinals, losing to eventual champion Northwest Missouri State.

Email us at dave@sdsportscene.com if you think we missed something or if you have an event you would like us to consider for this feature.