HAMLIN – The Hamlin Chargers are no stranger to the Class A State Girls’ Basketball Tournament.

The Chargers are back in the state tourney for the fifth time in the past six seasons, but this year’s team looks much differently than past versions.

Junior Addison Neuendorf is the only player who saw major time on Hamlin’s State A championship squad from 2023. The current team features three sisters who transferred over from State B runner-up Arlington, along with a freshman center.

“We seem to be getting better and better,” said Hamlin coach Tim Koisti. “The main thing is, we’re starting to learn each other other and where we’re going. It takes time with the addition of some new kids.”

While those kids are talented and experienced, there was a transition period when the players had to learn to mesh together.

“No one wants to really step on anybody else’s toes. Learning when I should take my shot, when I should pass off, what shot I should be looking for?” Koisti said. “They’re not necessarily used to where each other should be, and then how does that all fit into the scheme that I’m trying to run? It takes a bit of time and to their credit they’ve come around quite well.”

That is a huge understatement. The Chargers were rated among the top five teams in the state all season and bring a 19-3 record into the tournament as the fourth seed.

Twins Addie Steffensen and Jo Steffensen have played key roles as has their other sister, Issie Steffensen.

“To have a couple of seniors like Addie and Jo that have come in and just been amazing leaders,” Koisti said “and again have that pedigree of success.”

The driving force behind the Chargers has been Neuendorf. The recent Northern State commit has returned to her point-guard role this season, although she can score with anyone as evidenced by her 18-point performance against Sisseton in last week’s SoDak 16 contest.

“Her role has changed from last year to this year, because she had to be more of a scorer last year. She had to become more of a true-point guard again,” Koisti said. “That’s kind of just what I’ve been telling her is just got to go be point guard. Go be you. Score when you can and rely on each other. She’s really accepted that role, especially the last several games.”

Neuendorf is a natural quarterback on the floor, making sure the ball goes where it’s supposed to on offense.

“She’s been around for so long and just sees everything and knows everything, and sometimes is calling plays for me before I ever call them out,” Koisti said. “She knows what I’m thinking or knows what should be happening on the floor, and just gets people into their right spots. It’s huge to have a good point guard.”

A big factor this season has been the development of freshman Addelyn Jensen, who has become an offensive weapon in the paint for the Chargers.

“She’s improved a ton from the beginning of the year. … Again, wasn’t sure what her role should be. What should I be doing, should I be kicking it out, and she really didn’t look for her shot, wasn’t really sure where to be,” Koisti said. “And as we’ve worked with her and as she’s worked with the girls, they’re just finding that confidence in her, and she’s really relished that and has done good things.”

With their past history, the Chargers are seldom an underdog in any of their games. It’s a role they’ve come to accept and embrace.

“The saying on the back of our shirts is kind of indicative of what we’ve said all season. That’s ‘pressure is a privilege.’ We knew there was a lot of pressure coming in,” Koisti said, “but we’ve had to accept that and know that that pressure is there because of the hard work we’ve put in, what they’ve done.”

Hamlin opens that state tourney against fifth-seeded Mobridge-Pollock, an opponent nearly a mirror image.

“Size-wise, I think we match up fairly well with them. … They’ve got a lot of good team speed,” Koisti said. “They like to pressure the ball and push the ball, so we’re going to have to be ready to handle that type of pressure.”

As Koisti looks at the state tournament field he sees plenty of parity.

“Number one, SoDak 16 makes sure that there’s eight good teams at the state tournament,” he said, “and I honestly believe that 1 through 8 could possibly win.”

He pointed out that the eighth seed Mount Vernon-Plankinton has a Northern State recruit, seventh-seeded Sioux Valley has a player headed to the University of South Dakota, and sixth-seeded Wagner has one of the state’s premier players in Ashlyn Koupal.

Koisti said for the Chargers to make a major impact in the tourney, they just need to play their style of basketball for all three games.

“I think the number one thing, we just have to be the best team this weekend game for game. We have to have that confidence in our shooting, can’t get down on ourselves if we miss a shot or make a mistake,” Koisti said. “We’ve been talking about mental toughness from day one. So, we just need to make sure that we’re locked in, mentally tough, and don’t let anything bother us, and play our game.”