“To my girls, it’s been an absolute joy coaching you this season. You are great people and good teammates… and the best part, we’re not done yet,” said Flandreau Fliers Girls Basketball Coach Megan Severtson this past Sunday afternoon.
Severtson was rounding out a Welcome Home Ceremony for the team after a sixth place finish at the South Dakota State High School Class A Girls Basketball Tournament. The team hasn’t played in the State tournament since 1997, but did qualify in 2020 before COVID shut the tourney down.
But the Fliers are a young team. And they, their coaches and their fans are determined.

We’re not done yet.
“This is a stepping stone to what’s to come,” said Clay Pavlis, the father of #30, junior Lizzie Pavlis. “You girls showed tremendous maturity, it was really inspiring ... was so fun to watch, I just want to thank you so much for the memories,” he said.
The theme of gratitude and excitement about next year echoed throughout the Fliers gym as the mic was opened up to anyone that wanted to say a few words.
“All my life I’ve been a Flier,” said Jud Krull, who coached the girls when they were much younger. Krull has two daughters on the team. “I’ve gotten to be a part of some great teams. But for my two girls to be a part of this team, to me, is probably the greatest day of my life. I want to thank the coaches for how they’ve taken care of the girls, how they make the girls act in public, and how these girls are raised…so parents, who’ve been by their side, pushed them every day, gone to the gym, shot around with them, this means a lot to us other parents to be a part of that.”
The Fliers, after a loss in the first round against Hamlin and a win in the second over Lakota Tech, took 6th place overall in the 2023 State Girls Basketball Tournament in Watertown. The team was the 8th seed coming into the tournament. It may not have been the outcome the team was hoping for but the community gave them both a heroes send-off and welcome home.
“They played well, it was a fun experience for all of them I bet and the bonding they had was definitely good. They’ll be back for sure,” said classmate Kolby Peters, who was there the entire weekend and season in the student cheering section.