HAYTI – It’s been three decades since Hamlin has made an appearance at the State A boys basketball tournament. But the Chargers, winners of 14 games in a row, are up for the challenge.

And a challenge is exactly what it will be, said Hamlin coach Todd Neuendorf.

“The State A tournament is about as good from top to bottom as there is,” Neuendorf said. “The 8-seed is (19-4), so there’s not a lot of wiggle room. It’s not like anybody got a great draw.”

Indeed, the Chargers enter the tournament as a three-loss team sporting the 5-seed in the eight-team affair. Hamlin will face fourth-seeded Sioux Valley, which has just two losses.

“It’s about as solid a tournament as I’ve been in,” Neuendorf said.

Hamlin and Sioux Valley faced off once before during the regular season, playing a neutral-site game in early January. The Cossacks claimed a narrow 69-65 victory in that contest.

“We were missing two starters from the first time we played them,” Neuendorf said. “They’re back, so that helps us a bit. But on their end, I’m sure they’ve improved and changed some stuff, too.”

Neuendorf said his squad will have to be ready to make adjustments throughout the game to be successful.

“We know they’re gonna play five different defenses, so we have to be ready for those,” he said. That predicates how they go. We have to be able to recognize that.”

Hamlin is no slouch on offense, however. The Chargers have a potent perimeter game, as evidenced by their 14 made 3-pointers in a SoDak 16 win over Madison last week.

Hamlin features a balanced scoring attack led by Tyson Stevenson at 14.6 points per game. Easton Neuendorf averages 13, and Brennan Keszler contributes 11.5 per contest.

“We’ve got a number of weapons,” Coach Neuendorf said. “We can put five guys on the floor that can shoot from the perimeter if need be. That makes us dangerous.”

But perimeter shooting can be a fickle thing to rely on, and the Chargers are well aware of that.

“We’ve been preaching defense,” Neuendorf said. “There are nights when that ball isn’t going to go in, so you have to have that constant. Defense can be that constant. We’ve been hammering on that.”

That, and keeping Sioux Valley’s offensive opportunities to a minimum.

“They run some good stuff,” Neuendorf said. “They got the big 6-10 kid (Alec Squires). It’s important to keep him off the boards. We want to make them take tough shots and not give them second shots. We tell the guys all the time, second shots go in and they usually go in as a 3-pointer. … Every loose ball has to be ours.”

But for all the work that lies ahead in preparation for the week, there is an air of excitement that permeates not just the school, but the entire surrounding area, Neuendorf said.

“You’ve seen our crowd numbers go up from the beginning of the year,” he said. “Each game, our crowd got bigger and bigger. As we continued into postseason and played that SoDak 16 game in Huron, we had a great crowd there. Plus with the success the girls had, there’s been a lot of support.”

Hamlin and Sioux Valley will take the court at the Denny Sanford Premier Center at 1:45 p.m. on Thursday. The winner will take on either top-seeded Dakota Valley or No. 8 Hot Springs in the semifinals Friday.