SIOUX CITY, IOWA (KCAU)- High school basketball playoffs are finally here in the state of South Dakota as there is excitement in the air in the Elk Point-Jefferson community, with the Huskies returning to the state tournament for the first time in over a decade.

EP-J will be back at the state tournament for the first time since 2010, making this the third time in program history that the Huskies have made it this far. Elk Point-Jefferson started the season off with a 9-1 record with three big postseason wins as of recent, highlighted by an upset over Waubay/Summit in the SoDak 16. For the players and staff on this year’s Huskies squad, they say they recognize how special the opportunity is.

“I think this year has been really special. We’ve had a lot of games we knew we could win and I think we’ve came through with the win and last year, we knew we had potential too and we ended up pretty short of that losing first round of regions. This year, we’ve made it all the way to state. So, it’s been a really special year for us” EP-J senior Jakob Scarmon said.

“”It’s a special group that’s really bought in to what we’re trying to do. I think the biggest thing with this group is from a young age, they’ve really invested in the game of basketball and they’ve really wanted to succeed in that game. They were challenged at a young age to put their name up on that banner and they’ve taken it seriously,” EP-J head coach Jake Otkin added.