Drove me nuts trying to watch my nephew play in the South Dakota Boys State Basketball 2025 championship game up in Rapid City. Live over here in Sioux Falls, couldn’t make the drive. Thought it’d be simple. Boy, was I wrong.
First, Hit Up the Obvious Spots
Started simple. Grabbed my laptop, opened a web browser, and went straight to the South Dakota High School Activities Association website. Knew they handled the tourney. Poked around the site forever. Found schedules, scores from last year, even parking info… but zero live stream links. Pure agony. Felt like hunting for my keys in the couch cushions.
Checked the Usual Suspects
Alright, fine. Jumped over to all the apps and websites I normally use for sports stuff. You know the ones. Turned out none of them were touching a high school state game. Total dead ends. Kept getting rerouted to college or pro stuff. Useless.
Took a Flyer on Local News
Got desperate. Opened up a new tab and searched something like “watch SD boys state basketball 2025 live”. A bunch of local Rapid City and Pierre news station sites popped up. Clicked through a few. Mostly found recorded clips, news articles recapping last year’s games, or tiny promo videos. One site even asked for a paid subscription just to read about the tourney dates! Couldn’t believe it.
What I Found on Social Media Was Mostly Fluff
- School Pages: My nephew’s high school Facebook page? Lots of hype posts like “Go Team!” and pictures of the bus leaving town. No live link.
- Fan Groups: Joined a few “SD High School Hoops” groups. Mostly folks asking if anyone knew how to watch or complaining they couldn’t find it either. A few people claimed they had a secret stream, but clicking always led to sketchy pop-up city.
- Hashtag Hunt: Searched #SDStateBBall and similar tags on social media feeds. Flooded with game pics from parents and short celebratory clips – but zero actual live feeds.
My “Eureka!” Moment? Not Really.
Finally remembered sometimes regional providers cover this stuff. Frantically searched for South Dakota specific sports networks or services. Eventually, landed on a regional cable provider’s sports page mentioning they might have coverage. Key word: “might.” Needed a specific cable package and login from someone IN Rapid City. My Aunt Betty lives out near Sturgis! Dialed her number so fast. Woke her up. She doesn’t even have basic cable, let alone the “Premium Sports Plus” gold tier package. Strike out.
My Final, Grudging Victory (Sorta)
Completely fed up. Just wanted to know what was happening. Googled “South Dakota state basketball 2025 radio broadcast.” Bingo! Found the link to the broadcast partner covering all the games. Straight up internet radio stream, free and clear. No video, just some old-school radio announcers calling the game. Grabbed my crappy little phone speaker and listened. Picture was in my head, not on a screen. Won’t lie, I yelled at the ref through the radio. My nephew scored 12 off the bench! Best I could manage without being there or selling a kidney for cable.
So yeah, that was my adventure. Phone + radio stream = watching SD State Boys Basketball in 2025. Low tech wins, I guess. If you got better ideas for next year, hit me up.