For a lot of basketball fans in South Dakota, state tournaments are a three-day festival in the host city. But for Mike and Terri Mebius, their state tournament experience in 2025 has turned into a road trip.
The duo has three grandsons playing in the state tournament this week. A wrinkle to it, however, is that they all play for different schools in all three classes. Karter Mebius is a senior for Wessington Springs, Logan Mebius is a junior for O’Gorman, and Connor Mebius is a sophomore for West Central.
Mike and Terri started their state tournament journey in Aberdeen on Thursday to watch Karter play for Wessington Springs, and then after the game, took off for Rapid City as O’Gorman plays the final game of the night at the AA tournament. They’ll stay overnight in Rapid City and then, pending how the games shake out, will work Sioux Falls into the schedule to see Connor play for West Central.
“Basically, we had said to each other all year long, what are we going to do if all three make it? We kind of always said, we’d for sure do the Aberdeen thing, because of the senior, but as luck would have it, O’Gorman was the last game, so it made it pretty easy,” told Terri. “It’s pretty awesome. It kind of sets your heart. I don’t have words for it. It’s a cool thing.”
“It's just nice having three kids who play varsity ball, and they all get to go to the state tournament,” exclaimed Mike.
The grandparent pair have nine total grandkids. While three play varsity, others are involved as well with basketball and are involved in JV and younger levels of play. Up until the state tournament, Mike and Terri attended 79 games this season in total. They live in Wessington Springs.
“We’ve put on 6,700 and some miles for basketball this year,” chuckled Mike.
As a grandmother, Terri emphasized the importance of supporting their grandkids.
“It’s important for us to go watch them play,” she said. “Whether they do well or not, it’s important for us to be there to support them.”
This is certainly a journey the pair won’t forget. And while it will certainly increase the miles on the car and tip the season game count into the 80’s, to them, it’s well worth it.
“Not very many kids get the opportunity to play in a state tournament, so it’s just exciting to see our grandkids make it there and get to play,” Mike told with a smile.
The Mebius kids are certainly lucky to have grandparents who display love and support through the simple task of watching them play the game that they themselves love.
