CASTLEWOOD — A high school basketball journey that started more than 30 years ago in northeastern South Dakota will come to a close this weekend — for awhile at least — for the Darren and Susie Benike family.
The couple’s youngest child Alayna will put the finishing touches on a stellar five-year varsity career as one of the senior leaders (along with Darah DeKam) for a top-seeded and unbeaten Castlewood team that is looking to challenge for a championship in the state Class B girls basketball tournament that concludes Saturday night in Huron.
Alayna and the Warriors have been there before, a stark contrast to how things were for her mother — the former Susie Gaikowski — when she helped lead Waubay High School to the State B tournament in December of 1993 as a 5-foot-10 senior.
“We were like fish out of water,” Susie recalls. “We really didn’t do that stuff in Waubay, so we were really green.”
That state-tourney appearance for Waubay, still only the second in school history, began with a disappointing overtime loss to Edmunds Central but ended with two victories — a 51-50 consolation semifinal victory over Hitchco*ck-Tulare that featured a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer by Susie and a 64-58 win over Timber Lake in the consolation championship.
As it turns out, that was really the beginning of this basketball story. Susie Gaikowski married fellow Waubay High School graduate Darren Benike, a talented distance runner in track who also played football and basketball for the Dragons.
The couple raised three children, Alayna and her sister Regan (a 2018 Castlewood grad) and brother Brandon (a 2019 Castlewood grad), with a heavy dose of love and hoops.
“My mom always coached Regan and I in youth basketball,” Alayna Benike said. “We’d always ask if we could go the gym and she always took us whenever we wanted and rebounded for us or whatever. My dad was the same with my brother. We just got into the gym whenever we wanted and we just all loved it.”
And in case you didn’t already know, the Benikes are pretty good on the court.
Brandon started four years on the boys basketball team and also four years as a quarterback for Castlewood’s football team, but didn’t get the chance his sisters and his mom did to play in a state basketball tournament.
Regan also spent five years as a starter for the Warriors and was one of the senior leaders on Castlewood’s 2018 team that won the state Class B championship in Aberdeen.
Regan Benike, Abbey Strait and Morgan Anderson were senior starters on that Warriors team that started two freshmen — Alayna Benike and Darah DeKam.
Alayna scored 18 points in the first half and Regan added 15 in the second half of Castlewood’s 47-41 win over Hanson in the title game in 2018.
Four years later — a successful journey that included the team’s first-round win last year in a State B tourney that was called off after the opening day because of the COVID-19 pandemic — Alayna and Darah are shooting to close out their carers with another championship.
“It’s fun to be the leaders in this situation,” said Alayna. “As freshmen, we weren’t and we had to look up to the seniors. But this year it’s us. That’s kind of cool because we always wanted to fill those shoes.”
Castlewood head coach Leslie Tvedt, herself a talented basketball player for the Warriors during her high school career, said the two Benike sisters were both alike and different on the court.
“They’re not the same players, but their sisters so obviously they have a lot of similarities. Alayna actually handles the ball more than Regan did and they played different positions,” said Tvedt. “But they were both scorers and rebounders and they definitely understand the game of basketball.”
Susie Benike believes her two daughters, both listed at 5-11 as seniors, have a lot in common on the court with their brother Brandon.
“Yeah, I’d say they’re pretty darn similar,” Susie Benike said. “They’re pretty versatile, they can bring the ball up the floor and if they have a mismatch, they can post up on the block. They can also shoot from the outside and are good rebounders. Brandon also was one of the top rebounders on his teams and very similar. He could also shoot from the outside and was hard to guard.”
Successful small-town athletic programs generally carry a lot of family ties, with sisters, bothers and other relatives helping spark a run of success.
The Benikes are just a part of rich history of girls basketball success in Castlewood that has produced state titles in 1981, 2010 and 2018.
The DeKam family has been involved in each of the Warriors’ last five state-tourney appearances dating back to 2008. Darah’s older sister Allison was a sophom*ore in 2008 and a senior center on the 2010 state championship team that included another sister Breanna, who is an assistant coach on the current Castlewood team.
“Every player is a key factor in our success. That’s what we preach. It’s about team basketball and they (the Benikes) really buy into that,” Tvedt said.
Alayna Benike, a two-time Class B All-State selection, leads the current Warrior team by averaging 19.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 5 assists and 2.4 steals per game.
DeKam also is a key factor — nearly 10 points and 6.1 rebounds per game — on a squad that starts three sophom*ores (Maddie Horn, Mackenzie Everson and Lyndsey Archer).
“I’ve played with her since the third grade. She’s amazing,” Darah said of her teammate and friend. “She makes plays for everybody and she makes plays for herself that really just get us going. She’s a good basketball player and I love playing with her. I love playing with every one of my teammates. They’re so fun and it’s just a fun time for every one.”
The good news for the Benikes is that Saturday may be the end of Alayna’s high school career, but not the end of her basketball career — one she plans to continue next winter at the University of Nebraska-Kearney, a NCAA Division II school.
Her focus for now is on this weekend.
“We knew last year we had a good chance to get the to the championship game and make a run for it,” Alayna Benike said. “It got canceled, but this year is it. This is our year.”
