Boys pick up big wins over Tatanka, Broncs

By: 
Jason Ferguson

In desperate need of wins in order to host a home super region playoff game, the Custer High School boys basketball team did just that Monday and Saturday.
The Wildcats defeated Lakota Tech, a team ahead of them in the super region standings, for the second time this season Monday evening at the Armory by the score of 71-56.
“We felt we needed to play good defense, and if we did that, (the game) would take care of itself,” head coach Paul Kelley said.
The Wildcats got off to a slow start shooting, but a pair of Gunner Prior three-pointers helped spark Custer, giving the Wildcats a 12-8 lead with 3:07 left in the first quarter. Dustyn Fish then got into the act, driving to the hoop for a pair of baskets that put Custer on top 17-10.
The Wildcats really began to open the game up in the second quarter, when Daniel Sedlacek grabbed an offensive rebound and scored despite having Tech’s big Tristen LeBeau hanging on him. That was followed by a Gage Tennyson bucket inside that gave Custer a 21-12 lead.
“We knew Gage could have a big game,” Kelley said, adding the Tatanka had trouble defending the Wildcat junior the first time the teams played. “We knew he was a matchup problem for them. We tried to get him involved.”
The Tatanka were able to whittle the Custer lead to four, but a Jace Kelley three-pointer pushed the lead back to seven, which Kelley followed by scoring inside off an offensive rebound, as the Wildcats used their height advantage to pound the glass.
After the Tatanka again trimmed the lead to four the Wildcats responded with a Sedlacek basket on the break from Kelley, followed by a great hustle  play in which Kelley saved the ball as it went out of bounds, which Prior leapt and corralled and dished to Tennyson underneath for a basket and a 33-22 lead. A Fish bucket at the buzzer sent Custer into the half with a 35-23 advantage.
The Wildcats took their biggest lead of the game early in the second quarter when another Kelley three-pointer made the score 40-23. The Wildcats went on a bit of a lull after that and began to settle for long shots instead of attacking, which prompted Coach Kelley to call a timeout.
“Throughout the entire year we go through those lapses, four or five minutes, we don’t stay aggressive and we settle,” he said. “We had to take a couple of timeouts to get our kids refocused.”
The timeout worked, as the team went back to work inside, with Jace Kelley posting up for two of his 23 points, followed by Kaleb Wragge scoring inside off the press break to put Custer up 48-33.
The Tatanka made one last push, cutting the lead to 56-49 following a LeBeau basket on which he was fouled, followed by the free throw. However, moments later LeBeau fouled out and the Wildcats took advantage, feeding Tennyson inside for more baskets and the final 15-point cushion. Tennyson finished with 18 points and nine rebounds.
“Gage is a hard matchup for a lot of people when he is focused and in the game,” Kelley said. “He is an unbelieveable talent.”
Five Wildcats had at least five rebounds in the game, including Kelley, who had seven to go with six assists.
Last Saturday the Wildcats got what may have been their biggest win of the season when they defeated the visiting Belle Fourche Broncs 66-63 in a game that has large implications in terms of super region seeding for postseason play.
“Belle Fourche is always athletic and has grit,” Coach Kelley said. “It was huge for us for seeding.”
The Wildcats couldn’t have started the game much better against the Broncs, as they took a commanding first quarter lead, largely thanks to Jace Kelley, who hit three triples and grabbed a late steal and scored to send Custer into the second quarter with a 23-14 lead.
Kelley scored 34 points in the game—15 in the first half and 19 in the second half—and hit seven three-pointers. Coach Kelley said the morning of the game Jace went in early to work on his outside shot.
“He just got it going. It was fun to watch,” Coach Kelley said. “It wasn’t just that—it was attacking the rim too.”
It didn’t take long for the Broncs to chip away at the lead, however, as Gage Kracht hit a triple to begin a Bronc run that was capped by a Ryker Audiss three-pointer that cut Custer’s lead to 25-24.
The Wildcats and Broncs continued to trade baskets for the remainder of the half before Prior laid in a finger roll just before the half to give Custer a 36-31 lead.
It again looked like Custer might pull away in the third quarter as the Wildcats took a 12-point lead. The Broncs wouldn’t go away, however, as three consecutive three-pointers pulled Belle Fourche within 45-42 before Tennyson took a pass from Sawyer Schramm for a basket, followed by a Prior steal and layup to give Custer a 49-42 advantage.
Kelley resumed raining three-pointers on the Broncs in the third quarter, as a third of such shots in the quarter at the 5:45 mark put Custer up 58-47. Three minutes later, however, the Broncs had narrowed Custer’s lead to five before Prior hit a three-pointer of his own.
The Broncs were able to trim the lead to four with 1:45 left, but a Kelley layup made the Wildcat lead six with only 46 seconds left in the game. Belle Fourche’s last gasp included an Anthony Budmayr three-pointer and a wild shot from Budmayr that cut the lead to two. After a Custer free throw Belle Fourche never got another shot as the Wildcats corralled the missed second free throw that was taken with only .9 seconds on the clock.
Prior joined Kelley in double digits with 13 points in the game.
Last Thursday the Wildcats led by as much as 11 points before being outscored by 15 in the fourth quarter in a 58-52 loss at Spearfish.
The Wildcats shot only 35 percent from the field, and were only 9-22 from the free throw line, a 41 percent clip. The Spartans shot even worse, at 28 percent, but were sent to the free throw line 35 times, making 21 of the attempts.
“We didn’t shoot well, and going into the second half we were in such foul trouble,” Kelley said, while treading lightly around the question of officiating in the game. “There were some things I just did not agree with.”
Kelley led the team with 19 points, while Prior joined him in double figures with 12. Only five Wildcats scored in the game.
The Wildcats will return to the Armory Thursday evening for a matchup with the Lead-Deadwood Golddiggers, who enter the game with a 3-13 record. The ’Diggers haven’t won a game since before Christmas. The game will tip at 7:30 p.m. and is Parents’ Night.
Saturday the Wildcats will host their final regular season home game when the Hot Springs Bison visit the Armory. The Wildcats beat the Bison Feb. 5 but had to come from behind in the fourth quarter to do so. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip.
Finally, the Wildcats will wrap up their regular season next Monday when they travel to Hill City for a 7 p.m. game. The Wildcats pummeled the Rangers by nearly 40 points when the teams met in early January.
“I hope our kids are a little more fired up to play Hot Springs. We weren’t happy down there,” Kelley said. “They outplayed us. We need to be ready to play our best basketball and get after it. On paper, these next three games are games we should win.”
Custer    23    13    13    17    —66
BF    14    17    11    21    —63
Custer—Gunner Prior 5-10 0-1 13, Dustyn Fish 2-5 0-1 4, Daniel Sedlacek 1-4 2-2 4, Jace Kelley 10-26 7-13 34, Gage Tennyson 4-6 0-0 8, Sawyer Schramm 0-2 1-2 1, Kaleb Wragge 1-4 0-0 2. Totals: 23-57 10-19 66.
Belle Fourche—Gage Kracht 3-4 0-0 8, Gabe Heck 0-3 0-0 0, Anthony Budmayr 6-7 0-0 17, Ian Fuhrer 5-12 0-0 10, Aiden Giffin 7-15 2-6 16, Ryker Audiss 5-7 0-0 12. Totals: 26-48 2-6 63.
Three-point goals: Custer 10 (Kelley 7, Prior 3), BF 9 (Budmayr 5, Kracht 2, Audiss 3). Rebounding: Custer 25, BF 21. Assists: Custer 12, BF 10. Turnovers: Custer 11, BF 17. Total fouls: Custer 11, BF 18. Fouled out: none.
Custer    8    15    19    10    —52
Spear    10    10    13    25    —58
Custer—Gunner Prior 5-10 0-1 12, Ashton Dekker 0-1 0-0 0, Gavin Klein 0-1 0-0 0, Dustyn Fish 2-6 1-2 6, Daniel Sedlacek 1-6 4-5 6, Jace Kelley 8-24 1-5 19, Gage Tennyson 3-6 3-9 9, Kaleb Wragge 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 19-55 9-22 52.
Spearfish—Bridger Niehaus 1-2 0-0 2, Peyton Millis 3-13 7-8 15, Seth Hamilton 2-9 6-69 10, Tony Serrano 5-10 3-5 14, Carter Lyon 0-3 0-0 0, Tyler Huber 4-8 3-5 12, Teysean Eaglestaff 1-12 2-8 5. Totals: 16-57 21-35 58.
Three-point goals: Custer 5 (Kelley 2, Prior 2, Fish), Spearfish 5 (Millis, Huber, Serrano, Eaglestaff). Rebounding: Custer 29 (Sedlacek 8), Spearfish 34 (Serrano 10). Turnovers: Custer 13, Spearfish 13. Total fouls: Custer 25, Spearfish 18. Fouled out: Tennyson, Wragge, Hamilton.

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