Girls fall to Broncs, ease past Bison, Patriots

It was a busy and productive week for the Custer High School girls basketball team last week, as the Wildcats started off the week last Tuesday with a convincing win over the Douglas Patriots before another relatively easy win over the visiting Hot Springs Bison last Thursday. That game was followed by a trip to Belle Fourche Saturday, where the Wildcats fell to the Broncs 54-34.
Against Belle Fourche, head coach Tayton Vincent said the girls started strong, but soon fell victim to turnovers and the Broncs’ sheer size. The Broncs have three girls over six foot, and as such, dominated rebounding (29-18) and points in the paint (26-4).
“We knew rebounding would be a struggle,” Vincent said.
Kylee Ellerton did her best to keep the Wildcats in the game, hitting five first-quarter three-pointers. Despite her effort, the Wildcats found themselves down 33-21 at the half.
While the Wildcats did a good job of slowing down the Broncs’ star player Mataya Ward, the same can’t be said for the Broncs’ Lily Nore, who did whatever she wanted on her way to 25 points on 10 of 11 shooting, including a perfect four-of-four from three-point range.
“We did some good things defensively. Offensively, we moved the basketball,” Vincent said. “We turned the ball over too many times. It was just one of those games the ball wasn’t falling.”
The second half was especially rough for Custer, as they scored only 13 points while shooting 15 percent from the floor.
Ellerton was the only Wildcat in double figures, with 18 points.
Last Thursday against the Bison Ellerton poured in 22 points to pace the Wildcats as they racked up a 65-38 win over the Bison.
The Wildcats started the game off on fire, taking a 12-0 lead behind strong shooting and a press that forced 33 Bison turnovers during the course of the game.
“We came out tough against them. We really pushed the pace,” Vincent said.
The Bison were able to cut the Wildcat lead to 12-6 following a Maggie Preuss basket, but moments later Ellerton buried a three-pointer to stake Custer to a 17-6 lead.
Hot Springs did not go away, however, and cut the Custer advantage to five after a pair of Ashlynn Elshere free throws. The Bison got even closer after a Preuss basket on which she was fouled, but the Wildcats extended the lead heading into the half to 33-26, with the help of one of three Jojo Larsen three-pointers in the game. The Wildcats hit 10 triples as a team in the game.
The third quarter is when the Wildcats really began to pour it on, as they scored the first five points of the quarter quickly, and went up 42-29 after a Bailey Cass 10-foot jumper.
Cass’s jumper was followed by another Larsen three-pointer and an Ellerton steal and layup. By the time Ellerton hit another shot along the baseline the Wildcats had gone up 20 at 49-29 and never let the Bison get any closer.
“It was one of those that in the third quarter you saw a whole different mindset,” Vincent said. “At halftime we talked about it didn’t feel like we were playing together. Sticking together and playing together was a point of emphasis at halftime.”
The game against the Patriots played out in a similar fashion, as Ellerton scored 17 points while Larsen added 12 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
The Wildcats took a 24-11 lead into the half, and led 30-14 with three minutes gone in the third quarter after an Emily Borkowski basket inside.
The Patriots tried to mount one last run, and cut the Wildcat lead to 10 after a pair of free throws by Ramsy Johnson, but found themselves down 38-23 at the end of the third quarter after a Larsen three-pointer.
The Wildcats maintained a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game, and led 47-34 after Ellerton made two of four free throws that were a result of her being fouled and then a Patriot player arguing the call and receiving a technical foul.
“The way we were playing defensively was getting to them,” Vincent said. “It was one of those games we jumped out early. The girls continued to stay poised and handle the pressure and handled it when (Douglas) hit a shot. It was a nice all-around win for the girls to be able to handle playing with a lead.”
The Wildcats are back at home tomorrow evening for a matchup with the 8-5 Spearfish Spartans. Tip is set for 6 p.m.
The Spartans have only lost to Red Cloud in conference play, and Vincent said the team will need to match the Spartans’ physicality and effort.
“It’s February. On any given night someone can play well or anybody can upset anybody,” he said.
Next Tuesday the Wildcats host their final regular season game of the season when the Hill City Rangers came to town for a 7 p.m. The Wildcats upset the region-leading Rangers only a couple of weeks ago in Hill City, which undoubtedly means they have the Rangers’ full attention.
“Maybe they overlooked us that night. Our girls did a great job of getting out there and getting after it,” Vincent said. “They are not going to overlook us. They are going to come with a little more fire under them and want to bounce back and redeem themselves.”
Custer    6    15    6    7    —34
BF    18    15    14    7    —54
Custer—Jayda Bennett 2-4 2-2 7, Lauryn Robb 0-2 0-0 0, Jojo Larsen 1-8 1-2 4, Kylee Ellerton 5-15 3-4 18, Bailey Cass 1-3 1-1 3, Maya Tennyson 1-2 0-0 2, Jordyn Uphoff 0-1  0-0 0, Emily Borkowski 0-1 0-0 0, Katelyn Nelson 0-1 0-0 0, Kylee Pulscher 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 10-38 7-9 34.
Belle Fourche—Reese Larson 2-9 1-2 5, Kailey Nowowiejski 1-3 0-0 2, Mataya Ward 3-70-2 6, Sarah Juelfs 3-3 0-0 6, Sloan Young 5-9 0-0 10, Lily Nore 10-11 1-2 25, Denali Larson 0-1 0-0 0, Reagan Hatling 0-2 0-2 0. Totals: 24-45 2-8 54.
Three-point goals: Custer 7 (Ellerton 5, Bennett, Larsen), BF 4 (Nore 4). Rebounding: Custer 18, BF 29 (Ward 7, Young 7, Nore 7). Steals: Custer 13, BF 15. Assists: Custer 10, BF 15. Turnovers: Custer 30, BF 25. Total fouls: Custer 13, BF 16. Fouled out: Larsen 5.
Custer    17    16    25    7    —65
HS    6    20    10    2    —38
Custer—Jayda Bennett 2-5 0-0 5, Lauryn Robb 0-3 1-1 1, Jojo Larsen 3-5 0-0 9, Shayleigh Forgey 0-1 0-0 0, Kylee Ellerton 8-12 1-1 22, Bailey Cass 3-6 0-0 6, Maya Tennyson 4-5 1-2 9, Rylan Lowe 0-2 2-2 2, Keira Nelson 0-1 1-1 1, Jordyn Uphoff 0-1 1-1 1, Emily Borkowski 4-6 0-0 9, Katelyn Nelson 0-4 0-0 0, Kylee Pulscher 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 24-52 7-9 65.
Hot Springs—Lily Theilmann 0-5 3-4 3, Kenadee Maciejewski 2-6 0-0 5, Destiny Webb 0-3 3-4 3, Ashlynn Elshere 0-0 2-2 2, Maggie Preuss 4-13 3-5 11, Kaylee Bader 2-5 4-6 9, Kiana Lewis 1-5 1-6 3, Carol Trujillo 0-1 2-4 2. Totals: 9-37 18-31 38.
Three-point goals: Custer 10 (Ellerton 5, Larsen 3, Bennett, Borkowski), HS 2 (Maciejeski, Bader). Rebounding: Custer 33, HS 23. Steals: Custer 18, HS 15. Assists: Custer 19, HS 3. Turnovers: Custer 29, HS 33. Total fouls: Custer 20, HS 12. Fouled out: none.
Custer    7    17    14    11    —49
Douglas    3    8    12    13    —36
Custer—Jayda Bennett 2-6 0-0 4, Lauryn Robb 1-5 0-0 2, Jojo Larsen 3-6 5-6 12, Kylee Ellerton 3-14 10-12 17, Maya Tennyson 1-12 0-0 2, Keira Nelson 0-1 0-0 0, Jordyn Uphoff 3-6 1-2 7, Emily Borkowski 2-8 1-5 5, Kaitlyn Lappe 0-1 0-0 0, Kylee Pulscher 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 15-60 17-25 49.
Douglas—Taryn Shroyer 0-1 1-2 2, Colee Kruse 5-17 3-8 14, Emma Vlaisure 0-1 1-2 1, Ramzy Johnson 1-3 1-2 3, Bailey Clark 1-7 1-4 3, Olivia Harris 0-10 2-4 2, Chloe Shreve 4-6 1-3 9, Maddy Melton 0-1 3-4 3. Totals: 11-46 13-29 36.
Three-point goals: Custer 2 (Larsen, Ellerton), Douglas 1 (Kruse). Rebounding: Custer 40 (Tennyson 10), Douglas 46 (Cr. Shreve 11). Steals: Custer 12, Douglas 10. Assists: Custer 11, Douglas 6. Turnovers: Custer 20, Douglas 28. Total fouls: Custer 27, Douglas 26. Fouled out: Co. Kruse, Johnson, Harris.