Shooting woes, turnovers hurting ’Cats

Following a 52-41 loss to West Central last Saturday at the Sacred Hoops Classic in Mitchell, the Custer High School boys basketball team sits with a 3-3 record, a two-game losing streak, an injured scoring leader and shooting woes.
The Wildcats struggled from both the floor and the free throw line in going 1-2 in three games over New Year’s weekend, including a 30 percent shooting effort against the Trojans. The Wildcats were 0-14 from three-point range in the game, as well as 9-21 from the free throw line.
“The reality is we’re not shooting the ball very well, and we’re not making our free throws,” head coach Paul Kelley said.
The Wildcats scored only eight points in each of the first three quarters against West Central before trying to rally in the fourth quarter. The ’Cats also committed 20 turnovers, another thing Kelley said led to the team’s loss.
“We hung around. I thought our defense was pretty solid most of the game,” Kelley said. “It’s hard to keep playing defense when you’re not scoring, but our kids did it. We made just enough of those mistakes that it cost us in the game.”
Kelley said had the team shot better from the free throw line and been less careless with the ball, the outcome likely would have been different.
“We had our chances. We just didn’t do what we needed to do,” he said. “We had lots of positives. We need to eliminate the negatives.”
Daniel Sedlacek, who Kelley said had elevated his game since the loss of leading scorer Jace Kelley to injury, led the team with 13 points, while also grabbing eight rebounds. Dustyn Fish added 10 points.
Last Wednesday the team fell in the championship game of the Chadron Rotary Club Holiday Classic in Chadron, Neb., to host Chadron by the score of 68-51.
The Cardinals opened a 19-14 first quarter lead and outscored the Wildcats 18-5 in the second period to take a commanding 37-19 halftime margin.
“They went to a 1-3-1 in the second quarter. We knew that is what we were going to see,” Kelley said. “We just couldn’t execute. Chadron isn’t a bad team. They are very athletic. They destroyed us on the boards. The kids played hard, we just lacked those contributions we needed from the bench.”
 Custer’s top scorer was Gunner Prior with five treys for 15 points. Sedlacek added 14 and Fish and Gage Tennyson each had 11. They were the only four Wildcats to score in the game.
The Wildcats made quick work of Valentine, Neb., to open the tournament Dec. 29 as 10 different ’Cats scored in a 68-43 romp.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 23-5 first quarter lead in their game with Valentine and were never threatened.  Tennyson paced the Wildcats with 16 points, while Fish added 13 points and Prior 11 for Custer.
The Wildcats led 41-20 at halftime and cruised from there, forcing 20 Badger turnovers and taking 36 trips to the foul line. If there was a downside to the game it was when the Wildcats got to the foul line, as they made only 13 of 36 free shots.
“We got a lot of kids in and had a lot of kids contribute,” Kelley said. “They played hard and had smiles on their faces. It could have been (a bigger win) had we made some free throws.”
After playing four games in the course of eight days the Wildcats have two games this week, including, a matchup with the Hill City Rangers set for 7:30 p.m. in the Armory Thursday.
The Rangers have one win on the season, but are better than they were last year, Kelley said.
“We can’t overlook them. They get up to play us. We have to be ready to play,” he said.
Saturday the team takes to I-90 again as they head to Chamberlain for a matchup with the undefeated Cubs. Kelley said the Cubs have both size and speed and will present a big challenge.
Kelley also said the team hopes to have Jace Kelley back for the Chamberlain game. He will be evaluated by a doctor Friday.
Custer    8    8    8    17    —41
WC    13    10    18    11    —52
Custer—Gunner Prior 4-14 0-0 8, Gavin Klein 0-2 0-0 0, Dustyn Fish 3-11 4-4 10, Daniel Sedlacek 4-11 5-8 13, Gage Tennyson 4-13 0-9 8, Sawyer Schramm 1-1 0-0 2, Kaleb Wragge 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 16-53 9-21 41.
West Central—Jacob Krempges 2-8 0-0 5, Zane Crawford 2-4 0-0 4, Kasan Abedi 3-9 0-0 7, Hunter Hagerty 3-8 3-5 9, Derek Eidsness 2-5 0-2 5, Wilson Droge 1-1 0-0 2, Jaxon Skinner 1-6 2-2 4, Derrick Eich 2-5 0-0 6, Carter Schmeichel 4-5 0-0 10. Totals: 20-53 5-9 52.
Three-point goals: WC 7 (Schmeichel 2, Eich 2, Eidsness, Abedi, Krempges). Rebounding: Custer 24 (Sedlacek 8, Tennyson 7), WC 31. Steals: Custer 8, WC 3. Turnovers: Custer 20, WC 17. Total fouls: Custer 11, WC 16. Fouled out: none.
Custer    14    5    20    12    —51
Chad    19    18    18    13    —68
Custer—Gunner Prior 5-10 0-0 15, Gavin Klein 0-1 0-0 0, Dustyn Fish 4-12 0-0 11, Daniel Sedlacek 6-11 2-5 14, Gage Tennyson 5-12 1-2 11, Kyle Virtue 0-1 0-0 0, Kaleb Wragge 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 20-49 3-7 51.
Three-point goals: Custer 8 (Prior 5, Fish 3). Rebounding: Custer 19 (Tennyson 6). Steals: 3. Assists: 9. Turnovers: Custer 10. Total fouls: Custer 11. Fouled out: none.
Custer    23    18    15    12    —68
Val    5    15    9    14    —43
Custer—Brody Storm 0-1 2-4 4, Gunner Prior 4-12 0-2 11, Ashton Dekker 0-1 0-0 0, Gavin Klein 0-4 0-0 0, Dustyn Fish 4-10 2-3 12, Daniel Sedlacek 2-10 2-5 6, Gage Tennyson 8-13 0-7 16, Kyle Virtue 1-4 3-4 5, Sawyer Schramm 2-5 3-6 7, Tristen Schelske 2-2 0-1 6, Quade Parker 1-1 0-2 2, Saw Wise 0-1 1-2 1. Totals: 24-64 13-36 68.
Three-point goals: Custer 7 (Prior 3, Fish 2, Schelske 2). Rebounding: Custer 32 (Tennyson 9). Steals: Custer 7. Assists: Custer 9. Turnovers: Custer 10. Total fouls: Custer 15. Fouled out: none.