Wildcat girls win two, lose two at Lakota Nation

Not surprised.
That was head coach Gage Winkler’s reaction to his Custer High School girls basketball team’s finishing what could be considered a surprising 2-2 at last week’s Lakota Nation Invitational, good for a 10th place finish overall.
“To be honest, I wasn’t surprised, because I knew everyone was going to have to step up and play a bigger role than they ever played,” Winkler said of his young team, many of whom were playing their first varsity minutes at the LNI. “I know my players. I knew they would. The only thing I was surprised with was how quickly they stepped up.”
The Wildcats closed out the tournament with a tough 41-39 loss to Marty last Saturday in a back-and-forth game in which neither team took more than a six-point lead.
The girls found themselves down one after the first quarter, and the teams exchanged the lead five times throughout the quarter, including a 16-14 Wildcat lead after an Emarsyn Jaure basket that was followed by a Marty three-pointer.
The Wildcats took the lead again on a Siena Schultz basket, but found themselves down 19-17 at the end of a low-scoring first half.
The Wildcats struggled in the half court, with most of their points in the game coming in transition.
“I knew we had speed on our side. We wanted to get the rebound and get out and run,” Winkler said. “That was our whole ‘MO.’”
The game remained close to the very end, with Custer finding itself down four at 40-36 with 2:44 remaining in the game. The score stayed there until there were 51 seconds in the game, when Kylee Ellerton buried a three-pointer for three of her team-high 19 points to cut the Marty lead to 40-39.
Custer wouldn’t get any closer, however, as the Wildcats fouled to get the Braves into the bonus but did not have enough time to set up a shot following a Brave free throw that provided the final points of the game.
“It was one of those games, back and forth. We were hanging around, hanging around. I told them at the end, they had shots go in and ours weren’t going in. The ball didn’t bounce our way that game,” Winkler said.
Keira Nelson led the team with eight rebounds.
On Friday of the tournament the Wildcats took on Santee out of Nebraska, and after a slow start outscored Santee 24-5 in the second quarter on the way to a 53-44 win.
Winkler said he was proud of the way his young team battled back from adversity in the game, overcoming the slow start to take the lead into the half.
The Wildcat defense was the catalyst in the win, as the team had 23 steals, forced 29 turnovers and had 23 points off turnovers.
“As soon as the ball was in the paint (Santee) was coughing it up. We were hustling after loose balls and were off and running,” Winkler said. “We started to figure out what help looks like. Our whole goal is to keep the ball out of the paint and close out on shooters. Everyone bought in and it showed.”
Ellerton, who was named to the all-tournament team, lead the Wildcats with 18 points, while also pulling down eight rebounds, corralling nine steals and dishing out six assists.
Friday the team was pitted against McLaughlin, and had little trouble in a 50-29 win. This was despite another slow start that saw the team fall behind at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was a different story, however, as the Wildcats outscored the Mustangs 20-2 in the frame and cruised from there. The Wildcats shot 40 percent from the field in the game and dominated on the boards, pulling down 37 rebounds while scoring 28 points in the paint and collecting 16 steals.
“We started pushing the pace, pushing in transition,” Winkler said. “Everyone was getting out and running. Kylee was finding people and taking it herself. This is how we have to play to be successful. That game was all push the ball and do what we do defensively.”
Ellerton again led the scoring with 17 points and was the only Wildcat to reach double figures. She also had seven assists, while Nelson led the team with eight rebounds.
The tournament did not start out well for the Wildcats last Wednesday, as they scored only eight points in the first half on the way to a 54-20 loss to Omaha Nation.
Winkler said the game plan was for the Wildcats to make Omaha Nation work on the defensive end while attacking the middle and remaining patient on offense.
The Wildcats did that to a fault on offense, frequently running down the shot clock without attacking. Twice the team had a shot clock violation.
“At some point you have to attack,” Winkler said. “We didn’t put our foot on the gas.”
Winkler also credited Omaha Nation as being a very good team that had played several games prior to the game, while his young Wildcats were stepping onto the court for the first time in 2025.
“That game was getting jitters out. It was our first game together,” he said. “I wish we had another shot at them later (this season). There were lots of positives in the second half.”
Nelson led the team with six points and seven rebounds. The Wildcats shot only 25 percent in the game and turned the ball over 22 times.
The Wildcats will return to action next week when they head to Chadron, Neb., for the Chadron Rotary Club Holiday Classic at the Chicoine Center on the campus of Chadron State College. The Wildcats will open the tournament with a matchup against Gothenburg, Neb.
“That’s going to be a tough one. I’m sure they have more experience than us,” Winkler said. “Most teams will. But we’re not going to fear anyone. We’re not going to play not to win. We have nothing to lose. In most games we are going to be the underdog and we’re going to embrace that.”