BOX ELDER, SD – The Sturgis Scooper basketball teams traveled to Douglas on Thursday night, needing wins to keep their postseason hopes alive. Both squads still have life, as the Scooper girls edged Douglas 50-46, and the Sturgis boys made 12 of 15 free throws in the fourth quarter to beat the Patriots 47-43.
The Scooper girls led by eight midway through the second quarter, 24-16, until the Patriots closed the gap at the half. Sturgis led Douglas 24-23 at the intermission.
Neither team led by more than six throughout the third quarter as the Scoopers and Patriots traded buckets. Scooper senior Kenna Goebel drained two tough shots from the left corner and snagged two rebounds to keep Sturgis in the ball game, as Douglas took a 37-34 lead into the fourth.
Scooper head coach Jordan Proefrock shuffled her lineup in the final stanza, bringing in 8th grader Tori Williams, who hit a clutch three-pointer early in the quarter to give Sturgis a 43-38 lead. The Scooper defense held strong throughout the fourth and sophomore guard Taylor Price calmly converted two foul shots to seal the Sturgis victory.
Sturgis was led by Kaylee Whatley, who scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds before fouling out late in the fourth quarter. Scooper senior Kenna Goebel added eight points and four rebounds. Twelve Scoopers scored in the game, as the team improved their season record to 3-12. Patriot point guard Keana Watson led Douglas with 18 points. Douglas falls to 2-11 on the year. The win moves Sturgis ahead of Douglas in the seed point standings to #18 with just five games remaining. The top 16 teams make the post season and Sturgis is less than one seed point behind #15 Aberdeen Central and #16 Spearfish. The Scooper girls take on the Spartans in their next matchup on Tuesday at Spearfish.
The Scooper boys came into Tuesday night’s matchup with Douglas also needing a win to move up in the seed point standings. The game was a battle from the tip off, as the Scoopers jumped out to a 8-0 lead behind three pointers by Dysen Peterson and Tyan Buus. Dylan Schelske and Jesse Hand answered with three pointers of their own for Douglas midway through the first quarter and Sturgis led 12-11 after one.
The Scooper defense shut down the Patriots in the second, holding Douglas to just two second quarter points. Sturgis sophomore Tyan Buus was assigned to shut down Patriot point guard Connor Sauvage and he did just that, holding the senior to just two first half points.
“(Buus) is a tough defender,” said Scooper head coach Derris Buus. “The one thing about (Buus) is that is you’re not going to get by him very easily, he can move side to side very well and he’s a strong kid.”
Sturgis outscored Douglas 8-2 in the second to take a 20-13 lead into the half.
The defensive pressure by both teams continued early in the third quarter as neither team scored a point for the first 3:30. Schelske and Hand both drained three pointers in the third and Douglas outscored Sturgis 9-8 in the quarter to chip away at the Scooper lead. Sturgis led 28-22 after three.
Sauvage finally came alive for Douglas as the Scooper defense got away from their game plan late in the game. Sauvage scored nine points in the fourth quarter to keep the Patriots in the ball game. But Sturgis won the game at the foul line, converting 12 of 15 charity tosses in the fourth to defeat Douglas, 47-43.
“I thought it was a very good win for our boys, they ground it out well, they fought well,” said Buus. “We did well on the foul line. I thought both Tyan (Buus) and Owen (Cass) did well closing out the game there, but we had a stretch where we didn’t execute our defensive game plan and it almost cost us. Douglas scored thirty points in the fourth quarter against Custer the other night for their first win so they’re very capable of putting up points. I was really happy with our defensive effort tonight.”
The Scoopers were led by Owen Cass with 14 points and four rebounds. Cass was clutch from the free throw line, making 10 of 11 foul shots in the game. Ty Buus added three three pointers and 15 points. Buus was four of six from the free throw line. Sauvage finished the game with 14 points for Douglas, who falls to 1-11 on the season. The win improves Sturgis to 3-12 on the year and moves Sturgis up ahead of Douglas in the seed point standings, keeping the Scoopers playoff hopes alive. The boys are in action next on Tuesday at Spearfish, who currently sits at #14 in seed points.
“I can tell you the boys are looking forward to Tuesday night, not just because it’s Spearfish, but we lost a tough one to them early in the season,” Buus said. “The one thing I think is that they haven’t played a team that’s as good defensively that we are as of late. I just think our guys are focused and they really wanted this one tonight, and they got it, and they want the one Tuesday and we got some games we think we can win down the stretch if we play well. We’ll see.”
