STURGIS, SD – The Sturgis Scooper boys and girls basketball teams came into Friday night’s games needing two wins to keep their SoDak 16 hopes alive and celebrated “Hall of Fame” night at West Gymnasium with two big wins over the Hot Springs Bison.
The Scooper girls had one of their best offensive outputs of the season with a 61-22 victory over the Lady Bison and the Sturgis boys held off Hot Springs in the fourth quarter to get a much needed 42-35 victory.
The Sturgis faithful honored Hall of Fame inductees Don Dubbe, Chet Delbridge, Mike Paris and Shane Delbridge at halftime of the boys game for their accomplishments and contributions to Sturgis Scooper athletics.
Scooper senior Kaylee Whatley got back on track after a tough outing in Spearfish on Tuesday, where she was limited to just five points. Whatley dropped in 10 points on five of seven shooting from the field in the first half to lead Sturgis to a 34-12 halftime lead over the Lady Bison.
Sturgis drained five three-pointers in the second half and played stiff defense, holding Hot Springs to just 10 second half points on their way to a 61-22 win.
The Scooper girls sit at #18 in Class AA seed points, just over half a seed point behind Sioux Falls Roosevelt, who sits at #16, and just under half a seed point behind #17 Aberdeen Central. The Scoopers play Red Cloud, Douglas and Yankton in their last three games to try to make up enough ground to make the postseason.
Whatley led Sturgis(4-13) with 15 points and six rebounds. Reece Ludwick and Kenna Goebel added eight points for the Scooper girls. Lady Bison sophomore Maggie Pruess scored 7 and snared 10 boards to lead Hot Springs (4-13).
Defense was also the focus of the Scooper boys, as they played lockdown defense on the Bison from the opening tip. Sturgis held Hot Springs to just four field goals in 18 attempts in the first half to lead 17-9 at the intermission.
“We knew it was going to be a low scoring game so we had to lock down on (Camron) Maciejewski and (Braden) Grill, those are two that are going to get a lot of points,” said Scooper head coach Derris Buus. “We defended extremely well, I thought all nine guys that played really contributed.”
The defensive shutdown continued early into the second half as the Scoopers outscored Hot Springs 15-5 in the third to extend their lead to 32-14 headed into the fourth quarter. But the momentum shifted early in the fourth as the Bison got hot and went on a 10-0 run on three-pointers by Will Gilbertson, Landon Iverson and Maciejewski to pull Hot Springs within eight. The Bison ran out of time and had to start fouling to try to close the gap even further, but the Scoopers hit their foul shots and got the win over Hot Springs, 42-35.
“I was just really happy and proud of the kids for their effort as a group, as a unit,” Buus said. “We talk about selfless service and how that can relate into athletics and sometimes it’s more rewarding as an individual when you can celebrate the successes of others, even more than your own. Our kids did that tonight and I’m glad they were able to celebrate a win.”
Owen Cass scored 12 points and secured seven rebounds to lead Sturgis (4-13), with Konner Berndt and Dysen Peterson both chipping in eight points apiece. Maciejewski, just a sophomore, had 14 points for Hot Springs (12-4).
The Scooper boys currently sit at #17 in seed points, just over half a seed point behind #16 Rapid City Stevens with three games to go.
The Sturgis boys and girls host Red Cloud next Thursday, Feb. 17 at West Gym. The girls game is scheduled to start at 6:30pm.
