by Benjamin Chase
of the Plainsman
RAPID CITY –– Trailing after the first quarter, the Clark/Willow Lake Cyclones used a 16-4 second quarter to take a lead into half and simply piled on in the second half for a 66-36 victory over the Stanley County Buffaloes in the first round of the Class “A” State Boys’ Basketball Tournament on Thursday in Rapid City.
The Buffaloes came out fast, as Paxton Deal hit a three and was fouled, converting the four-point play for the first scoring of the game. After a Chris Bevers basket in the lane for the Cyclones, Deal hit another three to quickly give Stanley County a 7-2 edge with a hair more than a minute off the game clock.
After both teams had misfires, Eddie Duffy got into the paint for a basket.
Emmerson Larson broke a two-minute scoring drought for the Cyclones with a move in the lane, but then both teams went cold until Carson Bourne hit from short for the Buffaloes to build an 11-4 lead.
Bo Begeman would get on the board with a pair of buckets sandwiching a Duffy basket, and Bevers hit one of two free throws to close out the first quarter scoring with Stanley County up 13-9.
Larson got the first three buckets of the second period, giving the Cyclones the lead. Jack Deal hit one of two free throws, but the size of the Cyclones began to win out as Sully Felberg got on the board on the fourth shot of a possession for CWL, converting a three-point play with the free throw.
The Buffaloes got to the line for three free throws, but the offensive rebounding of the Cyclones got a bucket for Begeman. Bevers then scored on the next two possessions, one a drive through the lane and the next a three to push out the Cyclone lead to 25-17 at half.
While the defensive intensity stayed high for CWL in the third period, the offense finally opened up, led by a Felberg three to open the second half, and the Cyclones were off to the races.
Bevers had his own 6-0 run that began with 3:32 left in the quarter to push the Cyclone lead to 38-25. A putback bucket by Larson as the quarter clock ran down sent the teams into the final period with Clark/Willow Lake up 42-29.
The Cyclones scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter to shut down any hope for a comeback for Buffaloes fans. At the two-minute mark of the game, both teams emptied benches, and the Cyclones closed out a 66-36 victory.
Clark/Willow Lake moves to 21-2 behind four players in double figures, led by Bevers with 24 points, four assists, and three steals.
Larson chipped in 18, Begeman scored 10, and Felberg finished with 12 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
The Buffaloes fall to 20-3. Paxton Deal led the way with 15 points, six rebounds, and four steals for Stanley County.
The Cyclones face undefeated West Central in the semifinals.
Stanley County 13 17 29 36
Clark/Willow Lake 9 25 42 66
Stanley County (20-3): Jack Deal 0 2-4 2, Brendon Bothwell 0 2-2 2, Eddie Duffy 2 2-2 6, Paxton Deal 5 3-3 15, Carson Bourne 1 1-2 3, Teegyn Breitag 1 0-2 2, Trevor Caldwell 3 0-2 6. Totals: 12 10-17 36.
Clark/Willow Lake (21-2): Emmerson Larson 9 0-0 18, Chris Bevers 10 3-5 24, Jakob Steen 0 0-2 0, Bo Begeman 5 0-1 10, Sully Felberg 5 1-1 12, Masyn Knock 0 2-2 2. Totals: 29 6-11 66.
FG: SC – 12/54, 22.2%; CWL – 29/55, 52.7%. 3-pt FG: SC – 2/15 (PDeal 2); CWL – 2/13 (Bevers, SFelberg). Rebounds: SC 31 (PDeal 6), CWL 42 (SFelberg 12). Assists: SC 1, CWL 11 (Bevers, Begeman 4). Blocks: SC 1, CWL 7 (SFelberg 3). Steals: SC 9 (PDeal 4), CWL 8 (Bevers 3). Turnovers: SC 11, CWL 13. Fouls: SC 14, CWL 15.
Clark/Willow Lake’s Bo Begeman passes the ball during a game against Stanley County on Thursday in the opening round of the Class A State Tournament in Summit Arena at the Monument in Rapid City.
West Central holds on for win over Clark/Willow Lake
BY PLAINSMAN STAFF
RAPID CITY — Second-seeded West Central converted on 18 of 21 free-throws in the final quarter to secure a 56-43 victory against third-seeded Clark/Willow Lake in the semifinals of the Class A State Tournament on Friday.
The Trojans, who improved to 24-0, led 21-14 at the half and extended their lead to 36-21 entering the final quarter.
Clark/Willow Lake was able to generate some offense with 22 points in the final quarter, but West Central converted on its free throws to maintain the advantage.
Connor Mebius finished with a game-high 22 points to lead the Trojans. Will Kuhl added 16 points and had nine rebounds.
Sully Felberg had 13 points and eight rebounds to lead Clark/Willow Lake, which is now 21-3. Bo Begeman had eight points, while Chris Bevers had seven points and Emmerson Larson had six points.
West Central will face top-seeded Sioux Falls Christian, which is the defending Class A champion, in the title game at 6:45 p.m. MT today. Clark/Willow Lake will play fourth-seeded Hamlin for third place at 5 p.m. MT today.
Clark/Willow Lake 2 14 21 43
West Central 10 21 36 56
Clark/Willow Lake (21-3): Emmerson Larson 3 0-1 6; Chris Bevers 3 1-1 7; Jakob Steen 2 0-0 4; Bo Begeman 4 0-1 8; Sully Felberg 3 5-5 13; Joey Ries 1 0-0 2; Miles Olson 1 0-0 3. Totals: 17-50 6-8 43.
West Central (24-0): Connor Mebius 3 14-14 22; Boche Knight 1 3-4 6; Hayden Heier 1 1-2 3; Kolte Garry 1 0-2 2; Will Kuhl 7 2-4 16; Carter Gross 0 1-2 1; Bubba Kono 1 0-0 2; Tanner Wagner 2 0-0 4. Totals: 16-44 21-28 56.
Rebounds: CWL 28 )Felberg 8); WC 37 (Kuhl 9). 3-point goals: CWL3-17 (Felberg 2, Olson 1) ; WC 3-14 (Mebius 2, Knight 1). Turnovers: CWL 12; WC 7. Assists: CWL 4; WC 6. Steals: CWL 3; WC 6. Fouls: CWL 20 (Begeman, out); WC 11.
Leave a Reply