Clark-Willow Lake secures berth in Class B state tourney

HURON — A quick five-point spurt to open the second half gave the Clark-Willow Lake Cyclones a bit of daylight, and the Sanborn Central-Woonsocket Blackhawks were never able to get closer, as the Cyclones punched their ticket to next week’s Class “B” State basketball tournament Thursday night, with a 54-37 win at Huron Arena.
After a back-and-forth first half, Sanborn Central-Woonsocket took an early 6-0 lead, as Trey Weber and Noah Dickson got the Blackhawks started. The Cyclones, however, went on a 10-0 run, keyed by Jacob Prouty, and took a lead that they would ultimately never relinquish.
The Blackhawks kept it close throughout the rest of the first half and trailed 19-16 at the break, however.
C-WL came out in the second half and got a quick three-pointer from Bradyn Rusher, followed by a layup by Grayson Florey, to stake an eight-point cushion at 24-16. The Blackhawks got a free throw and a basket on consecutive possessions to cut the margin back to five, but two more quick Cyclone field goals from Ntai Stevens and Rusher pushed the margin to nine and SC-W never got closer the rest of the game.
Prouty led the Cyclones with 19 points and seven rebounds in the game, while Micah Burke added 11 and Rusher chipped in 10.
The Blackhawks got 12 points from Weber and 10 from Trent Kingsbury. Dickson and Kingsbury each had five rebounds in the game.

For Clark-Willow Lake, the win improves its season record to 18-5 and earns a trip to next week’s State B. This is the first year that the co-op has been at the Class “B” level. Clark and Willow Lake had each taken trips to the “B” as individual schools, and Clark had participated in the State “A” tournament, as had the co-op school.
Sanborn Central-Woonsocket ends the season 17-6.

Sanborn Central-Woonsocket 10 16 23 37
Clark-Willow Lake                10 19 32 54
Sanborn Central-Woonsocket (17-6): Noah Dickson 3 0-0 6; Trey Weber 4 4-4 12; Trent Kingsbury 4 1-4 10; Jared Goldammer 1 0-0 2; Tater Moody 3 1-4 7. Totals: 15 6-12 37.
Clark-Willow Lake (18-5): Grayson Florey 1 0-0 2; Ntai Stevens 1 3-4 5; Bradyn Rusher 3 3-4 10; Jacob Prouty 7 4-4 19; Micah Burke 4 3-5 11; Sho Sunagawa 2 0-0 4; Stone Burke 1 0-0 3. Totals: 19 13-17 54.
FG: SCW - 15-37 41%; CWL - 19-40 48%. 3-pt FG: SCW - 1-7 (Kingsbury); CWL - 3-16 (Rusher, Prouty and S. Burke). Rebounds: SCW - 24 (Nickson and Kingsbury, 5); CWL - 21 (Prouty 7). Turnovers: SCW - 10; CWL - 6. Fouls: SCW - 12; CWL - 15.

MIKE CARROLL/PLAINSMAN
Clark-Willow Lake’s Jacob Prouty pulls up for a jumper against Sanborn Central-Woonsocket teammates Trent Kingsbury (23) and Noah Dickson (5) during their Class B Round of 16 game Thursday at Huron Arena.

Next, Sanborn Central-Woonsocket’s Trey Weber penetrates against defensive pressure by Clark-Willow Lake’s Micah Burke during their Class B Round of 16 game on Thursday at Huron Arena.