JVC holds on against Blackhawks to capture 281 Conference boys’ title

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For the second time in a week, the James Valley Christian Vikings defeated the Sanborn Central-Woonsocket Blackhawks. This time it was for the 281 Conference Tournament championship. James Valley claimed the title with a 55-49 win Thursday night at Huron Arena.
JVC had beaten SC-W 48-46 on Jan. 10, in Forestburg and rekindled the fire that was ignited that night as the win for the championship hardware was the Vikings’ fourth straight win and boosted their season record to 6-4.
Thursday night, the Vikings and Blackhawks played a game of hide and seek for 32 minutes. James Valley Christian would build a lead - they led at all quarter stops en route to the win - that would climb to double digits at times, only to see the Blackhawks claw their way back into contention.
The final rally for the Blackhawks began with four minutes to go in the game, as Spens Schlicht tipped a pass and took it the length of the floor for a layup that cut the lead to three points, at 44-41.
JVC responded, as Josh Wieting hit a free throw and then converted a layup on the next possession to push the margin back to six points. A pair of free throws from SC-W’s Tater Moody and two straight baskets from Noah Dickson offset another Weiting basket and made the margin two, 49-47, for the Vikings with a minute to play.
But that was as close as the Blackhawks would get, as Colton Schweigert got a basket with 40 seconds left, then caused a turnover, got the ball to a streaking Wieting then followed up when Wieting missed and made it 53-47. Dickson made a pair of free throws and Wieting got a late layup to make the final score 55-49.
Wieting led the Vikings with 21 points, while Held knocked down 14 and claimed a team-high nine rebounds in the game.
The Blackhawks were led by Schlicht’s 15 points. Dickson added 12 points and hauled down a game-high 13 rebounds.
Wieting was the Carr Chiropractic MVP for the boys’ portion of the tournament, as the 5-foot-10-inch sharpshooter scored 71 points in the three games, to help lead the Vikings to their first title in several years.
Both teams emerge from the tournament with 6-4 records. JVC will return to action on Saturday, when they host Ipswich Area at the JVC Gymnasium, while Sanborn Central-Woonsocket will be off until Tuesday, when they host Hanson at Forestburg.

James Valley Christian             10 27 41 55
Sanborn Central-Woonsocket    8 22 34 49
James Valley Christian (6-4): Josh Wieting 9 3-7 21; Braden Held 5 0-0 14; Colton Schweigert 4 0-0 9; Darrian Hood 0 2-2 2; Derek Thompson 4 0-0 9. Totals: 22 5-9 55.
Sanborn Central-Woonsocket (6-4): Trey Ulmer 2 2-2 6; Spens Schlicht 6 0-2 15; Noah Dickson 4 4-6 12; Sawyer Senska 1 0-0 2; Tater Moody 3 2-4 8; Cayden Slykhuis 1 0-0 3; Malachi Bruce 1 0-0 3. Totals: 18 8-14 49.
FG: JVC - 22-47 48%; SCW - 18-48 38%. 3-pt FG: JVC - 6-17 34% (Held 4, Schweigert and Thompson); SCW - 5-19 26% (Schlicht 3, Slykhuis and Bruce). Rebounds: JVC - 27 (Held 9); SCW - 27 (Dickson 13). TO: JVC - 10; SCW - 9. Fouls: JVC - 11; SCW - 9.

Third place
Highmore-Harrold 46, Wolsey-Wessington 45

The Highmore-Harrold Pirates finished third in the 281 conference after a very close game against the Wolsey-Wessington Warbirds ended at a 46-45 score. The deciding two for two free-throws were made for the Pirates by Darian Schmidt with 2.1 seconds left in the game on Thursday night at the Huron Arena.
Wolsey-Wessington were in the lead, 43-32, coming into the final moments of the game before Rem Paynter made a two-point bucket for the Pirates at 18.1 seconds left. The Warbirds made a comeback with two free-throws from Lynden Williams to reclaim the lead, 45-44, with 8.7 seconds to go, but Schmidt answered for Highmore-Harrold with the winning points on the buzzer.
Jharret Bloomenrader led the Pirates with 15 points and seven rebounds, while another 13 points were tallied by Treymaine Eagle Thunger-Alger en route to the victory. An improved 7-4 season record is now held by Highmore-Harrold.
Williams led the Warbirds with 13 points, Skylar Zomer put another 10 points on the board for the team, while Tristan Abbott led the rebounders with eight. Wolsey-Wessington suffered a drop to 7-3 on the season with the loss.
Highmore-Harrold will hit the road to Salem to take on the McCook Central-Montrose Fighting Cougars on Saturday, while Wolsey-Wessington are set to host the Potter County Battlers.

Highmore-Harrold     16 11 11 8 — 46
Wolsey-Wessington     17 7 11 10 — 45
Highmore-Harrold (7-4): Jharret Bloomenrader 5 2-3 15; Treymaine Eagle Thunger-Alger 5 2-3 13; Dylan McDonnell 2 4-4 8; Rem Paynter 3 0-1 6; Darrian Schmidt 1 2-2 4. Totals: 16 10-13 46.
Wolsey-Wessington (7-3): Lynden Williams 4 5-6 13; Skylar Zomer 4 1-2 10; Mark Hamilton 4 0-0 8; Tristan Abbott 3 1-3 7; Diedrich Offt 1 0-0 3; Devante Luellman 1 0-0 2; Payson John 1 0-0 2. Totals: 18 7-11 45.
FG: HH — 15-44 34%; WW — 19-52 37%. 3-pt FG: HH — 4-14 (Bloomenrader 3, Eagle Thunder-Alger 1); WW — 2-13 (Zomer 1, Offt 1). Rebounds: HH — 26 (Bloomenrader 7; WW — 30 (Abbott 8). TO: HH — 9; WW — 11. Fouls: HH — 11; WW — 15. Steals: HH — 5; WW — 7. Assists: HH — 12; WW — 5.

Fifth place
Iroquois 52, Hitchcock-Tulare 25
Fifth place in the boys’ 281 conference was claimed by the Iroquois Chiefs after a 52-25 sweep over the Hitchcock-Tulare Patriots on Thursday afternoon in Huron.
The Chiefs improved their season record to 3-5 after the dominating performance. Brandon Decker led Iroquois with four three-pointers to tally 18 points, while Keistan Dubro followed with 15 points en route to the victory.
Hitchcock-Tulare were led by Ty Hofer with 17 points and five rebounds, while the Patriots fell to a 1-10 drop on their season record with the loss.
Iroquois will travel to Watertown to tangle with the Great Plains Lutheran Panthers today, while Hitchcock-Tulare return to the court in Onida on Thursday to take on the Chargers.

Iroquois         23 11 11 7 — 52
Hitchcock-Tulare     11   3   2 9 — 25
Iroquois (3-5): Brandon Decker 7 0-0 18; Keistan Dubro 7 0-0 15; Sean McManus 3 1-3 7; Shawn Diehl 3 1-1 7; Adam Keating 2 0-0 5. Totals: 22 2-4 52.
Hitchcock-Tulare (1-10): Ty Hofer 6 2-6 17; Grant Hamilton 2 2-2 6; Kyle Hamilton 1 0-0 2; Dawson Gehm 0 0-2 0. Totals: 9 4-10 25.
FG: I — 22-40 55% (Decker 7, Dubro 7); HT — 9-46 20% (Hofer 6). 3-pt FG: I — 6-13 (Decker 4, Dubro 1, Keating 1); HT — 3-16 (Hofer 3). Rebounds: I — 26 (McManus 7, Keating 6); HT — 16 (Hofer 5). Steals: I — 3; 10. Fouls: I — 10; HT — 10. TO: I — 12; HT — 6.

Seventh place
Sunshine Bible Academy 53, Wessington Springs 46
The Sunshine Bible Academy Crusaders took seventh place in the boys’ 281 conference consolation action, after a 53-46 victory over the Wessington Springs Spartans was recorded on Thursday morning at the Huron Arena.
An improved record of 2-8 is held by the Crusaders after the win. Sunshine Bible Academy was led by Jade Burma with 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Travis Hass tallied 16 points for the team.
Jacob Messmer totaled a game-high of 25 points in efforts for the Spartans and led the rebounders with 11. Wessington Springs fell to a 2-10 season record after the loss.
Sunshine Bible Academy will host the Wolsey-Wessington Warbirds on Tuesday, while Wessington Springs are set to host the Andes Central-Dakota Christian Thunder.

Sunshine Bible Academy       8 18 12 15 — 53
Wessington Springs         12 10 11 13 — 46
Sunshine Bible Academy (2-8): Jade Burma 9 2-3 20; Travis Hass 3 10-14 16; E.J. Big Eagle 3 2-2 9; Dylan Hass 2 0-0 6; Bradley Hunter 1 0-0 2. Totals: 18 18-19 53.
Wessington Springs (2-10): Jacob Messmer 10 5-8 25; Cooper Hainy 2 2-2 8; Trevor Schmidt 2 2-2 6; Mason Schelske 2 0-0 4; Garritt Brandenburg 1 0-1 3. Totals: 17 9-13 46.
FG: SBA — 18-49 37% (Burma 9); WS — 20-47 43% (Messmer 10). 3-pt FG: SBA — 3-14 (Dylan Hass 2, Big Eagle 1); WS — 3-17 (Hainy 2; Brandenburg 1). Rebounds: SBA — 31 (Burma 10); WS — 30 (Messmer 11). TO: SBA — 16; WS — 20. Steals: SBA — 19; WS — 9. Assists: SBA — 8; WS — 13. Fouls: SBA — 14; WS — 13.