JVC upsets Warbirds for 281 boys' title

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HURON – The second-seeded James Valley Christian Vikings ran away with the 281 Conference Tournament title game, handing the top-seeded Wolsey-Wessington Warbirds their first loss of the season, 74-59 Thursday at Huron Arena.

The Vikings came out firing, building a lead of as many as a dozen points early over the Warbirds. The top-seeded Warbirds rallied to cut the lead to eight just before the quarter break, but Landon Wager nailed a three at the buzzer to end the first quarter with JVC up 19-8.

Moshe Richmond opened the second quarter by hitting the first five points to bring the Warbirds back into it, but with three minutes remaining in the half, the Vikings just stopped missing behind the line, hitting three straight from deep to open up a double-digit lead again. At halftime, the sharp shooting from JVC had paced the second seed to a 41-25 lead.

Dax Frandsen scored the first nine points of the third quarter for the Vikings with an array of sharp shooting, and the Vikings extended the lead to 20 points by the halfway point of the frame.

Tate French got hot for the Warbirds, cutting into the JVC lead, but after a time out, the Vikings forced two Warbird turnovers before the end of the period to head into the fourth leading 59-40.

Each time in the fourth quarter that the Warbirds would chip the lead down, the sharp shooting of the Vikings, who shot 61 percent for the game, would extend the lead back out to 20 before closing out the game to win 74-59.

The Vikings were led by Landon Wager with 24 points as they moved to 5-2. Wager was selected the Rich Strasburg Scholarship MVP.

Frandsen scored 15 points and dished out three assists for the Vikings. Jerrad Wallman added 10 points and led JVC with five rebounds.

Wolsey-Wessington falls to 7-1. Moshe Richmond led the Warbirds with 18 points off the bench. Tate French scored 17 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. Blaze Herdman added 11 points.

The Warbirds host Iroquois/Lake Preston Saturday in Wolsey while the Vikings host Ipswich at the JVC gym.

James Valley Christian   19 41 59 74
Wolsey-Wessington         8 25 40 59

James Valley Christian (5-2): Dax Frandsen 7 0-0 15, Landon Wager 10 0-0 24, Landon Wallman 2 2-2 8, Ethan Bartholow 2 1-2 5, Isaac Korell 3 0-0 9, Brennen Hood 1 0-0 3, Jerrad Wallman 5 0-0 10. Totals: 30 3-4 74.

Wolsey-Wessington (7-1): Caleb Richmond 2 0-0 5, Blaze Herdman 5 1-3 11, Tate French 7 2-3 17, Ricky Maurovic 4 0-2 8, Moshe Richmond 8 1-2 18. Totals: 26 4-10 59.

FG: JVC - 30/49 61%; WW - 26/52 50%. 3-pt FG: JVC - 11/20 (Wager 4, Korell 3, LWallman 2, Frandsen, Hood); WW - 3/10 (CRichmond, MRichmond, French). Rebounds: JVC 24 (JWallman 5), WW 22 (French 9). Assists: JVC 5 (Frandsen 3), WW 5 (CRichmond, MRichmond 2). Turnovers: JVC 7, WW 7. Fouls: JVC 12, WW 6.

Third place

Highmore-Harrold 67, Hitchcock-Tulare 57
HURON – The Highmore-Harrold Pirates held off a late charge from the Hitchcock-Tulare Patriots to claim third place in the boys’ 281 Conference Tournament with a 67-57 victory Thursday at Huron Arena.

After a back-and-forth first period, the Pirates’ shooting got hot in the second quarter, allowing Highmore-Harrold to open up a double-digit lead at halftime. The Pirates maintained a double figure lead, pulling away to as much as 16 early in the fourth quarter before the Patriots made a spirited final push.

Hitchcock-Tulare would get within five, but could get no closer, as the Pirates closed it out with free throws at the end of the game.

Treyton Knox led a quartet of Pirate scorers in double figures with 20 points. Carson Stephenson dropped in 17 points, Mason Knox added 12 points, and Bryce Bourk chipped in 11 points while leading Highmore-Harrold (9-2) with seven rebounds.

The Patriots fall to 4-3. TJ Salmen led the team with 14 points and eight rebounds. Jackson Maynard came off the bench to add 11 points, and Carter Binger added 10 points.

Both teams are on the road on Tuesday, with the Pirates heading to James Valley Christian and the Patriots heading to Redfield.

Hitchcock-Tulare     13 25 37 57
Highmore-Harrold     17 37 49 67

Hitchcock-Tulare (4-3): Carter Binger 4 1-2 10, Mason Bottum 2 0-2 4, Riley Fliehe 3 0-1 6, Cole Schroeder 3 0-0 6, TJ Salmen 7 0-0 14, Brendan Nowell 2 0-0 5, Erik Salmen 0 1-2 1, Jackson Maynard 3 2-4 11. Totals: 24 4-11 57.

HIghmore-Harrold (9-2): Dawson Hale 2 0-0 5, Carson Stephenson 5 2-2 17, Treyton Knox 6 8-9 20, Mason Knox 2 8-12 12, Bryce Bourk 5 0-0 11, Trake Cowan 1 0-0 2. Totals: 21 18-23 67.

FG: HT - 24/55 44%, HH - 21/45 47%. 3-pt FG: HT - 5/17 (Maynard 3, Binger, Nowell); HH - 7/13 (Stephenson 5, Hale, Bourk). Rebounds: HT 24 (Salmen 8), HH 35 (Bourk 7). Steals: HT 11 (Binger 4), HH 13 (MKnox 5). Assists: HT 1, HH 6 (Stephenson 3). Turnovers: HT 16, HH 13. Fouls: HT 19 (Binger out). HH 9.