Boys stave off late rally, defeat Douglas

The Custer Wildcat boys basketball team stormed out to a huge lead against the visiting Douglas Patriots, then held off a second half Patriot rally to come away with a 69-64 win last Thursday night in the armory.

“They got pretty hot,” Custer head coach Larry Luitjens said.â��“I didn’t feel that it was poor defense all the time. Iâ��thought we were in their face pretty good.”

Up by as much as 17 in the first half, Custer watched the Patriots begin to rain three-pointers in the second half, as they cut the Custer lead to seven at the end of the third quarter and then got to within three points in the fourth quarter, before the Wildcats made just enough plays late to seal the victory.

The game was as physical as it gets, with both teams racing up and down the floor, committing a bevy of fouls and providing a helter-skelter game that was heavy on action but wasn’t the most aesthetically pleasing of games.

The Patriots cut the lead to five early in the fourth quarter, but the Wildcats responded and pushed the lead back to 10 with just over five minutes left in the game.

Douglas made another run, however, behind the hot shooting of Kevin Alexander, who buried a deep three-pointer to make the score 61-55 in favor of Custer at the 2:42 mark. Douglas scored the next basket as well, before Chad Bryant drove and scored for Custer to push the lead back to 65-59.

Another three-pointer for Douglas, this time by Nick Hanks, cut the lead to 67-64, and Douglas had a chance to tie the game after forcing a Custer turnover on the ’Cats’ ensuing possession. The Patriots turned the ball over themselves however, and were forced to begin fouling. Bryant hit a free throw, and Brandon Miller had a big offensive rebound on the miss of Bryant’s second free throw, forcing Douglas to foul again. Another Bryant free throw with 21 seconds left provided the final margin of victory for Custer. Bryant scored 25 points in the game.

“Chad had a big fourth quarter for us. He had some nice drives and hit some big outside shots,”â��Luitjens said.â��“I was also pleased with the job Brandon Miller did on the inside defensively, and Jordan on the outside. Jordan plays tough defense all the time.”

The Wildcats built up their lead with big plays and great passing in the first two quarters. After taking a 16-8 lead after the first quarter, Custer led 23-8 after Luke Roddy hit a three-pointer and was fouled on the shot. He made the free throw, and that was followed by Miller scoring three points via a hoop and a foul. By the time TJ�Stover hit a 15-foot jumper late in the second quarter, Custer had built up a 28-12 lead.

“We did a good job of attacking to start the game. That’s the only way we can be continually successful, to get easy baskets,”â��Luitjens said.â��“It was a very physical game. It’s something you have to learn to adapt to. High school basketball is a lot more physical than it was 10 or 15 years ago.”

Along with Bryant’s big night, Miller added 15 points and nine rebounds, while Roddy also had 15 points. Stover chipped in 10.

The team was scheduled to play at Lead-Deadwood last Friday night, but the game was postponed until Monday, Feb. 8, because of weather.

Custer has only one game this week, traveling to Newell tomorrow for a 7:45 p.m. game. The Irrigators are winless this season, and are a young team.

“It’s important no matter who you are playing that you’re ready to play,”â��Luitjens said.â��“We can’t go in thinking they aren’t any good and we don’t have to play hard. The sign of a good team is that it comes to play all the time.”

Custer 16 18 14 21 —69

Douglas 8 9 24 23 —64

Custer—TJ Stover 3 4-7 10, Chad Bryant 9 6-9 25, Jordan Konkol 1 2-2 4, Luke Roddy 4 5-8 15, Brandon Miller 6 3-3 15. Totals: 23 20-29 69.

Douglas: Spencer Hanson 5 1-1 11, Maleeque Parker 1 0-0 2, Andre Hern 0 1-2 1, Kevin Alexander 5 0-0 14, Zak Fogle 3 2-3 10, Hayden Edwards 2 2-2 6, Shane Quigley 1 0-0 2, Devin Ader 6 1-2 13. Totals: 25 7-10 64.

Three-point goals: Custer 3 (Roddy 2), Douglas 7 (Alexander 4). Rebounds: Douglas 31 (Hanson 8), Custer 27 (Miller 9). Turnovers: Custer 19, Douglas 21. Total fouls: Custer 12, Douglas 25. Fouled out:�Fogle, Ader.