Comets streak by ’Cats in second half

If you let a team hang around long enough, it can come back to bite  you. Such was the case last Friday night at the armory, when the Custer High School girls basketball team saw a lead it had maintained through the better part of three quarters evaporate, ending in a 45-39 loss to the visiting Rapid City Christian Comets.

“(Rapid City Christian) hanging around worried me, because we were holding the ball (offensively) and weren’t moving it fast enough,”â��Custer head coach Stephanie Ornelas said.

The game swung in the Comets’ favor after half, when they ditched a man-to-man defense Custer was easily picking apart to a 1-3-1 zone that gave the Custer offense fits for the entire second half. The Wildcats scored only 12 points against the zone in the second half, compared to 27 against man-to-man defense in the first half.

“They went to that zone and used their long arms, and the girls had a hard time adjusting to it,”â��Ornelas said.â��“It was a different mentality. It was very frustrating to watch.”

After a sloppy start to the game, Custer took charge following five lead changes when Karley Konkol stole the ball and drove in for two to take a 12-9 lead. The Wildcats led by seven, 17-10, at the end of the first after Tori Dahlstrom scored inside off a nice pass from Kenzie Swanson.