Boys team finishes as runner-up at Lakota Nation

Jason Ferguson

Published: Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008

Jake Roddy blows by a pair of White River defenders—something he did with regularity—during Saturday night’s Lakota Nation Invitational championship game in Rapid City. The Tigers had no answer for Roddy in the game, as he drove and shot his way to

        Custer was controlling the game, but White River just wouldn’t go away. Ahead for all but the final four minutes of the championship game of last week’s Lakota Nation Invitational tournament, the Custer High School boys basketball team went cold at the wrong time, scoring seven points over the final six minutes, eventually losing to White River 65-57. “We couldn’t make a basket, and we had some really good shots,” head coach Larry Luitjens said. “We got the ball inside and we couldn’t finish.” Custer got off to a hot start, with the help of great defense and hot shooting by the Roddy brothers. Luke Roddy got things started with a three-pointer, and Jake Roddy rattled off eight of the next 10 Custer points to give the Wildcats a 21-15 lead at the six minute mark of the first half. While the three-point shooting started hot, it didn’t stay that way. After making its first three, the team missed its next 14 attempts from behind the arc. The Tigers had no answer for Jake Roddy the entire game, as he got to the basket seemingly at will, scoring 20 first half points and 36  overall in the game. No other Wildcat scored more than seven. Roddy led the entire Lakota Nation Tournament in scoring, was named the tournament’s outstanding playmaker and was named to the All-Tournament Team. “Jake had a great tournament,” Luitjens said. “I think he finally found out how good he can be. That’s a good thing for us. He was solid all four games.” White River battled back, however, and eventually tied the game on a Matt Bartlett free throw late in the first half. Bartlett, the tournament MVP, added two more free throws to put White River ahead for the first time, 26-24, with 3:06 left in the first half. The team fronted the White River big man, trying to keep the ball from him. When he did get the ball he was immediately doubled and pressured. “He is a good basketball player. I wasn’t disappointed with our defense on him,” Luitjens said. “But we didn’t keep him off the boards.” Jake Roddy answered right back, driving and tying the game with a basket, and then receiving a pass from his brother for a layup and foul that gave Custer a 29-26 lead. The teams started the second half by exchanging baskets, before Jake Roddy gave Custer a six point lead on a pair of driving baskets, including a beautiful reverse layup that brought “oohs and ahs” from the crowd. White River began mounting its comeback at the eight minute mark, after trailing by seven. While Custer was missing shots and having costly turnovers, the Tigers began chipping away at the lead. Two more Bartlett free throws made the score 48-45 in favor of Custer, and a Tiger three-pointer a short while later cut Custer’s lead to only one. Bartlett gave White River the lead shortly thereafter on two more free throws, and the Tigers outscored Custer 14-7 over the final three minutes to pull away with the win. “We had some defensive break downs in the game. Some of it had to do with fatigue,” Luitjens said. The Wildcats had a much easier time of it in the semifinals, storming out to a big early lead and never looking back in a 76-38 pasting of Cheyenne-Eagle Butte. Jake Roddy had 23 points in the game, while Darin Smith added 16 points and eight rebounds. The Wildcats had a 24 point lead at halftime and a 14 rebound edge on the boards in the game. Jake Roddy had his first big game of the season in the second round of the tournament, as the Wildcats upset the No. 1 seeded Red Cloud Crusaders 68-66. Roddy scored the decisive basket, after brother Luke Roddy stripped the ball from Red Cloud’s Carl Swallow with 14 seconds left, and Jake Roddy took the pass and scored the game winning basket. Jake Roddy had 33 points in the game, going 12 of 20 from the floor, including three three-point baskets. Justin Dillon added 16 points for the Wildcats. The game was a back-and-forth affair much of the night. Red Cloud took an eight point lead with around seven minutes left in the game, but Custer went on a 10-1 run to take the lead at 59-58 with less than three minutes left to play. That run was answered by Red Cloud’s Carl Swallow, who buried a three-pointer and also hit a tough layup to give the Crusaders a one point lead with less than a minute to play. Jake Roddy answered Swallows’ points with a dribble-drive bucket of his own to give Custer a one point lead. He also tied the game with another drive with less than 30 seconds remaining, setting up the dramatic ending. Darin Smith led the team in rebounding with seven. Custer trailed at the half 33-29. “We haven’t been playing with that intensity,” Luitjens said. “Jake is finally playing the way he is capable of playing. When he, as the leader of the team, plays hard defense, the rest of the team steps up and plays.” In the first round of the tournament, Custer survived a high scoring affair against the Todd County Falcons, winning 87-74. Despite the win, Luitjens wasn’t overly happy with the team’s defense. “I was really disappointed,” he said. “We couldn’t have guarded our grandmothers.” Jake Roddy was again the team’s leading scorer, pouring in 21 points. Dillon added 19, while Shea Koch and Smith both chipped in 11. As the tournament progressed, Custer picked up its play on the defensive end. When it was all said and done, Luitjens pointed to defense as the biggest point of improvement the team made over the course of the four-day tournament. “The biggest thing we need to work on is rebounding. We can do more things when we rebound,” he said. “But we have come a long way. If you would have told me we would finish second in this tournament before it started, I would have taken it in a heartbeat.” The Wildcats will next be in action Jan. 3 in Belle Fourche. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.