Boys drop ’Diggers, bow to Monarchs

The Custer High School boys basketball team split a pair of home games last week, defeating Lead-Deadwood 67-54 Friday night before falling to Warner 54-46 on Saturday.

Saturday’s game against Warner followed the same pattern that many of the team’s games—especially its losses—have followed this season, as the ’Cats allowed the Monarchs a large lead before clawing back into the game with a rally that fell short.

“It was a typical Custer game,”â��Custer head coach Larry Luitjens said. “Let’s spot them 15 and then see if we can catch up.”

Luitjens has become so exasperated with the team’s constant slow starts that he said it was the only topic he addressed in the locker room after the game.

“We have to figure out what we have to do differently to see if we can figure out how to start a ball game,”â��he said.

Warner, led by 6-4 brothers Jarrod and Derrek Tuszka, played a physical, balanced game that reminded Luitjens of St. Thomas More and Red Cloud, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.

“They were very physical and put a lot of pressure on the passing lanes,”â��he said.â��“That was the difference in the ball game.”

The Wildcats had a horrible night shooting the ball, connecting on only 15 of 53 attempts—a 28 percent clip.

Chase Glazier was the team’s leading scorer in the game, pouring in a game-high 27 points. He was the only Wildcat to reach double figures in the game.