Sports

Girls basketball has unfinished business

Published by admin on Thu, 12/17/2020 - 10:56am

Last season, the Hill City girls basketball team made it to the state tournament.

But, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament was canceled.

“We have a little unfinished business,” said head coach Wade Ginsbach.

But Ginsbach said they won’t rest on what happened last year with that team. This is a different team, he said, and this is this year’s team.

Ginsbach is challenging his team on how they are going to leave their mark this year, knowing they can’t rely on “whatever it was last year.”

Wrestling looking to punch more tickets

Published by admin on Thu, 12/17/2020 - 10:56am

Hill City wrestling sent three athletes to the state tournament last year:  Bradon Weiss, Tanner Davis and Jaxon Johnson, who was an alternate.

This year, they are looking to send more, said head coach Nick Ferguson.

“We have a lot of potential out there,” he said.” We have quite a few seniors out this year who have been with us all four years, so that’s always good help for senior leadership. We’re hoping to punch quite a few tickets this year to the state tournament.”

Boys basketball hopes to take step forward

Published by admin on Thu, 12/17/2020 - 10:56am

The Hill City boys basketball team is looking to build on the steps they took last year.

This year, there are some new faces on the team, said head coach Nate Baynes, so that will take some time to integrate them and get used to playing together.

“But we do have a higher level of expectation for sure,” he said. “Those are internal for now, but we do expect to have a very competitive, fun season.”

Bayne has his leading scorer back, Kobe Main (junior), and he expects Main to take a step forward.

Wildcat girls clip Bobcats in season-opener

Published by admin on Thu, 12/17/2020 - 8:57am

Last season the Custer High School girls basketball team made 22 three-pointers over the course of their twenty-something games played.
Last Friday evening the team made eight in its season-opening 43-41 win over the visiting Upton, Wyo., Bobcats. It was a sight for sore eyes, especially those on the face of head coach Mick Patlzlaff, who often lamented his team’s inability to shoot last season.
“We really shot well from the perimeter,” Patzlaff said. “We had five different players hit (a three-pointer). I was pretty happy with that.”

Sierra Oesterling credits Custer for recent wins

Published by admin on Thu, 12/17/2020 - 8:55am

Runners 1,200 miles from the Black Hills are benefitting from the expertise of coach Karen Karim and the Custer cross country team thanks to members of the J.O. and Dana Oesterling family, who moved to Louisville, Ky., last year.
Siblings Max, Jace and Sierra Oesterling were star runners with the Wildcat team during the eight years they lived in Custer and now 15-year-old Sierra is burning up courses across the Bluegrass State and bringing the Wildcat team spirit with her as well.

Boys hang on, defeat Bobcats

Published by admin on Thu, 12/17/2020 - 8:55am

The Custer High School boys basketball team had three players in double figures as it built as much as a 16-point lead before hanging on for a 74-68 win over the visiting Upton, Wyo., Bobcats last Friday evening in the Armory.
It was the season-opening game for the team and looked that way at different points, as the team alternated between good and bad before salting the game away at the free throw line late.

Wildcats maul Warriors, take sixth at Gregory

Published by admin on Thu, 12/17/2020 - 8:54am

The Wildcat wrestling team is getting off to a powerful start this season with a 56-18 win in its first dual of the season on Thursday night at the Armory. Coming off their second place finish at the Custer Invitational Tourney, the ’Cats beat the Bennett County Warriors in a matchup that saw the Custer wrestlers pin six of their opponents and win two other matches by decision.
“A lot of kids came out and wrestled well,” said coach Jared Webster of the victory, noting that even matches the Wildcats lost showed aggressiveness and “came right down to the end.”

Lewis named wrestler of the week

Published by admin on Thu, 12/10/2020 - 10:00am

Custer’s Jonathan Lewis has been named South Dakota Class B Wrestler of the Week by the Dakota Grappler website after taking first place in the 145 pound weight class at the Custer Invitational Tournament on Friday. Lewis was also rated seventh in the state overall in his weight class by the organization.
Lewis, a sophomore, is starting out his season with a 3-0 record after pinning Oakley Branch of Spearfish just 43 seconds into the championship round of the season opener tournament.
“He wrestled tough for us,” said head coach Jared Webster. “He’s a go-getter!”  

Wrestlers rebuilding but not restarting

Published by admin on Thu, 12/10/2020 - 9:59am

 It’s going to be a building year for the Custer High School wrestling team according to head coach Jared Webster but he says there is a large group of young wrestlers coming up who could surprise some people before the season ends in February.
“We’ve got some horses,” said Webster of the younger team members, “that once they settle into their weight classes they’re gonna be very exciting. They’re strong, young kids who are animals who have wrestled since AAU.”

’Cats’ shooting should be much improved

Published by admin on Thu, 12/10/2020 - 9:51am

To put it succinctly, a few games into the season the book was out on the Custer High School girls basketball team last winter.
If that book were to have had a title, it likely would have been: “They can’t shoot.”
Offense in general, but perimeter shooting in particular, was a season-long slog for the Wildcats a year ago. The lack of outside shooting led to teams clogging the middle to stop Custer’s post game, with the result usually a struggle to get to 30 points in a game.