Custer County Chronicle

Custer falls to Rapid City Christian in regional play

Published by admin on Wed, 03/12/2025 - 12:49pm

If you ask Custer High School head boys basketball coach Paul Kelley where things got away from his Wildcats last Friday night in the second round of regional play, he points to the third quarter.
The Wildcats were hanging tough down 11, but late in the quarter the Wildcats fouled Rapid City Christian’s Benson Kieffer on a three-pointer, sending him to the line for three free throws, all of which he made.

Weiss wins third consecutive state championship

Published by admin on Wed, 03/05/2025 - 3:22pm

The Custer High School boys wrestling team competed at the Class B State Wrestling Tournament in Rapid City this past weekend, coming away with 16th place as a team. Individually, two wrestlers also placed—with Leighton Sander earning sixth place and Tray Weiss earning his third consecutive state championship title. In team points, it garnered 40 points; Canton ran up a total of 189 points to take the team championship.
Head coach Jared Webster said that the tournament had its “ups and downs” but he was proud of the work the team did.

Ranger stun Wildcats at buzzer in opening round play

Published by admin on Wed, 03/05/2025 - 3:21pm

For roughly 27 of the 32 minutes of the game between the Custer Wildcats and the Hill City Rangers Feb. 25 at the Armory, the Wildcats had the lead.
As the clock struck 0.0 at the end of the fourth quarter and the ball fell through the hoop, however, the Wildcats were down by one.
So it went for the Wildcats, as their season was brought to a close in the first round of Region 8A play in a gut-wrenching 49-48 loss that literally wasn’t decided until the final buzzer.

Wildcat girls wrestling team places eighth at state

Published by admin on Wed, 03/05/2025 - 3:19pm

The Custer High School girls wrestling team earned eighth place in last weekend’s high school girls state wrestling tournament in Rapid City, with several wrestlers also earning their own spots on the podium. Placers included Addie Sander, fourth; Tiara Faehnrich, fifth; Avari Dorrance, fifth; and Jessica Hite, third.
“You know, the girls division is a true state tournament. We wrestled the A’s and the B’s all together and it’s really fun to be in that environment and see the athleticism come out of the girls. It’s just really pleasing to watch,” said coach Clayton Sander.

Eight Wildcat wrestlers qualify for Class B state meet

Published by admin on Wed, 02/26/2025 - 4:08pm

The Custer High School boys wrestling team competed in the region 4B wrestling tournament in Rapid City over the past weekend, bringing home second place as a team and several individual placing spots, including a championship title for senior Tray Weiss. In total, eight members of the team qualified for state with two team members as alternates.
“It was a good weekend. We got to keep going and build off of that and keep that momentum going into this week,” said head coach Jared Webster.

Faehnrich, Hite are region champions

Published by admin on Wed, 02/26/2025 - 4:07pm

The Custer High School girls wrestling team went to Rapid City this past weekend to compete in the Region 4 meet, competing with A and B schools. Out of 22 teams, the Wildcats came in second place with 126 points. The team finished behind Spearfish with 137 points and ahead of Lakota Tech with 112 points. In addition to the high placement as a team, several wrestlers earned spots on the podium, and two, Jessica Hite and Tiara Faehnrich, earned first place in the meet.

Uphoff’s big quarter leads Wildcats over Rangers

Published by admin on Wed, 02/26/2025 - 4:02pm

Jordyn Uphoff saved her best quarter as a Wildcat for the best possible time.
Uphoff, a senior for the Wildcat girls basketball team, hit three three-pointers and scored 11 of her 16 points in the game and of Custer’s 14 points in the fourth quarter of last Friday’s 58-45 win at Hill City. The win secured the Wildcats a first-round home Region 8A playoff game versus those same Rangers in a game that was played last night. The Wildcats lost a heartbreaker 49-48. Complete details will be in next week’s issue.

Boys fall to Hill City, throttle Hot Springs, Lead-Deadwood

Published by admin on Wed, 02/26/2025 - 3:56pm

Another big game, another close loss.
In what has become an unfortunate trend for the Custer High School basketball team this season, the Wildcats came up on the short end of a big game Monday evening in Hill City, as the homestanding Rangers overcame an early deficit to claim a 51-48 win.
Custer took a 11-3 lead at the outset of the game thanks to crisp ball movement and good shooting, but by the 6:05 mark of the second quarter Hill City had cut the lead to one at 15-14 following a Zane Messick three-pointer.

Offense MIA as ’Cats fall to Spartans

Published by admin on Wed, 02/19/2025 - 9:56am

In a got to have it game in terms of regional playoff seeding, the Custer High School boys basketball team had arguably its worst offensive performance of the season last Thursday evening in Spearfish.
A look at the box score tells the story.
The Wildcats shot 33 percent from the floor, including a 19 percent effort from three-point range. They were 3-12 from the free throw line. They committed 19 turnovers, which Spearfish converted into 21 points—a 17-point advantage over the Wildcats in that statistic.

Wildcat girls thumped by Class AA schools

Published by admin on Wed, 02/19/2025 - 9:54am

Fresh off a week in which it went 3-0 and was brimming with confidence, the Custer High School girls basketball team had its winning streak ended and a losing streak started in emphatic fashion as the Wildcats were thumped by a pair of Class AA schools, losing to Spearfish 67-31 and Sturgis 57-38. Both games were played on the road.
For Custer head coach Tayton Vincent, losing that big to Spearfish is one thing—the Spartans are 12-4 and one of the better teams in Class AA.
The lopsided loss to Sturgis, however, had Vincent in a less-than-pleasant mood.