Girls fall to Spartans, Broncs

By: 
Jason Ferguson
A pair of Northern Hills basketball teams were unkind to the Custer High School girls basketball team last Thursday and Friday, as the Wildcats lost to the visiting Spearfish Spartans  51-41 Feb. 13 at the Armory before losing to the Belle Fourche Broncs 57-26 the following evening in Belle Fourche.
In Belle Fourche the Wildcats got off to a hot start, taking a 16-12 lead after the first quarter. Head coach Mick Patzlaff said the strong start was a product of moving the ball well on offense, which produced good scoring opportunities.
Unfortunately for the Wildcats, they would score only 10 points the rest of the game, hurt by racheted-up intensity by the Broncs on defense and a full-court press that caused Wildcat turnovers.
“We looked like we had never seen the press before,” Patzlaff said.
Patzlaff said his team tried to match Belle Fourche’s intensity, but doing so seemed to invite a barrage of foul calls.
“(Kellyn) Kortemeyer got in foul trouble, so that didn’t help on either end,” he said. “The game started getting called differently once they turned up the defensive intensity. You don’t have any control over that stuff, so it was what it was.”
The Wildcats were down 30-18 at half but scored three straight possessions inside via Kortemeyer to start the second half, but she was whistled for her fourth foul soon thereafter and the offense ground to a halt.
“We kind of went the rest of the game without scoring much at all,” Patzlaff said.
Down over 20 points in the fourth quarter, Patzlaff pulled most of his starters to let them rest after having to play an intense game the previous evening against Spearfish.
“Those back to back games kind of suck when you’re not very deep,” he said. “We had some tired legs kick in too. We weren’t coming back, so I pulled those kids to get their legs back. They were dead tired.”
Kortemeyer and Josey Wahlstrom tied for the team lead in scoring in the game with eight points each.
The Wildcats took the early lead against the Spartans last Thursday, jumping out to an early 4-0 before the Spartans scored the next five points. The Wildcats took the lead back, however, and led 8-5 after a Kortemeyer putback. Wahlstrom and Alice Sedlacek got in on the scoring act late in the first period, and the Wildcats took a 12-7 lead into the second quarter.
Spearfish took command in the second quarter, however, rattling off seven straight points, including an Erin Rotert steal and layup and a pair of free throws from Stella Marcus.
The teams combined for 51 fouls and 66 free throw attempts in the game, 37 of which were shot by the Spartans. Marcus alone took 19 trips to the free throw line, making 16 of those attempts.
“We don’t have control over how the game is called. As a player and a coach you have to adjust to what’s being called,” Patzlaff said.
Patzlaff pointed out the Wildcats made plenty of trips to the free throw line too and went only 2-11 in the first half from the line before significantly improving upon that in the second half.
Custer didn’t score its first points of the third quarter until there was only 1:42 left in the frame on a Ramsey Karim free throw. The Spartans took a 18-14 lead into the half after a layup from Anna Engen.
The Spartans maintained a lead throughout the third quarter, with the lead growing to as many as seven after a three-pointer from Madison Watts. The Wildcat offense, as it has for long stretches this season, began to sputter, particularly without he services of Kortemeyer, who again battled foul trouble most of the game.
“I thought Kellyn’s first two fouls were not fouls,” Patzlaff said. “It’s a struggle for us to score anyway. We dug ourselves a hole and were chasing points the rest of the game.”
The Wildcats made one last run at the Spartans in the fourth quarter, cutting an eight-point lead to four at 33-29. Kortemeyer fouled out shortly thereafter, however, and Spearfish answered with a 9-0 run that put the game out of reach.
“We hung in there. I was proud of the effort,” Patzlaff said. “It’s frustrating we can’t put an entire game together.”
Wahlstrom led the team with 13 points and seven rebounds.
The Wildcats wrap up the regular season Thursday with a trip to Lead-Deadwood for a 6 p.m. game. The Golddiggers are 12-6 on the season and have won four straight.
“They’re a good team. They play a junk zone, which means we will have to hit some outside shots. That hasn’t happened much lately,” Patzlaff said. “I just hope we can put four quarters together, stay out of foul trouble and compete. We just haven’t played very well lately. Part of that has to do with our opponents, and part of that is just us not playing well.”
Postseason play begins for the Wildcats March 2 with a first-round Region 8A matchup, likely at either  Belle Fourche or Hill City.
Custer 16 2 6 2 —26
Belle 12 18 15 12 —57
Custer—Mallory Delmont 0-1 0-0 0, Ramsey Karim 0-1 0-0 0, Tobie Zerbe 0-1 0-0 0, Alice Sedlacek 1-5 0-0 3, Josey Wahlstrom 2-6 2-6 4-5 8, Cinthia Rubio-Hernandez 0-1 0-0 0, Anna Lewis 1-2 0-0 2, Kelsey Herman 2-7 1-6 5, Kellyn Kortemeyer 3-4 2-4 8. Totals: 9-29 7-17 26.
Belle Fourche—Taryn Stedillie 0-3 0-0 0, Harley Fischer 4-9 2-2 13, Jasmyn Jensen 1-1 0-0 2, Haley Wilbur 2-4 2-4 6, Kaylin Garza 3-9 0-0 6, Dylan Stedillie 1-6 0-1 2, Mckenzie Lyons 0-0 1-2 1, Bella Jensen 6-9 4-5 18, Tia Williamson 2-4 5-8 9, Chloe Crago 0-3 0-0 0. Totals: 19-48 14-22 57.
Three-point goals: Custer 1 (Sedlacek), BF 5 (Fischer 3, Jensen 2). Rebounding: Custer 21 (Kortemeyer 8), BF 29. Steals: Custer 6, BF 14 (Jensen 5). Assists: Custer 7, BF 9. Turnovers: Custer 25, BF 14. Total fouls: Custer 19, BF 16. fouled out: none.
Custer 12 2 11 16 —41
Spear 7 11 13 20 —51
Custer—Mallory Delmont 2-4 1-1 5, Ramsey Karim 0-6 5-6 5, Tobie Zerbe 1-2 2-2 4, Alice Sedlacek 1-4 0-2 2, Josey Wahlstrom 4-9 0-2 13, Anna Lewis 1-5 0-0 2, Kelsey Herman 0-5 2-6 2, Kellyn Kortemeyer 3-9 2-3 8. Totals: 12-44 17-29 41.
Spearfish—Tayler Duncan 0-2 0-2 0, Hannah Schoon 0-2 0-0 0, Stella Marcus 3-11 16-19 22, Kylie Stalder 0-1 0-2 0, Erin Rotert 2-11 5-8 9, Lyndey Dean 1-1 0-0 2, Anna Engen 1-3 2-2 4, Belle Reid 2-4 1-2 6, Ashtyn Reiners 3-4 2-2 8, Kylee Jo Symonds 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 12-41 26-37 51.
Three-point goals: Spearfish 1 (Reid). Rebounding: Custer 19 (Wahlstrom 7), Spearfish 35 (Marcus 8). Steals: Custer 3, Spearfish 9. Assists: Custer 4, Spearfish 8. Turnovers: Custer 15, Spearfish 15. Total fouls: Custer 25, Spearfish 26. Fouled out: Duncan, Reiners, Kortemeyer.
 

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