Girls win third game in a row

From 3-8 to 6-8—the Custer High School girls basketball team is officially on a roll.
The Wildcats won their third consecutive game last Thursday evening in Box Elder when they jumped on Douglas early and cruised to a 58-32 win.
Custer coach Tobey Cass said the girls were a bit tired from their game against Rapid City Christian two days earlier, but found their legs and built a large enough lead to allow younger players to finish the game.
“We did a little bit of platooning,” Cass said.
The Wildcats continued their drastic improvement on the boards and in the post, as they had 42 points in the paint—led by Kellyn Kortemeyer’s 17 points and 10 rebounds. Fellow post Anna Lewis had 10 rebounds of her own.
“I don’t know if there is a pair of post players in the conference who are better than those two,” Cass said. “You can’t manufacture size like that. The skills were there, it was a matter of giving them the confidence and believing they have it.”
Alice Sedlacek and Ally Cass joined Kortemeyer in double figures, scoring 11 and 10 points, respectively. They were also both active on defense, as the Wildcats forced 28 Patriot turnovers, many of which came on the press and led to 27 points off turnovers.
“We really worked on outlets, getting the ball up quick, making the other team run,” Cass said. “We’ve got a lot of kids who can play and who can run. You can run all game and keep putting a fresh set of (players) in.”
The girls got by far their biggest win of the season Jan. 26 when they sprang a 58-53 upset over the visiting Rapid City Christian Comets, a team that came into the game at 8-3.
“It was a fun night. That’s why you play those games,” Cass said. “That’s the kind of stuff you’ll remember. That was a huge confidence-builder for them. We were in most games all year; we just couldn’t pull it out at the end. It was a great team effort.”
The Wildcats led for most of an extremely competitive game in which neither team led by more than six points for most of the game.
The Wildcats led 15-14 at the end of the first quarter, but fell behind 18-17 following an Alexa Ham basket followed by an Olivia Kieffer three-pointer for the Comets.
The two teams took turns making plays to keep the score close throughout the rest of the frenetic first half, which saw both teams racing up and down the floor and hitting the ground frequently for loose balls.
“I figure my best offense is to never let them set up on defense,” Cass said. “I have a ton of great athletes who can run, defend and score. They more they keep doing it, the more the confidence grows.”
The Wildcats found themselves down six late in the second quarter before Kaitlyn Spring hit a three-pointer to cut the Comet lead to 24-22, which was followed by a Bailey Cass scoop for a basket that tied the score at 24.
The Comets tried to pull away in the third quarter as they took another six-point lead, this time via three-pointers from both Abby Pierce and Sarah Burkhalter. The Wildcat defense countered, however, as Kellyn Kortemeyer stole the ball and scored two of her 16 points, followed by a Shaylee Gramkow steal and score to cut the Comet lead to two. The Wildcats retook the lead at the 1:35 mark of the third when Spring scored and was fouled and made the subsequent free throw.
The fourth quarter saw five ties, starting with Kieffer driving for a basket on which she was fouled and made the free throw to make the score 47-47. The scoring-proficient Kieffer was held mostly in check by the Wildcat defense, however, as she finished the game with 14 points.
Cass said the team came at Kieffer in waves, while focusing on making Comet players dribble using the opposite hand they favor.
“They have picked up the intensity. They are playing smarter and harder,” he said. “They are really playing tough. If you do that, you’ll be in most games.”
Kortemeyer made a basket on which she was fouled and made the free throw at the 2:34 mark, which was followed by an Ally Cass steal and layup that gave Custer a 54-49 lead.
The Wildcats coughed up the ball on their next two possessions, however, thanks to the Comet full-court press, and the Custer lead was down to one at 54-53 after Ham made a pair of free throws with one minute left in the game after she was fouled on a shot following a rebound of a teammate’s miss.
The Wildcats turned the ball over on their next possession, but Ally Cass created a turnover on Christian’s next possession and was fouled, and made one free throw to put Custer up 55-53. After another missed Comet shot, the Wildcats were able to bring the game home at the free throw line, from where they were 8-13. The Comets did themselves no such favors, as they were sent to the line 33 times by Custer, but made only 15 of their attempts.
“The fans were great. The place was rocking,” Cass said. “This is why you play the game. You want to be in these less than five point (lead) games, going back and forth.”
Ally Cass joined Kortemeyer in double figures, as she scored 12 points. Kortemeyer had 12 rebounds to go with her 16 points.
The Wildcats, 6-8, will try to make it four in a row and claw back to .500 for the season when they head south to Hot Springs Saturday for a 6 p.m. game. The Bison sit at 2-9 on the season.
Cass said the team will continue to do against the Bison the things that have led to the three-game winning streak.
“If it ain’t broke, I’m not going to try to fix it,” he said. “Sometimes you make the game more difficult than it needs to be. It’s been a great time. The girls are responding. When you start believing you can win and knowing you can win, you’re a dangerous team.”
Custer    15    9    13    21    —58
RCC    14    12    11    16    —53
Custer—Allie Kelley 0-4 0-0 0, Shaylee Gramkow 1-1 0-1 2, Ramsey Karim 1-7 2-2 4, Ally Cass 4-14 3-4 12, Alice Sedlacek 3-14 0-0 7, Bailey Cass 1-2 0-0 0, Kaitlyn Spring 3-7 1-1 9, Anna Lewis 3-5 0-2 6, Kellyn Kortemeyer 7-12 2-3 16. Totals: 23-66 8-13 58.
Rapid City Christian—Morgan Swarthout 0-6 2-4 2, Abby Pierce 1-4 0-0 3, Savannah Armendariz 1-3 6-11 8, Alexa Ham 7-15 3-10 17, Olivia Kieffer 5-19 4-7 14, Sarah Burkhalter 4-9 0-1 9. Totals: 18-56 15-33 53.
Three-point goals: Custer 4 (Spring 2, A. Cass, Sedlacek), RCC 2 (Pierce, Burkhalter). Rebounding: Custer 47 (Kortemeyer 12, Sedlacek 9), RCC 38 (Kieffer 13). Steals: Custer 12 (A. Cass 4), RCC 12 (Armendariz 6). Assists: Custer 15 (Karim 7), RCC 15 (Kieffer 9). Turnovers: Custer 24, RCC 19. Total fouls: Custer 25, RCC 14. Fouled out: Kortemeyer.
Custer    19    9    13    17    —58
Douglas    11    11    6    4    —32
Custer—Allie Kelly 0-1 0-0 0, Ramsey Karim 2-11 0-1 5, Shaylee Gramkow 1-4 0-0 2, Ally Cass 5-11 0-0 10, Alice Sedlacek 5-10 0-1 11, Bailey Cass 0-1 0-0 0, Kaitlyn Spring 1-6 0-0 3, Jordyn Larsen 0-1 0-0 2, Anna Lewis 3-6 1-2 7, Taylor Henrichs 0-1 0-0 0, Emily Borokowski 0-1 1-2 1, Kellyn Kortemeyer 7-14 3-6 17. Totals: 24-67 7-14 58.
Douglas—Angell Arredondo 0-7 2-3 2, Tamia Oliver 0-0 1-2 1, Savannah Gray 1-4 1-2 3, Rayna Johnson 0-3 0-0 0, Talyiah Green 0-3 1-2 1, Lezlie Moore 0-3 0-0 0, Pearl Taylor 0-2 0-0 0, Bailey Clark 0-3 0-0 0, Lamara Castenada 1-6 0-0 2, Olivia Ashley 0-1 0-0 0, Keana Walton 6-16 10-14 23, Madison Archer 0-1 0-1 0. Totals: 8-49 15-24 32.
Three-point goals: Custer 3 (Karim, Sedlacek, Spring), Douglas 1 (Walton). Rebounding: Custer 49 (Kortemeyer 10, Lewis 10), Douglas 38 (Green 9). Steals: Custer 20 (Cass 5, Sedlacek 5), Douglas 7. Assists: Custer 9, Douglas 1. Turnovers: Custer 24, Douglas 28. Total fouls: Custer 22, Douglas 16. Fouled out: none.