Ryan Wojcikâs steal and fast break bucket with less than three minutes to play in the third quarter got the St. Thomas More boys basketball team back within one point of Douglas.
Caleb Hollenbeck then drilled his third 3-pointer of the frame to give the Cavaliers their first lead of the night before completing a three-point play to cap off a 19-point comeback to earn his squad a three-point advantage heading into the final period.
From there, STM held off a resilient Patriots team, surrendering the lead just once before hitting clutch shots down the stretch and from the free-throw line to secure a 49-42 victory Tuesday in its home opener.Â
Richard Anderson
Journal staff
The Rapid City Central boys basketball team has struggled to get its season in gear like most area squads, but it didn t show early Saturday night against the Douglas Patriots.
The Cobblers jumped out to a 20-4 lead through the first quarter of play and went on to take it to the Patriots 61-43 at Patriots Gym in Box Elder.
Although Douglas had the momentum going in after a 40-point win over Sturgis Friday night, it was Central that had the early edge with an aggressive start on both ends of the court.
Central led by as much as 24 points before the Patriots hit some shots in the final minute to close the gap.
Richard Anderson
Journal staff
As the founder of Sacred Hoops, a state-wide youth AAU youth basketball program, Allan Bertram has been pretty busy the past few years.
He added to that workload this past summer when he took over the Rapid City Central girlsâ basketball program.
Despite some ups and downs because of the coronavirus pandemic, Bertram said it has been an exciting time since taking over, especially with how hard the team has worked since his hiring in June.
The goal now is to get the Central girls back to state prominence.
âOur girls have worked extensively throughout the off-season,â he said Wednesday during practice at Naasz Gymnasium. âWe werenât able to have practice that first week because of the COVID guidelines, but our kids, because of the time they spent in the gym in the offseason, have really improved their skillset. I think that helped because they were a little more ready than they normally would have been.â