Takeaways from the Pentagon Classic (SD)
If you didn’t get a chance to get out to the Sanford Pentagon on Saturday you really missed out on some very good games. Top teams from SD played top teams from Iowa and the top-ranked team in Class A played the No. 3 ranked team in Class A. It’s safe to say there was a couple games that went down to the wire.
Sisseton vs. St. Thomas More
Sisseton started 6’8 senior Spencer Weatherstone and had 6’7 sophomore Ramsey Heinecke come off the bench for the Redman, which helped them outrebound the Cavaliers by 10, 31-21. The Redmen defeated the Cavaliers 51-38 on 55 percent shooting from the field and 44 percent from deep. St Thomas More shot 30 percent from the field, and 19 percent from three. 5’9 senior Dion Iyarpeya was their playmaker, he ran the offense smoothly, driving the ball which opened up the shooters in the corners, and weathered the storm when St. Thomas More tried to mount a comeback.
#1 Sioux Falls Christian vs. #3 Sioux Valley Cossacks
Sioux Valley started off the first half hitting on all cylinders. But in the second-half, Sioux Falls Christian senior Lincoln Unruh went off and had a stretch where he hit three consecutive three-pointers to close the gap to 2 points in the third. The Chargers came back from a 12 point deficit to win 76-69 and stay undefeated. Unruh knocked down 11 of 15 shots from the field, including 8 of 10 from three. Three other Chargers scored in double figures, Mitchell Goodbary finished with 12 and had a crucial and-one to give the Chargers their first lead in the third quarter. Will Garnaas, and Gavin Schipper both had 11. Sioux Falls Christian had assists on 19 of their 26 buckets, with Koln Oppold dishing out 8 of them. For Sioux Valley, Trevor Hanson had 19 points, while Trevor Olson and Ryan Schuster both contributed with 17. It was another case of you never know who’s going to go off for the Chargers. The Cossacks ran out of gas after starting the first half on fire from everywhere, but gave the top-ranked team a run for their money and proved that they can play at a high level against high-level competition.
#2 Madison vs. Western Christian Hull, IA (#1 in 2A)
It was going to be tough to top the Sioux Falls Christian and Sioux Valley game, but Madison and Western Christian sure proved everyone wrong. In a game with several momentum changes throughout the game, the Madison Bulldogs ended up pulling the win out 62-59. Western Christian had a last-second heave fall short at the buzzer. The Wolfpack’s senior guard Ben Granstra was causing problems for Madison all game long, but every time he made something happen the Bulldogs would respond right back on the other end. Granstra ended the night with 20 points for the Wolfpack, he needed 22 to take the lead with under 10 seconds left but came up just short on a heavily contested shot. Madison’s Aaron Fiegen had 20 for the Bulldogs. Jaxon Janke had 13 points and his brother Jadon had a big rebound and free throws in the final seconds of the game. https://twitter.com/PrepHoopsDakota/status/959990231108931585
#4 Sioux Falls Washington vs #7 Sioux City East, IA
Washington jumped out to a 42-27 lead over East at halftime on 56 percent shooting in the first half. The second half was a whole different story, East came out in a 1-3-1 half-court trap that gave Washington trouble bringing the ball up. Sioux City East started the second half on a 17-3 run to bring the deficit to 45-42 with 2:10 left in the third quarter. Washington would continue to struggle with the half-court trap but weathered the storm just enough to lead 50-44 at the end of three and ultimately would win 75-69. Both teams played hard, dove for loose balls, played tenacious defense and fought for the rebounds. Sioux City East’s junior guard Aidan Vanderloo had a game-high 25 points and Washington’s senior guard Topher Zahn had 18 to lead the Warriors.