by Coach Tad Heitkamp
and staff reports
The Blue Dragon boys basketball season has been a tough one, as the young team fielded only three seniors and a bench that wasn't very deep. Despite playing with a ton of heart and making strong strides in their skills during the season, they've been unable to score a strike so far in the W column. The game against Dell Rapids on Monday marked the end of their final regular season, and they'll move into post-season play next week.
Parker Takes Down the Blue Dragons
The Blue Dragons traveled down to Parker on Valentine’s Day to take on the Pheasants in a Big East Conference tilt. The home town Pheasants came out of the locker and just dismantled the Blue Dragons right from the tip as they defeated the visiting team 34-62.
“Parker came out and just took it to us the opening half,” stated Coach Heitkamp. “They held us scoreless the opening quarter, while torching the net for 21 points of the own. We actually did a nice job getting to the rim the first 8 minutes, but as we were not finishing our effort followed suit. We were not hustling back on defense and gave them way too many second chance scoring opportunities.”
Ramsey Schweitzer (2 assists and 4 rebounds), Blaine Trower (3 assists and 4 rebounds), and Brecken Weir all led the way in the scoring column with 8 points each, while Sam Schleuter (5 rebounds and 2 steals) added 5 points of his own. Dylan Jessen and Treyton Decker rounded out the scoring with 4 and 1 point.
Sioux Valley’s Hot Shooting Too Much for the Blue Dragons
On February 16th, 2023, the Blue Dragons played host to the 2nd Ranked Team in Class A Basketball…The Sioux Valley Cossacks.
It didn’t take long for the visiting team to flex their muscles as they manhandled the Blue Dragons right out of the gates defeating the home team 18-77.
“Sioux Valley came out firing on all cylinders as they lit up the scoreboard for 46 points, while holding us to 4 points,” said Coach Heitkamp. “We didn’t do a very good job handling the pressure of their guards as we turned the ball over 21 times to our 4 assists. We have to get tougher and be willing to play with some physicality to compete against a team like Sioux Valley.”
Sam Schleuter (8 rebounds and 2 steals) was the leading scorer for the Blue Dragons as he dropped in 9 points, while Blaine Trower added 6 more points of his own. Ian Buettner (6 rebounds) and Brecken Weir finished the night with 2 and 1 points respectively.
On Monday, the Dragons played host to the Dell Rapids Quarriers, who pulled in front by the end of the first quarter and didn't look back. The Quarriers took down the Blue Dragons 42-77. Despite some solid defensive plays, the Dragons had trouble getting the ball to land in the net, and went into the half 24-45.
Next Tuesday, February 28, marks the start of post-season play for the boys' basketball teams. Garretson will be taking on Sioux Falls Christian at 7:00 p.m. in Sioux Falls.
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