STURGIS, SD – The Sturgis boys and girls’ basketball teams opened up their seasons on Tuesday night at West Gym, taking both games from the Lead-Deadwood Golddiggers. The Scooper girls took care of business and downed the Lady Diggers, 67-27 and the Sturgis boys defeated Lead-Deadwood, 77-55.
The Scooper girls got off to a slow start, outscoring the Lady Golddigers 11-6 in the first quarter, but picked it up in the second behind six points from Kierra Killinger, jumping out to a 27-10 halftime lead.
Sturgis senior forward Addy Kossler caught fire in the third quarter, dropping in 10 points with accurate midrange shooting, giving the Scoopers a 47-21 advantage heading into the fourth. Braylee Freytag splashed in a couple of three pointers and Sturgis outscored Lead-Deadwood in the final quarter 20-6 on a running clock to earn the 67-27 victory.
Kossler led the Scoopers (1-0) with 17 points with Killinger adding 13 and 10 rebounds. Freytag finished with 11 points and three treys. Sturgis made 27-of-69 field goals (39%), 8-of-16 free throws (50%), committed 17 turnovers and grabbed 32 rebounds.
The Lady Diggers (0-3) shot 25% from the field, made 8-of-10 free throws, had 36 turnovers and 17 rebounds. Hennesey Mattson dropped in nine points for Lead-Deadwood.
In the nightcap, the Scoopers and Golddiggers traded buckets in the first quarter, as Sturgis guard Grier Simon scored seven points to give Sturgis a 19-14 lead headed into the second. Hayden Rock took over throughout the second quarter, torching the nets for 11 points as the Scoopers extended their lead to 40-25 at intermission.
The balanced scoring continued for Sturgis in the third quarter, with Jerek Dufner scoring five, Rock adding six, and Joseph LaRoche and Wyatt Jensen dropping in four points apiece and the Scoopers took a commanding 65-42 lead into the fourth quarter. First year Sturgis head coach Aaron Noteboom brought in his reserves in the final quarter and the Scoopers cruised to a 77-55 opening night win.
Rock had a solid opening night, making four three pointers and scoring 24 points for Sturgis (1-0) with Simon chipping in 14 points and grabbing six rebounds. Jaxon Cano and Gage West each added 10 points apiece for the Scoopers. Sturgis was 31-of-70 from the field (44%), 7-of-16 from the stripe (43%), had 12 turnovers and 37 rebounds.
Janssen scored 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Lead-Deadwood (1-1), with Garrett Rantapaa adding 12 points and five rebounds. The Golddiggers made 19-of 60 field goals (31%), 15-of-25 charity tosses (60%), committed 16 turnovers and snared 31 boards.
The Scooper boys travel to Pierre to take on the Governors on Friday night as the Scooper girls host the Lady Govs at West Gym. Tipoff is scheduled for 7pm for both contests.
