The #5 seed Madison Bulldogs upset the #1 West Central Trojans in the Region 3A tournament on Friday, March 4th at the Elmen Center.  The Bulldogs led for most of the game in a 75-69 win to advance to the SoDak 16.

The Bulldogs built a 17-8 lead in the first quarter and ended the quarter leading 20-13.  That lead doubled to 30-16 with 5:30 to play in the half.  West Central then finished the quarter on a 17-9 run to cut the lead to 39-33 by halftime.

Madison was able to keep the lead in the six-to-10 point lead throughout the third quarter.  The Bulldogs ended the third quarter leading 60-52.  Braden Dierickx hit a three pointer for the Trojans to cut the Bulldog lead to 61-55 with 6:36 to go.  West Central pulled within three points, 72-69, after two free throws by Dillon Jackson with :44 left in the game.  The Bulldogs, however, made three free throws to seal the victory.

West Central shot 34% (22-64) from the field, just 18% (5-28) from three-point area, and 83% (20-24) from the free-throw line.  Madison finished the game shooting 55% (24-44), 47% (9-19) on three pointers, and 69% (18-26) from the free-throw line.

Four players finished in double figures.  Grafton Stroup had 20 points and four rebounds.  Jackson had 14 points, seven rebounds, seven steals, and three assists.  Jacob Krempges had 13 points, four rebounds, and four assists.  Wilson Droge finished with 11 points and three rebounds.  Dierickx added eight points, five rebounds, and three steals.

The Trojans season ends a record of 17-5.

The #1 seed West Central Trojans cruised to a 70-45 win over #8 seed Baltic Bulldogs in the opening round of the Region 3A tournament on Tuesday, March 1st.

The Bulldogs had an early lead, 9-7, with 3:17 in the first quarter, but the Trojans finished the quarter on a 10-2 run for a 17-11 lead.  West Central cruised from there.  The Trojans outscored Baltic 22-15 in the second quarter for a 39-26 halftime lead.  The Trojan defense held the Bulldogs to just seven points in the third quarter while building a 66-33 advantage heading into the final quarter.

West Central shot 41% (25-61) from the field, 28% (10-36) on three pointers, and a perfect 10-10 from the free-throw line.  The Bulldogs finished the game shooting 40% (17-42) overall, 58% (7-12) from three-point area, and 4-6 from the free-throw line.  The big difference in the game came down to turnovers.  Baltic committed 21 turnovers while the Trojans committed just four.

Grafton Stroup had 25 points, two rebounds, two steals, and two assists.  Jack Linneman finished with 12 points, three rebounds, and two assists.  Jacob Krempges added nine points, three rebounds, three assists, and two steals.  Wilson Droge had seven points, and Dillon Jackson had six points.

The Trojans will play the #5 seed Madison Bulldogs at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, March 4th at the Elmen Center.  The winner will advance to the SoDak 16.

TThe West Central Trojan boys basketball team won their sixth straight came to end the 2021-2022 regular season on Monday, February 21st.  The Trojans defeated the Elk Point-Jefferson Huskies 67-43.

The Trojans started fast and rolled through the ball game.  West Central led 19-5 at the end of the first quarter and pushed the lead to 36-15 by halftime.  The lead stayed around 20 points throughout the third quarter, and in fact, the Trojans led 49-29 heading into the fourth quarter.

West Central shot 35% (21-60) from the field, 30% (11-37) from three-point area, and 54% (14-26) from the free-throw line.  The Huskies shot 33% (17-51) overall, 25% (4-16) from thee-point area, and just 5-16 from the free-throw line.  The Trojan defense also forced 18 Huskie turnovers.

Jacob Krempges had 16 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.  Mubarak Ibrahim had 15 points and two steals.  Dillon Jackson added 10 points and five rebounds.  Grafton Stroup had six points, and Braden Herr had five points and seven rebounds.

The Trojans finished the regular season with a record of 16-4.  West Central will host a Region 3A opening round game on Tuesday, March 1st.

The West Central Trojan boys basketball team won their final regular season home game of the 2021-2022 season against the McCook Central/Montrose Fighting Cougars on Saturday, February 19th.  The Trojans had no issues with the Cougars in a big 86-42 win.

Four players finished in double figures.  Jacob Krempges had 19 points and five rebounds.  Mubarak Ibrahim finished with 17 points.  Jack Linneman had 13 points, and Dillon Jackson had 12 points and five rebounds.  Owen Heath tallied 12 rebounds and three assists.

The Trojans won their fifth game in a row and improved to 15-4 on the season.  They will end the regular season on the road at Elk Point-Jefferson against the Huskies on Monday, February 21st.

After trailing most of the first half, the West Central Trojan boys basketball team used a big third quarter to get a 75-65 home win over the Madison Bulldogs on Thursday, February 10th.

Madison was on fire to start the game.  They were 50% in the first quarter shooting scoring 21 points.  West Central was far behind scoring 18 points of their own.  The two teams traded shots in the second quarter, and the Bulldogs led 38-36 at halftime.

The defense and hot shooting in third quarter propelled the Trojans past the Bulldogs.  West Central knocked multiple three-point shots and forced eight Madison turnovers.  The Trojans opened the quarter on an 11-0 run and outscored the Bulldogs 26-8 for a 62-46 lead after the third quarter.  Madison got within ten points with an early run in the fourth quarter, but never threatened the Trojans any more than that.

West Central shot 47% (27-58) from the field, 47% (16-34) on three pointers, and a perfect 5-5 from the free-throw line.  Madison was 46% (25-54) shooting, 20% (3-15) from three-point area, and 75% (12-16) from the free-throw line.

Grafton Stroup finished with 26 points, three rebounds, and three assists.  Dillon Jackson had 13 points, three rebounds, and seven assists.  Jack Linneman added 10 points and two steals.  Braden Herr had eight points.  Jacob Krempges had five points, four rebounds, two steals, and five assists.

The West Central Trojan boys rebounded from a Thursday night loss and earned an 81-58 win over Lakota Tech at the Pentagon Classic in Sioux Falls on Saturday, February 5th.

West Central took the for good with 2:44 to play in the first quarter after a three pointer by Grafton Stroup.  The Trojans led 22-15 at the end of the first quarter.  Their lead grew to 40-27 at halftime.  The largest lead of the game for West Central, 51-31, came after a three pointer by Braden Herr with 5:34 to play in the third quarter.

The Trojans shot 46% (30-66) overall in the game, 39% (9-23) from three-point area, and 80% (12-15) from the free-throw line.  West Central had 23 fast-break points, 12 points off turnovers, and 40 points in the paint.

Stroup ended with 27 points and seven rebounds.  Herr had 13 points and three rebounds.  Jacob Krempges added 12 points, five rebounds, and two assists.  Mubarak Ibrahim had 12 points, two rebounds, and two steals.  Braden Dierickx finished with seven points, four rebounds, and five assists.

The Tea Titans erased a 13-point halftime deficit and beat the West Central Trojans 68-62 on Thursday, February 3rd.

The first quarter was back and forth between the two.  West Central held a slim 19-18 advantage at the quarter break.  The game was tied 25-25 with 4:50 to play in the second quarter.  The Trojans made a big run to finish the first half.  They outscored the Titans 15-2 for a 40-27 lead at halftime.

The Titans scored the first nine points of the third quarter and pulled within four points, 40-36, with 4:20 to go in the quarter.  Tea got the lead down to two points by the end of the quarter.  West Central led 47-45 heading into the fourth.  Tea took their first lead of the second half, 53-51, with 7:00 to play in the game.  They continued to slowly extend their lead throughout the rest of the quarter for the come-from-behind win.

West Central shot 38% (23-60) from the field in the game, 38% (11-29) from three-point area, and 5-7 from the free-throw line.  Tea finished the game 46% (25-54) from the field, 38% (6-16) on three pointers, and 55% (12-22) from the free-throw line.

Grafton Stroup had 17 points, two rebounds, and two steals.  Dillon Jackson finished with 15 points, five rebounds, and two steals.  Braden Herr and Jack Linneman both had eight points each.  Braden Dierickx added seven points, five assists, four rebounds, and four steals.