The West Central Trojan boys basketball team had to wait an extra day to start their 2021-2022 season, and the Trojans made a statement with an 85-74 win over #1 Sioux Falls Christian on Saturday, December 11th.

The Chargers got off to the quick start in the game.  Sioux Falls Christian led 10-2 with 3:50 to go in the opening quarter, but the Trojans caught fire at that point.  West Central closed out the quarter on a 19-9 run for a 21-19 lead.  The Trojans then started the second quarter on a 10-0 run.  That lead grew to 20 points by halftime, 51-31.

Sioux Falls Christian made a run in the second half.  The Chargers outscored West Central 23-15 in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 66-54 heading into the final quarter.  The Chargers got the lead down to single digits at 66-58 with 7:26 to play, but West Central was able to maintain a 10-to-12 point lead the rest of the game for the 85-74 win.

West Central shot 55% (27-49) from the field, 40% (12-30) from three-point area, and 70% (19-27) from the free-throw line.  The Trojans also had 29 team rebounds and 16 team assists while only turning the ball over seven times.  The Chargers finished the game 43% (27-63) from the field, 24% (7-29) from three-point area, and 65% (13-20) from the free-throw line.

Five players finished in double figures for the Trojans.  Grafton Stroup had 25 points and three rebounds.  Jack Linneman had 13 points and three rebounds.  Mubarak Ibrahim also had 13 points.  Braden Dierickx had 12 points two rebounds, and three assists.  Dillon Jackson finished with 10 points and six rebounds.

West Central (1-0) will host the Mt Vernon/Plankinton Trojans on Tuesday, December 14th.

The 2021-2022 West Central Trojan boys basketball team will be a very experienced team.  West Central will have eight seniors on this year’s team.  The Trojans finished last year with a 14-8 overall record and a 5-5 record in Dak XII Conference play.  West Central lost to Dell Rapids in the Region 3A semifinals to end their 2020-2021 season.

Top returning players for this season will be Jacob Krempges (senior), Wilson Droge (senior), Grafton Stroup (senior), Jack Linneman (senior), and Carter Schmeichel (junior).  West Central will also have top newcomers Braden Dierickx (senior), Dillon Jackson (senior), Mubarak Ibrahim (senior), Braden Herr (senior), Owen Heath (junior), and Dylan Stromer (junior).

Head coach Jacob Sittig said, “We feel we have the best chance to compete in the top of our conference and in our class as we have had the last 10-15 years.  We are very athletic and fast.  We can score in a variety of ways, but most of all, we have a lot of three-point shooters.  We are extremely deep being able to put eleven players on the court.  And out of those eleven players, we don’t drop off much.  We plan to play very up temp on both ends of the floor to use our depth to the best of our ability.”

The Trojans start the season at home on Friday, December 10th against the team that ended their season last year, the Dell Rapids Quarriers.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

The #3 seeded West Central Trojan boys were able put a shaky first half behind them and took a 64-35 win over the #6 seeded Baltic Bulldogs in the opening round of the Region 3A tournament at home on Tuesday, March 2nd.

The Trojans got out to a quick eight-point lead at the end of the first quarter, 14-8, but then hit an offensive snag in the second quarter.  West Central only scored nine points, and the Bulldogs took advantage to pull within five points, 25-20, by halftime.

The halftime period was enough for the Trojans to hit the reset button.  West Central went on a 14-5 run in the first three minutes of the third quarter and eventually outscored Baltic 28-9 throughout the entire quarter for a 53-29 lead heading into the fourth quarter.  The Trojans outscored the Bulldogs 11-6 in the final quarter for the win.

Three players finished in double figures for the Trojans.  Wilson Droge had 19 points and four rebounds.  Kasan Abedi had 10 points, five assists, and three steals.  Zane Crawford also had 10 points in the game.  Hunter Hagerty  had a team-high eight rebounds, and Jacob Krempges had three assists.

West Central improves to 14-7 on the season.  The Trojans will travel to Dell Rapids to play the Quarriers in a SoDak-16 qualifying game on Friday, March 5th.

The Tea Area Titans spoiled the final regular season home game and ended five-game winning streak for the West Central Trojans with a 63-54 win in Hartford on Tuesday, February 23rd.

Tea scored the first three points of the game and led by as many as six points, 15-9, with 2:20 to go in the first quarter.  West Central held the Titans scoreless in the final 2:00 and was able to tie the game 17-17 by the end of the quarter.  The Titans returned the favor and held West Central scoreless until the 3:40 mark of the second quarter.  The Titans led 23-17 until a made basket by Grafton Stroup.  Tea Area ended the half leading 31-25.

West Central chipped away at the lead and got it down to four points, 44-40, after a buzzer-beater layup by Kasan Abedi.  The Titan lead remained at four points, 50-46, with 4:00 to play in the game.  Tea Area, however, ended the game on a 13-8 advantage to hang on for the win.

Derek Eidsness led the Titans with 17 points and five rebounds.  Hunter Hagerty had 12 points and four rebounds.  Jaxon Skinner finished with eight points and four rebounds.  Abedi ended with six points, nine rebounds, five assists, and four steals.

The Trojans end their regular season with a 13-7 record.

The West Central Trojan boys basketball team continued their longest winning streak of the season and extended it to five games after a 75-51 win over the Elk Point-Jefferson Huskies at home on Monday, February 22nd.

It didn’t take long for the Trojans to build a lead in the first quarter.  West Central hit a double-digit lead at 14-3 with 3:15 to play in the quarter.  The Huskies got the lead down to nine points by the end of the quarter at 17-8.  The Trojans were able to double the lead to 16 points by halftime at 36-20.

Elk Point-Jefferson started to make a run in the third quarter.  The Huskies got the lead down to nine points, 44-35, with 3:00 to play in the quarter.  The Trojans were able to stop the momentum and led 51-40 heading into the final quarter.  The West Central defense locked down the Huskies in the fourth quarter and outscored Elk Point-Jefferson 24-11 in the win.

West Central finished shooting 50% (32-64) from the field, 29% (7-24) from three-point area, and 4-for-6 from the free-throw line.  The Trojans had 29 team rebounds and 23 team assists.

Four players were in double figures in scoring.  Hunter Hagerty scored 14 points and four rebounds.  Grafton Stroup also had 14 points and two rebounds.  Derek Eidsness finished with 11 points, eight rebounds, five steals, and three assists.  Wilson Droge had 10 points, four rebounds, and two assists.  Zach Crawford had nine points, and Jacob Krempges added five points, seven rebounds, and five assists.  Kasan Abedi had a team-high six assists.

West Central (13-6) will finish the regular season at home against Tea on Tuesday, February 23rd.

The West Central Trojan boys basketball team got a big home win on Friday, February 19th.  The Trojans defeated the Chamberlain Cubs, who entered the game with a 15-3 record.

The first half was close throughout.  The Cubs had a 21-18 lead at the end of the first quarter.  The Trojans ended the first half trailing by just a point, 31-30.  The third quarter completely changed the game.  West Central held Chamberlain to just three points while the offense exploded for 25 points.  The Trojans in a matter of eight minutes went from trailing by a point to leading 55-34.  West Central continued to roll in the fourth quarter outscoring Chamberlain 19-15.

Derrick Eich had 15 points to lead the West Central scoring attack.  Hunter Hagerty finished with 13 points and five rebounds.  Zane Crawford added 11 points.  Wilson Droge and Jaxon Skinner both had four rebounds each in the game.

West Central (12-6) will host Elk Point-Jefferson on Monday, February 22nd.

A 36-13 difference in the second half led the West Central Trojans to a 61-43 road win over the McCook Central/Montrose Fighting Cougars on Thursday, February 18th.

The Trojans found themselves trailing by three points at the end of the first quarter, 16-13.  The Cougars pushed their lead to 11 points with 4:40 to play in the second quarter, but the Trojans cut the lead down to five by halftime, 30-25.  West Central outscored McCook Central/Montrose 15-9 in the third quarter to take a 40-39 lead into the fourth quarter.  The Trojans then held the Cougars to just four points in the final quarter for the win.

Grafton Stroup had 15 points and two rebounds.  Hunter Hagerty finished with 13 points and three rebounds.  Derek Eidsness added nine points and six rebounds, while Wilson Droge had eight points and four rebounds.

West Central (11-6) will host Chamberlain on Friday, February 19th.

The West Central Trojan boys got a Dak-12 road win against the Madison Bulldogs, 58-49, on Tuesday, February 8th.

Madison scored the first six points of the game and led 6-0 with 5:13 to play.  West Central then held them to just two points the remainder of the quarter and led 12-8 at the break.  The Trojans extended their lead to six points, 28-22, by halftime.

The Bulldogs got on a run in the third quarter and took a 37-36 lead with 2:30 to play in the third quarter.  Madison continued to lead at the end of the third quarter, 41-39.  The two teams went back-and-forth to start the fourth quarter, and Madison led 50-48 with 4:17 to play.  The Trojans then went on an 8-1 run the remainder of the game to get the come-from-behind win.

Three players finished in double figures.  Wilson Droge had 16 points and three rebounds.  Derek Eidsness had 15 points, seven rebounds, and two steals.  Kasan Abedi finished with 10 points, five assists, four rebounds, and two steals.

The Trojans (9-6) will host Canton on Tuesday, February 16th.