The West Central Trojan girls basketball team held Baltic scoreless in the second quarter on their way to a 57-31 season opening win over the Bulldogs on Tuesday, December 7th.

The two teams were tied 7-7 late in the first quarter before the Trojans ended the quarter on a 7-0 run to lead 14-7 at the first quarter break.  West Central then outscored Baltic 17-0 in the second quarter for a 31-7 halftime lead.  The Trojans led 45-18 at the end of the third quarter.

Ten different players for West Central scored in the game.  Two players finished in double figures led by Rylee Haldeman with 15 points and Addy Kramer with 14 points.  Molli Thornton had seven points, and Grace Harden finished with six points.

West Central (1-0) will have their first home game of the season on Tuesday, December 14th when they host the Mt Vernon/Plankinton Titans.

“We have high expectations for this team,” says head coach Joe Caffrey.  The West Central Trojan girls basketball team is looking to get back to the state tournament after falling short last year.  Last season’s team finished 18-3 but lost to Tri-Valley in the Region 3A tournament.

“We had a great season last year with several big wins, but we did fall short of goals,” said Caffrey.

This year’s team will have a lot of experience returning six seniors and gaining another.  This year’s seniors are Rylee Haldeman, Addy Kramer, Josslin Jarding, Peyton Meadows, Keighlor Nolz, Grace Harden, and transfer student Tabor Teel.  The Trojans will also have juniors Cambell Fischer, Molli Thornton, and Tessa VanOverbeke along with sophomore Jazelle Jarding.

West Central will start the season on the road at Baltic on Tuesday, December 7th.  The first home game will be Tuesday, December 14th against Mt Vernon/Plankinton.

It took a couple of quarters for the West Central Trojan girls to find their offensive groove on Thursday, February 18th, but once they found it, they cruised to a 54-30 win over the Baltic Bulldogs.

West Central finished with just nine points in each of the first two quarters.  They led the Bulldogs 9-4 at the end of the first quarter and 18-12 at halftime.  West Central got going in the second half.  They scored 20 points in just third quarter and led 38-23 heading into the final quarter.  The Bulldogs made two free-throws with 7:10 to play to cut the lead to 38-25, but the Trojans held them scoreless for the next five minutes while building a 51-27 lead with 2:06 left in the game.

The Trojans shot just 25% (16-64) from the field, 26% (9-34) from three-point area, and 76% (13-17) from the free-throw line.  The finished with 39 team rebounds, 14 team steals, and 14 assists.

Rylee Haldeman had 19 points, six steals, five assists, and three rebounds.  Cassidy Siemonsma had a double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds.  Addy Kramer finished with 11 points, four rebounds, and two steals.

West Central finishes the regular season with an 18-2 record and will be the #1 seed in the Region 3A tournament.  The Trojans will host a SoDak-16 qualifying game on Thursday, February 25th.

The #3 ranked West Central Trojans hosted the #1 St Thomas More Cavaliers on Saturday, February 13th.  The Trojans gave the Cavaliers their first loss of the season with a 60-53 victory.

The Trojans opened the game on a 10-1 run in the first 3:30 of the opening quarter.  St Thomas More responded with a 10-3 run and closed out the quarter trailing the Trojans 13-11.  The Cavaliers took the lead 16-15 with 5:05 to play in the first half, but West Central ended the first half leading 25-21.

The Cavaliers took the lead again late in the third quarter at 36-34 with 1:15 to play in the quarter.  They added another point to the lead by the end of the quarter and held a 39-36 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.  The Trojans took the lead again with 4:25 to play, 45-44, after a Cassidy Siemonsma layup.  West Central added seven straight points after that layup for a 52-44 lead.  The Cavaliers got it down to two points at 52-50 with 1:30 to play, but the Trojans scored the next five points to lead 57-50 with :50 left to secure the win.

West Central shot 42% (22-53) from the field, 32% (10-31) from three-point area, and 46% (6-13) from the free-throw line.  St Thomas More finished 39% (19-49) from the field.

Siemonsma finished with 22 points, eight rebounds, and three steals.  Addy Kramer had 17 points, eight rebounds, and two assists.  Rylee Haldeman had nine points, four assists, three rebounds, and three steals.  Cambell Fischer added seven points, seven assists, and three rebounds.

West Central (16-2) will host Canton on Tuesday, February 16th.

A three-pointer by Cambell Fischer and four made free-throws in the final minute helped the West Central Trojans win their final regular season road game of the season against the McCook Central/Montrose Fighting Cougars 60-55 on Tuesday, February 9th.

The Cougars had the lead for the first quarter and led 13-12 after the first period.  The two teams battle back-and-forth in the second quarter, and the first half ended in a 26-26 tie.

The Trojans were able to get a little separation in the third quarter.  West Central took a five-point lead, 40-35, into the fourth quarter.  The Trojans led 42-40 with 6:00 to play.  They then went on a 5-0 run for a 47-42 lead.  McCook Central/Montrose went on a 5-0 run of their own, and West Central led 47-45 with 3:05 to play.  The Trojans were able to respond with every basket the Cougars made down the stretch and then were able to put the game away in the final seconds from the free-throw line.

West Central finished the game shooting 37% (22-60) from the field, 30% (6-20) from three-point area, and 83% (10-12) from the free-throw line.  They finished with 31 team rebounds, 12 assists, and only turned the ball over eight times.

Cassidy Siemonsma had 16 points, six rebounds, and two assists.  Rylee Haldeman had 12 points, five assists, and two steals.  Addy Kramer had a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.  Josslin Jarding added eight points, six rebounds, four steals, and three assists.

West Central (15-2) will host St Thomas More on Saturday, February 13th in their first of three straight home games to finish the regular season.

The West Central Trojans gave the Aberdeen Roncalli Cavaliers just their second loss of the season at the Dak-12/NEC Clash in Madison on Saturday, February 6th.  The Trojans defeated Roncalli 54-38.

The game was close most of the first three quarters.  The two teams finished the first quarter tied 11-11.  West Central was able to gain an advantage by the end of the second quarter and led 25-21 at halftime.  The lead grew to seven points for the Trojans by the end of the third quarter, 37-30.

The fourth quarter is where the Trojans put the game out of reach.  The strong West Central defense held the Cavaliers to just eight points, while the offense continued to roll.  The Trojans outscored Roncalli 17-8  for the 16-point win.

West Central finished the game shooting 34% (17-50) from the field, 42% (8-19) from three-point area, and 71% (12-17) from the free-throw line.

Four players finished in double figures.  Addy Kramer had 20 points and six rebounds.  Josslin Jarding had 12 points and four rebounds.  Cassidy  Siemonsma finished with 10 points and eight rebounds, and Rylee Haldeman also had 10 points.

West Central (14-2) will travel to Salem to play the  McCook Central/Montrose Fighting Cougars on Tuesday, February 9th.

The relentless pressure of the Trojan defense shut down the Madison Bulldogs on Friday, February 5th.  West Central forced 24 Bulldog turnovers and held Madison to 29% shooting in a 65-36 win at home.

West Central (13-2) put the pressure on early and took a 19-11 lead into the second quarter.  Madison opened the second quarter on a 6-0 run to pull within two points at 19-17 with 5:26 to go.  The Trojans then went on a 13-4 run for a 32-21 halftime lead.

The Trojan defense then locked down the Bulldogs in the third quarter.  West Central held Madison to just four points while the offense pushed the lead to 30 points at 55-25 by the end of the third quarter as the running clock ran throughout the fourth quarter.

West Central shot 38% (25-66) from the field, 28% (8-29) from three-point area, and  54% (7-13) from the free-throw line.  West Central had 32 team rebounds, 18 team steals, and 15 team assists.

Addy Kramer finished with 17 points, five rebounds, three steals, and two assists.  Josslin Jarding had 14 points, six steals, and three assists.  Cassidy Siemonsma had nine points and six rebounds.  Rylee Haldemann added eight points, five rebounds, four assists, and three steals.