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.