The West Central Trojan boys basketball team went toe-to-toe with the #1 Dakota Valley Panthers at home on Tuesday, January 12th, but the Panthers took the win 78-70.
Both teams got up and down the court quick in the first two quarters of the game. The first quarter went back-and-forth, and the Trojans held a 24-23 lead at the end of the first quarter. They were able to outscore the Panthers by a point again in the second quarter for a 44-42 halftime lead.
The turning point in the game happened at the start of the third quarter. Dakota Valley went on a 7-0 run to go ahead 49-44 in the first minutes of the second half. That run proved to be the difference in the game. The Panthers pushed the lead to 67-59 heading into the fourth quarter. After Dakota Valley scored the first two points of the fourth quarter, West Central went on a 7-0 run to pull within three points at 69-66 with 4:51 left in the game, but that was as close as the Trojans would get.
West Central finished shooting 54% (30-56) from the field, 33% (6-18) from three-point area, and 4-5 from the free-throw line. Dakota Valley was 51% (27-53) from the field, 33% (8-24) from three-point area, but held a big advantage on the free-throw line going 15-20.
Zane Crawford led the team in scoring with 18 points and also had two rebounds and two steals. Hunter Hagerty had 15 points and four rebounds. Kasan Abedi finished with 11 points. Jaxon Skinner had eight points and five rebounds, while Jacob Krempges added seven points, six rebounds, and three assists. Derek Eidsness had four points, five rebounds, and five assists.
West Central (3-3) will host Garretson on Thursday, January 14th.