The West Central Trojans stopped a Quarrier rally late in the fourth quarter to earn a 51-44 season-opening win in Dell Rapids on Friday, December 13th.
Both teams held a lead in the opening quarter. Dell Rapids held an 8-6 advantage with just under 2:00 left to go in the opening quarter. The Trojans finished the quarter on a 7-0 run for a 13-8 lead. West Central maintained their lead throughout the second quarter and took a 24-19 advantage into halftime.
The Trojans extended their lead to 14 points, 36-22, with 2:11 to go in the third quarter. Dell Rapids finished the quarter on a 9-2 run to cut the lead to 38-31 going into the fourth quarter. The Quarriers kept chipping away at the lead and got within a point, 43-42, with 1:40 remaining in the game. After a Trojan timeout, Connor Mebius hit a three-point shot from the right wing with 1:20 to go to extend the lead to 46-42. The Trojans added five more points from the free-throw line and held strong for the 51-44 win.
West Central finished the game shooting 36% (14-39) overall, 38% (8-21) on three-point attempts, and 75% (15-20) from the free-throw line. Dell Rapids shot 33% (13-39) overall in the game, 19% (3-16) on three-point attempts, and 83% (15-18) from the free-throw line.
Mebius finished with 27 points, five rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Will Kuhl had 17 points and four rebounds. Luke Knight and Carter Tetzlaff both finished with three points each. Knight also had six rebounds.
