Second rated and undefeated Red Cloud (Mahpíya Lúta) took no time in displaying why they are one of the top teams in Class A of girls basketball racing to a 17-0 lead against Bennett County Friday night in Red Cloud. They would go on to score 37 first quarter points to 5 for the Lady Warriors on their way to a lopsided 88-22 win.
The Lady Crusaders led 63-10 at the half and 80-17 after three quarters of play to finish the season at 19-0.
Bennett County finished the season at 9-9 and earned the number four seed in the playoff. They faced Lakota Tech Tuesday night in Martin but the game was played after press time.
“Red Cloud has one of the best teams in state,” remarked coach Duke Waln.
“They do all that we strive to be as a team. The girls played hard but they knew they were against it. That mentality can’t show in Regions. We made some simple adjustments with our defense, giving them a different look and offensively we switched how we got to the high post and got some better looks. Coach Evans and I are so proud of this team. They finished the season 9 and 9 and got a home game for the 1st round of regions. There weren’t too many people outside our basketball family who believed they could accomplish what they did this season. Love them!”
Bennett County scoring: Amia Cottier 10, Kaylee Byrne 5, Madi Waln 4 and Ally Salomon 3.
The JV team finished the season unbeaten with a 54-40 win over Red Cloud.
Sisters Reagan and Peyson O’Neill led the offense with 14 and 13 points respectively. Jadyn Standing Soldier added 9, Harley Harris 7, Madi Waln 5, Kaylee Byrne 4 and Jersey Frederick 2.