WOLSEY – A strong second quarter propelled Wolsey-Wessington to a boys’ basketball victory over Aberdeen Christian on Tuesday night.
The Warbirds used a 16-5 second period to open up a double-digit advantage on the way to a 58-45 non-conference win.
Christian coach Aaron Moeller said the second quarter was the difference in the outcome.
“The second quarter I felt like they got out in transition,” Moeller said. “That was something we were a little bit intentional about and we talked about this week was slowing them down and trying to prevent those easy buckets. That second quarter we just did not get it done as far as transition defense. We need to do a better job.”
Wolsey-Wessington took an early 9-2 lead before the Knights pulled within three at the end of the first quarter.
However, the Warbirds went on the offensive in the second quarter as Tate French and Moshe Richmond led the effort to give the home squad a 31-17 halftime advantage.
French led the team with 27 points, while Richmond had 16.
Moeller gave credit to the Warbirds shooters for making difficult shots and driving to the basket.
“I think we forced (French) to take some tough shots, and to his credit he hit those shots,” Moeller said. “(Richmond) attacks the rim really well, so he was a tough guy to defend for us, so credit to their guys.”
Once Wolsey-Wessington built a lead, the Knights were in a hole they could not pull themselves out of, despite outscoring the Warbirds 28-27 in the second half.
“It’s one of those teams that if you give them that kind of a lead, it’s hard to dig out of a hole,” Moeller said. “Once they got that lead in the second quarter, it just felt like we were climbing uphill the whole time and we just couldn’t get it done.”
Joey Johnson led the Knights with 19 points, while Konnar Furman had 11, and Becker Bosma tallied 10.
Wolsey-Wessington (7-1) will host Iroquois-Lake Preston on Saturday, while Aberdeen Christian, which fell to 1-4 on the season, will host Potter County on Friday.
Moeller said the team will look to improve its rebounding heading into that contest.
“We’ve been focusing a lot on rebounding recently and I felt the rebounding was better, but we still got work to do in that area,” Moeller said. “The road doesn’t get easier for us. We have to get better and we have to get better in a hurry.”
ABERDEEN CHRISTIAN (1-4): Ellis Russell 1 0-0 2, Becker Bosma 4 1-2 10, Konnar Furman 4 3-5 11, Joey Johnson 8 1-2 19, Luke Kaiser 0 0-2 0, Brooks Jett 1 0-0 3. Totals 17 5-11 45.
WOLSEY-WESSINGTON (7-1): Caleb Richmond 4 1-1 9, Moshe Richmond 7 2-4 16, Peyton Rainford 2 0-0 4, Colin Hughes 1 0-0 2, Tate French 11 1-1 27. Totals 25 4-6 58.
Aberdeen Christian 12 17 32 45
Wolsey-Wessington 15 31 51 58
3-point field goals – Joey Johnson (2), Bosma, Jett; French (4). Total fouls – Aberdeen Christian 13; Wolsey-Wessington 9.