Day one of the Jones County Invitational saw a little of everything. There were sizable victories like Stanley County’s 66-22 win over Philip and Lymans 52-31 win over Kadoka. We were also treated to a couple nailbiters like Jones County’s winning bucket in the final seconds to outlast Crazy Horse, and of course, White River’s 2 OT thriller over Bennett County. With the brackets set for day two, we expect another fun day of hoops on KPLO beginning at 12:30 PM.
Stanley County started the day hoping to notch a win towards defending their 2025 JCI victory while also looking to keep their record unblemished. It was a bit of a slow start for both teams as Philip struggled to capitalize on some early turnovers, but Stanley County erupted for 20 points in the second quarter as the threes started to fall. The Buffaloes would go onto win 66-22 on the back of a 29 point performance from Paxton Deal and 16 from Eddie Duffy. However, the game was ultimately won in the paint as Tegyn Breitag and Trevor Caldwell dominated the glass giving their offense numerous second and third chance opportunities. Lyman was led by Carson Fugate who scored 7.
In game two of the afternoon slate, we got a game no one but Bennett County expected against White River. The Tigers had just handed Bennett County an 81-41 loss earlier this week, so just about everyone expected a similar outcome. Bennett County’s Caysen Soderlin had different plans. The Warriors gameplan was clear, feed it to Soderlin in the paint, and that plan worked to perfection in the first half as he commanded the lane and scored 13 in the first two quarters. The Tigers adjusted at the half trailing 39-33, and started to double Soderlin taking away some of his production. Bryson One Star flipped the second half switch as his shots started to fall, and the two teams got into a back and forth boxing match. Tied at 70 in regulation, Jaxon Krogman got loose on an outlet and looked to have a clear lane for the game winning layup, but Rush O’Neill came soaring from behind to pull of a LeBron James finals-like block to save the game and send it to OT.
In the first overtime both teams traded buckets, but the Tigers boosted themselves to a three-point advantage with just seconds to play. The Warriors inbounded straight to the top of the key for O’Neill who knocked down the three to send the game to a second overtime period. But One Star’s performance would be too much for Bennett County as the Tigers would pull away to win it 92-87 on the back of a 32 point performance from One Star. O’Neill also finished with 32.
After the afternoon break, Lyman and Kadoka Area kicked off the evening session in a defensive bout that only saw 34 combined points in the first half. Kadoka Area found themselves in foul trouble early, which would bite them late as some of their key players were sent to the bench after fouling out. Lyman used their size to their advantage as both Chace Seaboy and Dawsen Volmer controlled the lane. Seaboy finished with 12 points and Volmer finished with 15 along with Player of the Game honors. Lyman would win it 52-31 and await the Jones County versus Crazy Horse contest to see who their opponent would be.
The Coyotes and Chiefs delivered a dandy in the final game of the evening as Bryer Kinsley got his inside game working early in front of the home crowd. The Coyotes controlled a majority of the game, but the Chiefs just simply hung around with great play from their big-men Clavin Bissonnette and Xander Aiken. Crazy Horse was able to chip away at a 7 point, fourth-quarter deficit and found themselves in the lead with just about a minute to go. With no timeouts and just seconds remaining, the Coyotes found Luke Lolley down low who threw it in off the glass to secure the go ahead basket. The Chiefs got a great look at the buzzer to win it, but the shot would not fall as Jones County survived 46-45.
Tune in for all of the day two action from the Jones County Invitational today beginning at 12:30 PM CT on KPLO and streaming live on DRGnews.com!
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