Friday night’s battle between Chamberlain and Stanley County was eerily similar to their regular season contest when Stanley County outlasted a scrappy Cubs comeback to win 69-57. On February 5th, the Buffaloes got out to a double-digit lead in the first quarter and looked like they would cruise to a win. Chamberlain had other plans as they cut down the deficit to just two scores in the second half. Friday night, it was almost a carbon-copy of that early February bout as the Buffaloes again started white-hot.
In this knockout game, junior Eddie Duffy simply could not miss, going 5-for-5 from three-point range and helping his team stretch out a 10-point first quarter lead. The trend would continue in the second quarter as Stanley County built a 20 point advantage midway through. With their backs against the wall, Chamberlain found their groove and swung momentum back their direction to cut down the deficit going into the break.
Duffy finished the first half with 19, a performance pretty consistent with what he has done all year. On the flip side, Chamberlain freshman Miles Thompson finished with just four points, something uncharacteristic from the budding superstar. But again, Chamberlain had no fear playing from behind, and Thompson found a rhythm as he started to see shots start to fall, finishing with an impressive 19 points. Chamberlain was able to bring the deficit within single-digits, but Stanley County’s team play held off a potential comeback.
Duffy continued his great play in the second half and achieved a bit of history by passing the 1,000-point career mark with his third bucket of the third quarter. The Buffaloes were able to keep Chamberlain at a distance and hold on for the 69-52 win to punch their ticket to the SoDak 16. Duffy, who led both teams in scoring with 29, and his teammates posed with his celebratory banner after their victory as seen below:
The Buffaloes will advance to take on Flandreau on Tuesday night with the time and location to be decided. You will be able to listen live on KGFX and watch it live on DRGnews.com/KGFX.
The win makes it nine in a row for the Buffaloes who improve to 19-2, the Cubs finished the season at 12-10.
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