Stanley County boys basketball had put together arguably their greatest season in the 2000’s this year, winning 19 games and coming into the SoDak 16 as a 6-seed. There have been very solid teams in Buffaloes past, but not many that have had the talent this one boasts this season. Led by captains Eddie Duffy and Paxton Deal, the Buffaloes knew a win over Flandreau Tuesday night would be nothing short of historic for their program’s history.
Even with Stanley County coming in as a much higher seed, Flandreau had played a beast of a schedule that included many of the teams that will be in Rapid City next week. Even with seven losses, Stanley County knew the Fliers would be one of their toughest tests of the year.
Flandreau took an early 2-0 lead, but after a Paxton Deal corner three the Fliers would not lead the game again. Stanley County built up a slight lead, but Flandreau continued to have answers to every Buffalo bucket as Kody Kneebone and Luke Sheppard dominated the post on offense. The Buffaloes decided to fight fire with fire, honing in on Trevor Caldwell in the paint who had arguably the strongest performance of his career scoring six points in both halves and swallowing up nine rebounds, five of which were offensive.
The Fliers had a strong response in the third quarter swinging the momentum back in their favor and at one point tying the game up at 30 apiece. But Stanley County had been in this position multiple times throughout the years, and unlike some games in years past, they felt confident in their ability to close.
After a 12 point first half, Paxton Deal was kept quiet in the second half until foul time came. With the Buffaloes leading by two possessions, the free throws were not falling as Flandreau made one last gasp push to keep their season alive. Stanley County missed four consecutive free throws until Deal took over and hit four straight to put the nail in the coffin winning 54-45 and sends the Buffaloes into the State Tournament for the first time since 1997. Deal led the Buffaloes in scoring with 16, but the performances from Caldwell, Teegyn Breitag, Carson Bourne and Eddie Duffy made it a true team effort for Joey Fishcer and his squad.
The Buffaloes will meet Clark-Willow Lake in their first round matchup on 3/19 at 7:45 PM CT on KGFX and DRGnews.com.
Comments