The Official Newspaper for Foster County
The Official Newspaper for Foster County
Griggs/Midkota's Wyatt Spickler takes an aggressive drive to the basket for two points around South Border defender Trevor Schmidt. Jaxon Gronneberg is pictured behind Spickler.
Dylan Johnson elevates for a rebound off a missed shot, as the Mustangs' Luke Scherbenske makes a play on the ball as well.
Jaxon Gronneberg takes a three-pointer as Seth Wolf of South Border puts his hand up to contest the shot. Gronneberg would lead the Titans with 16 points in his final game for Griggs/Midkota, including four threes.
The Griggs/Midkota Titans drew upon the fighting spirits and memory of two people in the hearts and minds of the co-op's greater community, the late Mandy Hoyt and Jacob Johnson (see related article,) but that emotion wasn't nearly enough to carry them to a Region 3 victory last Monday night in Jamestown.
The South Border Mustangs continued their season by the skin of their teeth, edging the Titans by the slimmest of cruel margins, 51-50, to end the G-M season with a final record of 8-15.
Game action was tense throughout, as neither team could get going on the offensive end in the opening half of basketball.
Freshman Brady Haugen provided the Titans with early offense, hitting for seven points in 16 minutes of play. In South Border's scoring column, both Trevor Schmidt and Kaden Bader went for eight points, and Luke Scherbenske had the other five in half number one stats.
Third quarter play kept the slugfest theme going, with G-M maintaining a three-point advantage, 33-30, and thinking of the prospects of advancement in the region tournament for the first time in many seasons.
However, South Border had other ideas in play, and turned to their interior defense to smother G-M shot attempts.
The shift to an inside contest did not favor the Titans, as the Mustangs' budding sophomore standouts, the 6'3" forward Schmidt and guard Bader, got South Border the push they needed late.
The Mustangs also took advantage of several instances of physical contact on Titan possessions that weren't whistled. In the second half, G-M committed 14 fouls to South Border's six.
With that, South Border made hay from the free-throw line, going an astronomical 18-for-21, or 85.7 percent, in the contest.
Schmidt, along with Connor Kosiak, both went a flawless 6-for-6 in the game at the stripe.
Senior urgency for the Titans came to the forefront late in the contest. Both Logan Topp and Jaxon Gronneberg hit threes in the final minutes to bring G-M to within 46-42 and 47-45, respectively.
Topp got a driving layup to put the Titans at a one-possession deficit, 49-47, in the final 15 seconds; however, South Border iced the game with two foul shots. Gronneberg's last-second three-pointer, his fourth of the game, brought the final score to a one-point loss.
Gronneberg finished his time as a Titan (and Griggs County Central Cougar) with a 16-point effort, to go along with five rebounds, two assists, and a steal. Topp ended up with 14 points, four boards and three steals.
Haugen finished with eight points. Though he didn't score and fouled out in the final minutes, senior Ashton Smith provided stability on the glass with a team-best seven rebounds, and swatted away three South Border shot attempts.
The win gave the Mustangs (11-12) a continuance of a remarkable turnaround for a program that went winless in 2020-21 at 0-17, but their Cinderella run came to a screeching halt at the hands of LaMoure/Litchville-Marion the next evening, 57-28.
All leaving the G-M program to graduation are Gronneberg, Topp, Smith, Caleb Edland, Dylan Johnson (four points in the game) and Aaron Moser.
Region 3 Boys' Basketball Tournament, Jamestown
Quarterfinals
South Border 51,
Griggs/Midkota 50
G-M 11 12 10 17 50
SB 9 12 9 21 51
Griggs/Midkota: Jaxon Gronneberg 16, Logan Topp 14, Brady Haugen 8, Carter Spitzer 6, Dylan Johnson 4, Wyatt Spickler 2. Totals: 19-48 FG, 5-12 FT, 19 fouls. Three-pointers: Gronneberg 4, Topp, Haugen, Spitzer. Fouled out: Ashton Smith.
South Border: Kaden Bader 16, Trevor Schmidt 14, Connor Kosiak 8, Kaleb Thiery 7, Luke Scherbenske 5, Seth Wolf 1. Totals: 15-44 FG, 18-21 FT, 11 fouls. Three-pointers: Bader 2, Scherbenske.
Griggs/Midkota Additional Stats
Rebounds: Smith 7, Gronneberg and Haugen 5, Topp 4, Spickler 3, Johnson and Spitzer 2, Eli Larson 1.
Assists: Gronneberg and Spickler 2, Haugen, Smith and Topp 1.
Steals: Topp 3, Gronneberg, Spickler and Spitzer 1.
Blocks: Smith 3.
South Border Additional Stats
Rebounds: Schmidt 13, Bader 6, Kosiak, Thiery and Wolf 3, Scherbenske 1.
Assists: Schmidt 3, Kosiak 2, Bader and Scherbenske 1.
Steals: Bader 4, Kosiak 2, Scherbenske, Thiery and Wolf 1.
Blocks: Bader 1.
