CUSTER – The Hot Springs Lady Bison basketball team dropped its Southern Hills rivalry game at Custer last Thursday night by a score of 38-65.
“We fell behind 12-0 half way through the first quarter and then showed some signs of life offensively late in the first,” said Hot Springs head coach Mike Remington. “We then opened the second quarter on a 17-9 run to pull within three at 26-23.”
Custer then countered with a few big shots prior to the end of the first half to expand their lead once again to 33-26 at halftime.
“We shot really well in the second quarter and continually attacked the rim,” Coach Remingston said, in regards to his team outscoring Custer 20-16 in the second quarter. “This gave us a huge advantage at the free throw line in the first half.
“The second half was a completely different story as Custer hit everything from outside and we had too many turnovers to overcome our poor shooting in the second half. Several defensive lapses allowed Custer some easy looks and they took advantage of it.”
The Lady Bison were outscored 25-10 in the third quarter and then only scored two more points in the fourth quarter, which resulted in a 27-point loss.
As a team, Hot Springs had a field goal percentage of 24.3% in the game, compared to 46.2% for Custer. The Lady Bison shot far more free throws than Custer and convered on 18-of-31 from the line, while Custer only had nine free throw attempts but made seven of them. Hot Springs also committed 33 turnovers in the game with Custer committing nearly the same with 29.
Hot Springs was led by senior Maggie Preuss with 11 points and five rebounds and junior Kaylee Bader with nine points and three steals. Fellow junior Kenadee Maciejewski scored five points and added six rebounds and two steals. Lily Theilmann, Destiny Webb and Kiana Lewis each scored three points apiece.
Hot Springs is now 5-11 on the season and while Custer is 8-9. The two teams are currently next to one another in the Region 8A standings, with Custer in fifth place and Hot Springs in sixth. Hill City is No. 1 with a 14-3 record followed by Belle Fourche (11-4), Rapid City Christian (11-4) and St. Thomas More (10-5).
This Friday, Feb. 9, the Lady Bison travel to Sturgis (2-10).