Ranger boys hit hot streak, beat STM, Custer

The Hill City Ranger boys basketball team is making some noise this season and were loud and clear at last Saturday evening’s game at home against the St. Thomas More (STM) Cavaliers.
The game was an intense back-and-forth match-up with several lead-changes and valiant moments. For the first time in 38 matchups, dating back to 2000, the Rangers came out victorious over STM.
“It’s a credit to the boys,” said head coach Laramie Harvey. “But, it’s also huge for the community. That’s a lot of fun for the community. A lot of people have been in the stands for a long time and haven’t seen that.
“It’s just why I love Hill City so much. You look at some of those bigger schools or private schools and it’s just a school, where I feel like we’re a community. It’s not just our team but the community that can celebrate it.”
The teams came into the game with matching records of 14-4 for the season.
STM won the tip-off to start the game but Hill City’s Everett Sullivan was the first to put points on the board. The Cavaliers struggled with their outside shooting, hitting for under 25 percent while still dominating the boards against the Rangers. STM came out in front by one at the end of the quarter.
“They missed a lot of shots I think they normally would hit,” Harvey said. “They’re so good on the offensive glass. We needed to do a better job on the glass.”
Brayden Wilkison hit a three-point shot to start the second quarter. STM quickly responded with a bucket to tie up the game again. The next possession, with the shot clock running out, the Cavaliers attempted a three-point shot that was no good. Devin Buehler no sooner had the rebound in his hand when STM’s Wyatt Gylten knocked it loose and went up for a slam-dunk. The huge play brought the STM fans to their feet and the Cavs up by four.
After a 30-second time out the Rangers went on a run with Sullivan hitting a long three followed by a steal on the inbound play by Zane Messick who made the and-one for a three-point play.
Both offenses were hit and miss through the rest of the quarter with the Cavs continuing to dominate the boards. The margin was kept to within four points ending the half with a 20-20 tie.
The Cavs came out quick in the third scoring within the first 10 seconds. The Rangers in man-to-man defense gave Buehler the opportunity for a steal and a break-away layup. The score scale tipped back and forth through most of the quarter with the lead changing four times but a tight two-point margin throughout.
Tied 30-30 with a minute and half left in the quarter, Dax Frandsen pulled up for a long three, putting the Rangers ahead. Sullivan was fouled in the paint and went two for two from the free throw line, giving the Rangers the largest lead of the game at 35-30.
Zane Messick went on a run scoring the next seven points for the Rangers.
“In a game that’s so closely contested like that, any little bit of run or anything like that is huge,” said Harvey.  
Messick’s streak ended when he drew his fifth foul on a charge call taking him out of the game with almost five minutes remaining.
The Cavaliers’ three-point shooting kept them alive in the third. Once down by eight the Cavs came back to trail by only one with 2:35 left in the quarter.
The last two minutes of the game was basketball mayhem with ups and downs on both sides of the court.
An STM travel turned the ball over to the Rangers at a crucial point in the game. Frandsen landed a much needed three-point shot to give the Rangers a little bit of breathing room. It was short-lived as the very next possession STM made a three-point play as the Rangers were called for a foul on a made basket.
With less than a minute on the clock and a one point lead, Frandsen was fouled on a drive to the bucket. He missed the shot but sank both free-throws putting the Rangers up by just one possession with 32 seconds left.
Alex Stoekman’s defense helped to force an STM turnover giving the Rangers possession with 18 seconds left. With only three team fouls, the Cavs had to commit two quick fouls to send the Rangers to the line.
Buehler made the first and missed the second from the free-throw line. Sullivan grabbed the rebound but the ball was thrown away on an attempted pass giving STM another opportunity to get back in the game.
The Cavs quickly inbounded the ball and drove down the court for a rushed three-point shot. Frandsen fouled the shooter sending the Cavs to the line where they went three for three bringing the game back again to just a one point deficit.
With seven seconds remaining the Rangers only needed to get the ball inbounds and hang on for the win. Stoekmann inbounded the ball under a full court press to Sullivan who tripped and slid, committing a travel and turning the ball over to the Cavaliers once again.
STM called a time-out and drew up a play to try to take the win. The Cavs inbounded the ball under their own basket but in a crucial, game-winning moment, Buehler stole the ball from STM’s Declan Duffy and was immediately fouled.
Buehler went to the line to seal the win for the Rangers sinking both shots with only eight-tenths of a second left in the game. The Cavs inbounded the ball and launched a full court Hail Mary that was unsuccessful, securing the Rangers long-awaited win over St. Thomas More with a final score of 52-49.
Harvey credited the win to a team effort of crucial moments, big plays and players who were able to step up when needed.
“There were a lot of important plays, big plays, big moments,” said Harvey. “Brayden stepped up. Wilkison gave us a lot of big minutes. Hit a big shot in the first half. Sullivan got a little banged up in the Lakota Tech game. He clearly isn’t physically himself. We had to rely on Brenson and Veneklasen a lot more.
“Nick Schroeder got thrown in at the end for some defensive possessions there. I just give credit to those guys just stepping up and being ready to go when their number was called. Dax Frandsen made a huge three in the corner the last couple of minutes. That was a big play. Devin went on that huge sprint at the end where they didn’t even get an opportunity to win the game.”
Six of the team’s players contributed points to the crushing win over the Cavaliers. Buehler led the charge for the Rangers putting up 16 points, Frandsen and Messick each contributed 12, Sullivan with seven, Wilkison with three and Stoeckmann with two.
With just one day to recover, the Rangers used their momentum from the win over St. Thomas More to take on rivals the Custer Wildcats Monday at home.
Again, both teams went into the match-up with identical records for the season at 15-4 and a lot on the line competing for second seed in the Regional tournament.
The game got off to a slow and sloppy start with missed shots, bodies all over the floor, fouls and turnovers on both sides of the ball.
The Wildcats found their stride and went on a run pulling ahead of the Rangers by 10. It looked as if the game was going to get away but Hill City began to whittle away at the deficit with most of their points coming from free throws as they went seven for 10 from the line and just one made field goal. They ended the first quarter down 15-9.
The second quarter the Rangers finally hit their stride on outside shooting sinking three from the arch and exploded offensively outscoring the Wildcats 17-12 for the quarter. Custer held their own putting up 12 points but losing some of the cushion they had created earlier in the game. Sullivan hit a buzzer beater at the rim to end the half with the Rangers down by one.
The third quarter is where Hill City really took control of the game. Frandsen was the spark that Hill City needed putting up two three-point shots and one from two-point territory. Buehler contributed four and Schroeder came off of the bench and hit a buzzer beater assisted by Wilkison to end the third quarter up by nine, 40-31.
The Wildcats clawed their way back into the game with a big fourth quarter effort. The Rangers had done a good job defensively on Custer’s offensive weapon, Kyle Virtue, up until the fourth quarter, holding him to only five points. On a drive to the basket by Virtue, Stoeckmann received his fifth foul, taking him out of the rest of the game.
Virtue continued to attack the basket making the three-point play on two occasions and put up nine points for the quarter.
Messick had a big fourth quarter with seven points to keep the Rangers lead despite Custer outscoring them in the fourth. The last two minutes of the game was riddled with free-throws and timeouts as Harvey and Custer coach Paul Kelley drew up play after play to fight tooth and nail to claim the victory over the rival team.
Hill City claimed the hard-fought win with a final score of 51-48.
Hill City had three players in double-digits for the game. Frandsen led with 14 points and Buehler and Messick each had 13.
The win was huge for the Rangers, jumping them into the two seed going into the regional playoffs and securing the home court advantage in the first two games.
March 3 will be the Rangers first post-season playoff game.