In games that both the Sully Buttes girls and boys needed for late season seeding, they would gut check it out with two victories over the higher seeded Faulkton Area Trojans. The girls got a big 56-51 win while the boys stole a 67-60 victory to cap the night on Mark Senftner court in Onida.
The Sully Buttes girls showed quickness and strong defense leading 33-21 at the half and 49-33 after three quarters. But foul trouble took starters Stevie Wittler, Addyson Chicoine and Payge Bakker off the court for a time, but came back in when Faulkton Area outscored the Chargers 18-7 in the decisive fourth quarter.
Wittler led the way once again finishing with 28 points while Olivia Olson hit for 11 and Chicoine tallied 10 for the 11-9 Chargers. Wittler also passed the 1600 point mark for her career in purple and gold with 1607 total points as the regular season ends. The 14-6 Trojans were led in scoring by junior Carley Cotton, who finished with 30 points.
The victory almost assured Sully Buttes of a number four seed and a home game Tuesday as Class B postseason play commences. Faulkton Area appears to have settled into the second seed in Region 6B.
The Charger boys trailed after one 20-17 and 33-32 at the half, but outscored Faulkton Area 35-27 in the second half to pick up a big win against the top seed in Region 6B. Wesley Wittler blew up for 34 points, and went 16 of 20 from the free throw line as the Trojans had to resort to fouling late in the fourth quarter. Fellow sophomore Gavin Colson added 15 for the Chargers as they pushed their record to 8-10. The Trojans were led by senior Layne Cotton, who finished with 30 points, four above his average, despite often being doubled and sometimes triple teamed while Gian DiMaria added 15. The Trojans are now 14-5, and have wrapped up the regular season.
Next up for the Charger boys is a Saturday game against James Valley Christian with an 11:30 scheduled tipoff. You can catch that game and Charger girls postseason play on Country 95.3FM, with DT Meyer.
