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Defending champion Castlewood used a 25-10 scoring run that began in the third quarter and carried into the fourth to escape with a day-one win at the Class B Boys State Tournament Thursday, March 19 inside the Barnett Center.
The Warriors, seeded fifth, came away with a 53-50 win over the fourth-seeded Knights.
Castlewood’s Cam Keszler drives to the rim against Aberdeen Christian’s Brooks Jett during their Class B Boys State Tournament quarterfinal Thursday, March 19 inside the Barnett Center. Keszler scored a game-high 30 points in a 53-50 win. Aberdeen Insider photo by Robb Garofalo.
“It’s huge getting the win and getting to the night session,” said Castlewood head coach Paul Raasch. “It just gives the kids a chance to rest, heal-up a bit and not be so rushed to get going which is good because we had to play a heck of a team (Thursday).”
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The Warriors and Knights traded blows in the first quarter. Christian took a 12-10 lead after one on a Brooks Jett three pointer. Jett Johnson knocked down three shots behind the arc that gave the Knights a 30-23 lead at the break.
“Jett shot the ball really well, like he’s done for us all year,” Rohrbach said.
Castlewood ramped-up its defense in the second half and extended a 1-3-1 zone that created 17 turnovers, and limited Christian’s quality looks from the outside.
“Credit to Castelwood, they hopped into that zone and played a really good ball game,” said Christian head coach Matt Rohrbach. “We needed to hit one or two more threes that could have gotten (Castlewood) to back out of that zone but we just weren’t able to.”
Brooks Jett, who finished with 10 points said Christian couldn’t keep it rhythm on the offensive end after the break.
“We came out really hot,” Jett said. “We knew (Castlewood) was a good team, physical, strong, and getting up seven at the half fired us up but we kind of came out slow in the second half and they kind of got after it on the defensive end.”
The defense would allow the Warriors to go on a 10-2 run to begin the third quarter. Eight of those points came from Castlewood junior Cam Keszler, who scored a game-high 30 points going 12-24 from the field.
“It was a battle, going back and forth,” Keszler said. “We knew this was going to be a tough game but this team has grit and a lot of hustle so we had the confidence we could come in and get the win.”
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As for his performance, Keszler credited his football technique for being able to get to the lane and score despite contact. One area he did struggle with admittedly were free throws. He went 2-8 from the charity stripe
Aberdeen Christian’s Dylan Hofer takes a three pointer in the final second trying to tie the Knight’s Class B Boys quarterfinal with Castlewood Thursday, March 19 inside the Barnett Center. Hofer’s shot rimmed out giving the Warriors a 53-50 win.
“I love contact. I’m a football guy, so I’m gonna get as much contact as I can and get to the line but yeah, I need to make my free throws,” he said with a grin.
Raasch said Keszler was outstanding.
“He really showed up and put on an offensive display, especially in the second half,” Raasch said.
Castlewood’s scoring run extended into the fourth quarter giving them a 50-40 lead with 3:28 to play. The Knights found room inside that zone and cut the deficit to one, 51-50, on a drive by Luke Kaiser with 16 seconds to go.
“We just didn’t get a lot of shots to go in the third quarter that would have given us a chance to extend our lead,” Rohrbach said, “But our guys responded like they have all year. We never feel like we’re out of a game.”
Jett said the team had no doubts they could get back in the game.
“We’ve been there before,” he said. “We were down 14 to Hitchcock-Tulare, I think 15 to Wolsey-Wessington so we knew we could get back.”
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Castlewood’s Brody Bass hit two free throws making it a 53-50 game with nine seconds left. Dylan Hofer raced up thr floor with the ball and had a good look at a three pointer to tie the game but the ball rimmed-out as time expired.
“We trust Dylan to take that shot any day of the week but it just didn’t go,” Rorhbach said.
Castlewood will take on No. 8 Lyman who upset top-seeded Viborg-Hurley 49-44.
“Lyman got here last year and they’re a better team this year so we’ll have to have our stuff together,” Raasch said.
Christian will take on Viborg-Hurley at 11 a.m.
“We’ve got some things to work on for (Friday),” Jett said. “We need to put this loss behind us, which we will, get some rest and be ready to go against (Viborg-Hurley) tomorrow.
