Titan girls fall to Wagner in SoDak 16

On Thursday, Mar. 2 the Tea Area High School girls’ basketball team traveled to the Corn Palace in Mitchell to face off against a 21-1 Wagner team.

The Titans battled hard with the top team and trailed only by six heading into the fourth quarter but a late run by the Red Raiders gave Wagner the 72-52 victory as Tea Area was outscored 22-8 in the final quarter.

“I thought we got out to a sluggish start and missed a few opportunities to get going offensively. This led to Wagner being aggressive on their offensive end and put us in a 1-11 hole early in the first quarter. We were able to battle back but could never get it closer than a two possession ball game. Wagner did a great job of working the ball inside and when we took that look away they were able to knock down some shots from the 3 point line. Wagner was ready for a battle, they are a really good team and deserve the credit for playing well that night,” said Titan head coach Adam Schorzmann.

The Titans were led by Mara Grant who finished the night with 14 points, six rebounds, one assist and two steals. . Ellie Clayberg and Katie Vasecka provided 11 points each. Vasecka also had four rebounds and three assists. Kendra McKinney finished with eight points. Stella Peterson had six points, four rebounds, and one assist. Haidyn West provided two points, three assists and three steals.

“Overall, even though we had some adversity this year it turned out to be a very good for our girls and for our program. I’d like to thank our two seniors, Stella Peterson and Kendra McKinney for all they have done for our program, our managers, our stat guys for being at every single game this year, the parents and fans for such great support, and our school and community for giving us an opportunity to excel at such a great sport such as basketball,” added Schorzmann.

With the win over Tea Area, Wagner advanced to the State A Tournament to be held in Watertown this Thursday, March 9 through Saturday, March 11. Wagner enters the tournament as the #2 seed. Hamlin is the number one seed and is set to take on #8 Flandreau at 12 p.m. on Thursday, Mar. 9. #4 Red Cloud is set to face off against #5 Lakota Tech at 1:45 p.m. Thursday, Mar. 9. #2 Wagner will face off against #7 Rapid City Christian at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Mar. 9 and #3 Sioux Falls Christian will take on #6 Sisseton on Thursday, Mar. 9 at 7:45 p.m. Action continues on Friday, Mar. 10 and Saturday, Mar. 11.