Beyond the Arc: Red Cloud tripped up, still ahead in the 7A

Red Cloud made a good run at top-ranked Saint Thomas More, of the Region 8. However, the road was not kind to the Crusaders, snapping their 11-game winning streak. The three point loss will sting, but at the same time, it can be expected at this rate these two teams might face off at State…a good test waits.

Little Wound meanwhile rolls on, picking up their fourth win in four at home, this time stopping Rapid City Christian by 41 points, a 93-52 routing on February 9th. Their next contest will pit them against Pine Ridge, the team that stopped them by four back on January 26th….and this time, the contest is in Kyle. The team finishes their regular season against a strong B class team, as they travel to Lower Brule, before heading into the playoffs.

Pine Ridge’s Thorpes meanwhile continue to work towards the playoffs, and are sitting in third place, with a 10-6 record. They next will play a Custer squad at home, before traveling to Kyle for their matchup against the Mustangs. The team then will go to Mission for a contest against Todd County, before hosting Cheyenne-Eagle Butte, for the last contest of the year.

The Todd County Falcons have been making it a habit of keeping games close, and the last three contests have all shown that ability. While the team couldn’t quite finish off Mobridge-Pollock losing by 2, the team did beat Stanley County by four, 63-59 and a 2 point win over Platte-Geddes to go above .500 again. With the win, Todd County is currently looking at three home games to finish their schedule, with Miller, Pine Ridge and White River to wrap up the regular season.

St. Francis meanwhile seems to be travelling in the wrong direction, after losses to Pine Ridge and Winner, dropping back to back contests for the first time since December 29th and 30th, against Mt. Vernon/Plankinton and Tiospa Zina. The team is currently 5-12, with contests against Cheyenne-Eagle Butte, a road game against Crow Creek, and finishing the regular season against Red Cloud.

Class 6A meanwhile still shows Cheyenne-Eagle Butte holding their own with a win over McLaughlin; currently both the Braves and Cubs, in first place have five losses each; however the Cubs hold less than half a seed point over the Braves. The Braves’ schedule holds two road games left, against St. Francis and Pine Ridge, and one home game to close out the home schedule against Mobridge-Pollock.

Crow creek meanwhile came away from the Dakota Oyate Challenge, and picked up two quick wins, first upsetting Pine Ridge and then getting past the top-ranked Chamberlain team, 51-50. With the wins, Crow Creek is now at 10-7 and can finish no worse than .500….but might still move up the ranking, if they continue to reel off wins.

(Contact Joseph Budd at joseph@rapidnet.com)