SPEARFISH - The Red Cloud Crusaders turned the pressure so far up on Belle Fourche early Saturday night in the Perkins Classic at the Donald E. Young Center that it didn't really matter when it released later in the game.
The Crusaders rolled up more than 40 points in both halves - the game was being played with 18 minute halves and a 35-second shot clock - on their way to a 94-79 boys non-conference win.
Red Cloud used a familiar trapping defensive strategy and ran their transition attack to perfection as they flew to a 30-12 lead to start the game and never allowed the lead to get down to less than double figures after that.
"I thought we played a great first half and were good to start the second half," Red Cloud head coach Matt Rama said. "I'm pleased with what I'm seeing so far. I know some people would like to see us be able to keep up that big deficit, but it's good to get some of those younger guys some minutes."
While the Crusaders were obviously happy to pick up another win over the holiday break, Rama pretty obviously wasn't pleased with his team's defensive intensity down the stretch. The Crusaders pushed their halftime lead from 49-32 to 57-35 just minutes into the second half after Bryer Cottier and Carl Swallow combined for eight quick points. That seemed to all but end any of the suspense left in the contest, and Rama felt that it showed in his team's defensive intensity.
"Part of it was rotations," Rama said. "We got up by 20-25 there early in the second half and we wanted to get everybody a chance to play. But the thing with our defense is if one person misses his rotation we can end up giving up an easy lay-up. We can't do that. But that's OK right now, because we might need some of those guys to play later in the season if we have some foul trouble or injury or something. It's always good to get them in."
Red Cloud (5-1 overall) once again didn't have any problem putting the ball in the hole. Cottier led the Crusaders with 22 points on a variety of drives to the basket and Swallow added a typically smooth 18. Jeremy Blacksmith and Mike Twiss also played well for Red Cloud, scoring 15 and 14 points, respectively.
Junior guard Brady Bisgaard led the Broncs (2-3) with 23 points and also dished out a handful of pretty assists on the night. Jason Webb and Jake Walker added 22 and 21 points, respectively for Belle Fourche. Bisgaard and Webb combined to hit 12 3-pointers on the night, with Bisgaard making seven and Webb five.
"Bisgaard's a good shooter and he got hot and that's OK," Rama said. "I told the guys it's OK to give up 3s. But we can't give up lay-ups, too."
The Crusaders will hit the road for a game against Milbank on Jan. 3 in Chamberlain at the River City Classic. They have another game Jan. 6 against Todd County before a monster test in the form of Campbell County, Wyo., coming to Pine Ridge for a game on Jan. 9.
The Broncs will host Custer on Jan. 3 before having games Jan. 6 at Newell and Jan. 9 against Douglas in Belle Fourche.
