The Gregory Athletics Club hosted the 30th Annual East - West Shoot-Out on Monday, March 20, 2023. The event features area high school seniors and gives them the chance to have a night of fun on the court playing together with friends, who are sometimes rivals during the regular season.

The evening started off with the West team winning the girls game 70-66. The leading scorer for the West team was Jadyn Jensen (Jones Co.) with 19 pts. Other players scoring for the West were Mallory Valburg (Jones Co.) with 16 pts., Jessy Jo VanDerWerff (Gregory) with 11 pts., Adisyn Indahl (Burke) 10 pts., Emmaly Hunt (Jones Co.) 5 pts., Bridget Bartling (Burke) 4 pts., Elly Witt (Burke) 3 pts., Joselin Kludt (Winner) 2 pts., and Dani Deffenbaugh (Kimball/ White Lake) did not score.

The East team was led by Faith Oakley (Parkston), Allison Muckey (AC/DC), and Payton DeLange (Corsica/Stickney), each with 10 pts. Other players scoring for the East team were Sutten Eide (Corsica/Stickney) with 8 pts.; Isabella Brouwer (AC/ DC), Emma Yost (Wagner) and Shalayne Nagel (Wagner) each with 6 pts.; Hawk Bair (Marty) 5 pts., Abby Hohn (Parkston) 3 pts., and Eve Zephier (Wagner) with 2 pts.

The next item on the court was a three-point shootout contest. Each player was allowed a chance to shoot four balls from three locations behind the three-point line in 30 seconds. The first three balls on each rack were worth one point and the last ball was worth two points.

Faith Oakley (Parkston), Jessy Jo VanDerWerff (Gregory), and Allison Muckey (AD/DC) advanced to shoot against each other in a second round. VanDerWerff and Muckey tied with a two-round total of 15. They shot another round with Muckey coming out on top.

For the boys, Blake Volmer (Winner), Ethan Bartels (Winner), and Jaden Groenweg (TDA) advanced to the second round with Volmer declared the champion with a total of 15 points.

The final action of the evening was the boys’ game, with the West team winning 110-102.

The West team was led by Joe Sayler (White River) with 30 pts. Other team members scoring were Collin Two Strike (Chamberlain) with 17 pts., Benicio Zephier (Marty) with 14 pts., Aiden Bultje (Platte-Geddes) with 11 pts., Cooper Long (Lyman) 10 pts., Gavin Folkers (White River) 9 pts., Alec Thieman (Colome) 8 pts., Dawson Miller (Kimball-White Lake) 6 pts., Nick Nelson (Burke) 3 pts., and Kash Heath (Colome)with 2 pts.

The East team was led by Brian LaRoche Jr. (Lower Brule) with 15 pts., assisted by Blake Volmer (Winner) 13 pts., Sam Benson (Parkston) 12 pts.; Ethan Bartels (Winner), Jaden Groenweg (TDA), and Colby Brown (TDA), each with 10 pts.; Kaleb Weber (Parkston), Gavin Thigh (Lower Brule), and Shad Bosma (Corsica/Stickney), each with 9 pts.; and Stephen Johnson (Scotland) with 5 pts.

Concessions were provided by the Gregory boys and girls basketball teams. The Gregory Athletics Club and coaches Lonnie Klundt and Jeff Determan appreciate all the fans and players for making this annual event successful.