The 7th and 8th grade boys’ basketball teams hosted the Wessington Springs Spartans at the Armory for a pair of games on Monday, January 23. In the 8th grade game, the Raiders got off to a slow start and faced a stiff Spartan defense that forced the Raiders into several turnovers that led to an early lead for the Spartans. The Raiders settled a little bit and pulled within 4 by the end of the first with a score of 7-11. The second quarter didn’t see much scoring action as each team scored 4 a piece to keep the Raiders down 4 at halftime by a score of 11-15. The second half saw the Raiders offense come to life as they outscored the Spartans 11-4 in the third to take their first lead of the game by a score of 2219. The Raiders kept the tempo going in the fourth and was able to pull away for a final score of 33-24. The win raised their record to 8-0 on the season. Leading scorers were Carlos Galindo with 13, Benny Greger with 6, Dominic Doom with 5, Javian Pesicka with 4, Avery Medicine Bear with 3 and Leon Fields with 2.

In the 7th grade game, the Raiders got off to a fast start and held an early 6-0 lead. They played with great intensity on defense and forced a lot of turnovers that led to some easy basket opportunities. The Raiders held a 12-3 advantage at the half. The Spartans came to life a little in the second half and made the Raiders work, but they were able to withstand the run and have a run of their own to win the game by a score of 25-15. The win improved their record to 4-2 on the season. Cruise Koupal led all scorers with 15 points, followed by Steven Peters with 6 and Payne Petry and Brannon Bruguier each chipped in 2. The 7th grade team is in action again on Thursday at Scotland. Both teams play at home on Monday, January 30, against Tripp-Delmont/ Armour.