On Saturday, February 18, the Wagner 8th grade basketball team travelled to Parkston to play in the Parkston Tournament. The Raiders were matched up with Parkston for their first game. It was an exciting back-and-forth first half as both teams shot the ball well and played an up-tempo game. It was a completely different game from the previous night as the Raiders trailed by only 4 at the half by a score of 32-28. The Raiders kept it under 10 for most of the second half, but just couldn’t get over the hump. In the last minute and a half, Parkston was able to pull away for a 59-41 victory. The game was much closer than the final score indicates though. Leading scorers for the Raiders were Jesse Zephier with 19, Carolos Galindo with 13, Javian Pesicka with 5 and Benny Greger with 4.

In the Raiders next game, they faced the Parker Pheasants. The two teams exchanged baskets in the early going before the Raiders settled in defensively to gain control of the game in the first half. The Raiders led 32-16 at the break. The Raiders pushed their lead to 20 points early in the second half, but the Pheasants never gave up and made a run to make the game interesting towards the end of the second half. The Raiders were able to make free throws and get a couple of defensive stops to pull out a 50-39 victory. Leading the way in scoring was Jesse Zephier with 15, Carlos Galindo with 13, Javian Pesicka with 10, Dominic Doom with 8, and Benny Greger and Winston Little Moon with 2 each. In their final game of the day, the Raiders faced off with the Mt Vernon/Plankinton Titans for the second time this season. Fatigue was settling in for both teams as it was their 3rd game of the day and the 6th game of the week for the Raiders. The Titans got off to a fast start as they hit a couple 3’s in the early going to get an early lead. The Raiders responded with a run of their own midway through the first half to get a 29-15 lead heading into the half. The Raiders kept attacking the Titan defense and extended their lead in the second half and won the game 52-32. The Raiders record stands at 15-2 on the season after the tournament. Carlos Galindo led all scorers with 25 points, followed by Jesse Zephier and Dominic Doom with 8 each, Javian Pesicka with 3, and Benny Greger, AJ Kotab, Avery Medicine Bear, and Kingston Brunelle all added 2 for the Raiders. The Raiders middle school season wraps up on Monday, February 27, at the Armory against the Winner Warriors.