On December 31st, 2022, the Blue Dragons traveled to Brookings to battle Estelline/Hendricks in the 29th Annual Michael J. Entringer Classic. The Blue Dragons came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders the opening quarter, but unfortunately, they couldn’t keep the momentum going the entire game as they were defeated 34-72.
“The kids played their best ball of the season the opening 8 minutes, but lost their confidence part way through the 2nd quarter,” stated Coach Heitkamp. “We had some shots there were not dropping, turned the ball over way too many times, and got out rebounded, which started a domino affect the rest of the game.”
Heitkamp also mentioned, “We (coaches) will be focusing on building up their confidence when they step on to the court moving forward. They need to trust the process and their teammates…and once that happens the pieces will start falling into place.”
Ramsey Schweitzer had a nice game leading the team with 12 points (6 rebounds), as Ian Buettner knocked down 9 points, collected 8 boards, and had 3 assists. Matthew Gilbert added 4 points of his own, while Sam Schleuter had 3 points (2 steals and 2 assists). Blaine Trower, Dylan Jessen, and Brecken Weir rounded out the scoring with 2 points each.
This past weekend, the team headed to Baltic and Salem for the Big East Conference, where they took on Sioux Valley, Flandreau, and Chester Area.
The games did not go Garretson's way, as they lost all three, coming within a hairs-breadth of taking the final game.
Sioux Valley, which is currently sitting at 7-0, won the Big East Conference Tournament handily. Garretson, though, put up a fight, gathering 48 points to Sioux Valley's 80.
In the consolation bracket, the Blue Dragons next faced off with Flandreau. While they got several good looks at the basket, the team was unable to take home the win, and lost 31-43.
The final game of the tournament had Garretson up against Chester Area, and the team nearly nabbed the win. At the buzzer, Chester Area was up by one point, with 38 points to Garretson's 37.
The Dragons will head to Canton tonight (Thursday) to play the C-Hawks, and tomorrow, will head to Colman-Egan. Their next home game will be Friday, January 20 against Vermillion.
