Titan boys enjoy trio of wins

Last week the Tea Area High School boys’ basketball team enjoyed a trio of wins, defeating Pierre T.F. Riggs 70-50 on Jan. 14, Sioux Falls Roosevelt, 53-35 on Jan. 17 and Aberdeen Central, 65-40 on Jan. 18.

Against Pierre, Tea Area used a 22-8 second quarter to get the advantage. 

“This was a great win on the road for the boys. We played with a tremendous amount of energy, effort, and enthusiasm and we were rewarded for it with a pretty complete offensive and defensive performance,” said Titan head coach Drew Weber. “Pierre is a difficult place to play and they have done a good job of holding home court all season, but we really played with urgency and purpose. We are getting great production out of all of our guys and the balance of our team is at the perfect spot right now. How we play against the bigger schools will certainly decide the fate of our season, but we are proving to be a well-rounded team.”

The Titans had three athletes in double figures against Pierre. Gifin Wiebenga finished with a double-double, scoring 22 points and pulling down ten rebounds. He also had three assists and one steal. Marshall Smythe (pictured at top right) finished with 16 points, two rebounds, eight assists and two steals. Kayden Williamson had ten points, five rebounds, and one steal. Gavin Shawd scored six points, had five rebounds, one assist and three steals. Rylan Norris had five points, one rebound, one assist and one steal. Jaxson Merrigan also had five points, eight rebounds, one assist and one steal. Mitch Grant had four points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals. Isaac Slowey had two points. 

Against Roosevelt, Smythe finished the night with 17 points. He also had two rebounds, four assists and three steals. Shawd finished with 15 points, four rebounds, and three steals. Merrigan provided seven points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal. Grant, Wiebenga, and Norris each had four points in the game. Grant also had five rebounds and one steal. Slowey had two points and one rebound. 

In the win over Aberdeen Central, Tea Area used a 17-4 second quarter to break things open. Wiebenga led the way with 21 points. He had two rebounds, one assist and one steal. Smythe finished with 17 points, two rebounds, six assists, and two steals. Shawd had 12 points, five rebounds, and two assists. Merrigan finished with seven points, five rebounds, one assist, and two steals. Cole McKinney finished with six points, four rebounds, and one steal. Grant had two points, nine rebounds, two assists and one steal. 

“This was a tremendous two week stretch for us, going 5-1 to finish the halfway point of our season at 7-3. The Roosevelt game proved that we could handle a team that had much more size and strength than we do, which was one of my biggest question marks coming into the season,” said Weber. “We have a tough group of kids that have really committed to playing strong team defense, which is really the key to the success of our season. We now play nine top teams in our remaining 10 games and how we fare in those will be determined by the same things that have gotten us off to this nice start. I really like our team and our ability to make some noise against top-rated teams in these next few weeks.”

On Thursday, Jan. 23 the Titans will host Mitchell in double-header action with the Titan girls. The boys’ are scheduled to tip-off at 8 p.m.