Last week consisted of nights filled with basketball games. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, each game of the 281 Conference Tournament was played at the higher seed’s home court. 

The Lady Blackhawks started the tournament seeded third, so they got to host their first-round game against sixth-seeded Iroquois/Doland on Friday, Jan. 15. The junior varsity played first and won their game very easily with a final score of 44-14.

The varsity girls played next and came out with a victory over the Chiefs with a final score of SCW 57, Iroquois/Doland 39.

The boys also hosted their first-round game as they started the tournament seeded fourth and took on the fifth-seeded Vikings from James Valley Christian. They hosted the game in Woonsocket on Saturday, Jan. 16, with the junior varsity boys starting the day. The JV game was a close one throughout and ended in a tough loss for the SCW boys with a final score of SCW 34, JVC 36.

On the varsity side of play, the Blackhawks worked hard as a team but couldn’t survive to the end and took a loss for their first round in the tournament with a final score of SCW 30, JVC 39.

For their second round of action, the Lady Blackhawks traveled to Wolsey to take on the second-seeded Wolsey-Wessington Warbirds on Monday, Jan. 18. The junior varsity girls were up first, once again, and they brought home a win with a tight squeeze at the end. Their final score was SCW 25, W-W 22.

The Lady Blackhawks’ varsity squad was up next. They proved that they had come to play and win that night, as they never let up and played very well as a team to end 49-35.

The second round for the boys saw the Blackhawks hosting their game again as they went up against the eighth-seeded Sunshine Bible Academy Crusaders. The game was played on Tuesday, Jan. 19, at Sanborn Central. SBA doesn’t have enough boys out to have a JV team, so the eighth-grade boys played the first game of the night. The SCW eighth graders won their game with a final score of SCW 47, SBA 12.

The varsity boys finished the night with a second-round victory to advance to the consolation championship game. Their final score was SCW 70, SBA 21.  

For their final round of the tournament, the Lady Blackhawks competed for the championship title against the Highmore-Harrold Lady Pirates in Highmore on Thursday, Jan. 21. The JV started the night, as usual, and came home with another win under their belt. A true sports fan might say that the junior varsity Lady Blackhawks earned the 281-Conference Junior Varsity Championship, as they went undefeated for the tournament. The final score of their game was SCW 51, H-H 24.

The varsity Lady Blackhawks came back from a 12-point deficit to tie the game several times in the fourth quarter, but they couldn’t hold on and ended up losing a hard-fought game with a score of 42-45 to bring home the runner-up title.

Friday, Jan. 22, found the Blackhawks hosting their final round of the tournament action and the consolation championship game in Woonsocket against the Hitchcock-Tulare Patriots. The JV started the night with the Patriots taking the win, with a final score of SCW 24, H-T 37.

The varsity boys were up next to try to earn the consolation championship. Earlier in the season, the Blackhawks faced the Patriots for the first game of the year and won with a final score of 45-34, but this time around, the Patriots proved to be too much for the Blackhawks, and they handed SCW their seventh loss of the season with a final score of 47-52, leaving the Blackhawks with a sixth-place finish in the 281 Conference Tournament.

Blackhawks play in DSU Classic

On Saturday, Jan. 23, the Blackhawks participated in the DSU Classic at Dakota State University in Madison. They took advantage of a chance to redeem themselves and followed through with a 55-17 win over the Freeman Flyers.

Both the boys and girls saw their next court action on Tuesday, Jan. 26, against Hanson in Forestburg. The girls play Wessington Springs tonight (Thursday) in Wessington Springs with junior high playing at 5:15 p.m., then JV and Varsity. There is also a doubleheader at home in Forestburg on Tuesday, Feb. 2, against the Ethan Rustlers. Look for the results of all the games in the upcoming issues of the Sanborn Weekly Journal.

…Read more details and see additional pictures of the games in this week’s issue of the Sanborn Weekly Journal!