White River Seniors celebrate their third win. From left to right, are Nic Waln, Wyatt Krogman, Joe Cameron, Coach Eldon Marshall, Matthew Gillen, Gilbert Morrison and Cory Rogers.
White River keeps on rolling
By Joseph Budd
Native Sun News Correspondent Back in 2008, the White River Tigers would capture their first title since 1955 and had reached the State Tournament in both 2006 and 2007. They would also capture titles in 2010 and 2012. However, in 2009 and 2011, they would finish second. Could they break the streak in 2013? Through the regular season the Tigers had only a single loss and ended the season with a 19-1 record. The closest game was against James Valley Christian at Stanley County, a 77-74 victory on February 14, after a six day vacation. The team would follow it up with a 35-point blowout at home against New Underwood. Going into the playoffs they would meet up with a few familiar squads from the regular season, first dispatching Kadoka Area by almost 100 points, 118-21, and then taking apart a Jones County squad, 102-55. Entering the Region 7B Basketball Tournament against Oelrichs, they had their first test…and met it with an 83-55 win to punch their ticket to the State Tournament. The team would need three games, to win it all. Their first opponent, Langford Area, came from District 2 and had a respectable 16-4 record. While the score at the end made it look closer than it was, at 51-33, White River had this game solved early with a 14-3 first period. The squad, led by 14 points each from Joe Cameron and Wyatt Krogman, would also see Matthew Gillen put up 10 points. In the third period, White River would start to walk away, outscoring their opponent 19-10, allowing the team to switch in fresh players…and the team would advance into the second round. Their second opponent, South Central, also came in with a respectable record, going 18-2 in the season. However, as with Langford Area White River simply was too much, too quickly as the Tigers scored 19-6 in the first period, then outscored the South Central squad 29-16 in the second, en route to an 86-55 win, sending the Tigers to their sixth finals appearance in six years. For the Tigers, Gilbert Morrison, who was out in the first game stepped up nicely and never missed a beat, scoring 16 points in only 20 minutes and 36 seconds, while Nic Waln would put on a shooting clinic, scoring 18 points with three treys. Krogman would score 15 points, while Matthew Gillen would drop in 12 of his own, as all but two players on the team roster would score in the game. Going into the final game, one has to look at the seniors on this roster. For these players, it’s almost second nature, given how many trips this squad has made to the finals. There are Morrison, Cameron, Cory Rogers, Waln, Krogman and Gillen, every night, someone else could step up and make this game their own. It also helps the next generation with players like Tavis Burbank, Vinny Charging Hawk and Tre Iyotte, are waiting in the wings…it is a complete team, ready for the challenge. In the title match, White River would face a familiar opponent, in Viborg/Hurley. At 18-2, the team has already shown they know how to play, but also faced this White River squad last year…a title won by the Tigers, in a 52-43 win. In the first period, again, the Tigers would come out at full power, scoring a 10 point lead, while opening the lead up, 35-19 at the half. Viborg/Hurley would actually outscore White River in the last two periods to make it more respectable, but it was not enough as White River would win 63-51. For the Tigers, led by 18 points from Joe Cameron and 16 from Krogman, Burbank and Waln would both score 10 points, as the Tigers won their third title in four years, and fourth title in six. For their efforts, Cameron, Waln and Krogman would all be named to the All-Tournament Team. (Contact Joseph Budd at joseph@rapidnet.com) Copyright permission by Native Sun News
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