Category Archives: Sports

Winner High School volleyball team picked up an impressive win over Burke/South Central last Tuesday.  The Lady Warriors won in five sets.  The scores were 25-20, 25-19, 19-25, 22-25, 15-13.

Alexis Richey and Gracie Littau each were 100 percent in serving.  Morgan Hammerbeck had 3 aces serves, Ellie Brozik, 2.  Hammerbeck had 20 kills followed by Ellie Brozik, 13 and Abby Marts, 8.  Mackenzie Levi had 34 set assists.  Addy Root had 10 set assists.  Richey had 30 digs and Hammerbeck 21.  Marts had five block assists and Littau, 2.

As a team, Winner was 93 percent in serving with 9 ace serves, 51 kills and 48 set assists.  The team had 108 digs

“Burke is a good team and brought back quite a few from last year,” said coach Jaime Keiser. “They have a very balanced and athletic tam. We came out ready to play and did a great job of being aggressive attacking and serving,” said Keiser.

The Winner coach noted Burke had some hard hitters and they did a great job of attacking the ball in sets 3 and 4 which kept us out of the system.

“It went back and forth in set 5 and it came down to who made the less mistakes. We played with a lot of intensity and never gave up after losing in sets 4 and 5,” said Keiser.

The Lady Warriors defeated Ainsworth, Neb., in four sets on Aug. 30. The scores were 25-15, 25-11, 19-25 and 15-14.

Hammerbeck was 100 percent in serving and Richey was 94 percent. Brozik had 6 ace serves and Kalla Bertram, 4.  Hammerbeck had 21 kills, Marts, 8 and Brozik, 7. Levi had 36 set assists. Richey had 22 digs and Hammerbeck, 17. Hammerbeck had 2 assist blocks, Marts and Bertram, 1 each.

As a team, Winner was 93 percent in serving, with 13 set assists, 42 kills.  The team had 79 digs and 2 blocks.

Coach Keiser said: “We came out ready to play and played very well in the first and second set. We did a great job of serving and attacking the ball. In the third set we struggled with serve receive and attacking the ball and dug ourselves a hole. We fought back and had the momentum going into game 4 even though we lost set 3.

“I was proud that we played together as a team and never gave up after losing set 3,” said Keiser.

Winner volleyball team beat Valentine, Neb., on Aug. 30 in three sets—25-22, 25-11 and 25-19.

Addy Root and Morgan Hammerbeck were 100 percent in serving. Ellie Brozik and Root each had 2 ace serves. Hammerbeck had 12 kills and Abby Marts, 8.  Richey and Gracie Littau had 17 digs.  Marts had 4 solo blocs and 1 block assist.  Kalla Bertram had 1 solo block and 1 block assist.

As a team, Winner was 93 percent in serving with 7 ace serves, 34 kills, 31 set assists and 78 digs.

“We came out a little flat,” said coach Jaime Keiser. “Valentine has a great volleyball program and always has competitive teams. We did a great job of serving and kept Valentine out of system. We did a great job of attacking the ball, which kept Valentine scrambling and out of system. We also did a great job of talking and working together as a team,” said Keiser.

The next action for Winner will be Sept. 11 at Lyman.

Colome volleyball team took fourth place at the Gregory tournament on Saturday, Sept. 1.

In the first match, Colome defeated St. Francis 25-21, 20-25 and 25-15.

Serving leaders were Rayne Hermsen, 9 points and one ace, Makayla Shippy, 8 points and 4 aces.

Kaydee Heath and Rayne Hermsen had 7 kills and Haley Krumpus, 5.

Kaydee Heath had 3 blocks and Hermsen, 2.

Shippy had 8 digs and Heath, 7.

Shippy had 21 assists.

The Cowgirls lost to Boyd Co. 19-25, 14-25.

Hermsen had 9 points and one ace.

Hermsen and Baylie Hoffine each had 4 kills. Haley Krumpus and Heath had 3 kills.

Carleen Burger had 3 blocks.

Heath and Hermsen had 6 digs each and Krumpus, 5.

Shippy had 5 assists.

Colome defeated Jones County 21-25, 25-13 and 26-24.

Hermsen had 19 points and five aces with Shippy having 9 points and 6 aces.

Heath had 17 kills and Krumpus and Hoffine, 4 each.

Heath had 3 blocks and Hermsen, 2.

Hermsen had 8 digs and Hoffine, 7. Krumpus and Heath had 6 digs each,

In the third and fourth place match Colome lost to Lyman County. Scores of the match were 10-25, 25-19 and 15-25.

Hermsen had 6 points and one ace and Jaclyn Laprath had 5 points and an ace.

Heath had 11 kills and Krumpus, 4.

Heath had 3 blocks.

Krumpus had 9 digs and Shippy, 8.

Shippy had 18 set assists.

Colome travels to Tripp-Delmont/Armour on Sept. 8 and hosts Marty on Sept. 10 and travels to Platte on Sept. 11.

Winner area girls cross country team took first place at the local Winner Invitational on Friday.

Sidda Schuyler won first place in 20:58.60.

Saige Schuyler took third in 22:38.35.

Also placing for the Lady Warriors were Melanie Brozik, 5^th, 24:07.49; Jaclyn Laprath, 6^th, 24:45.20; Meagan Blare, 7^th, 24:49.16; Aryn Meiners, 9^th, 25:06.71; Madison Thieman, 11^th, 25:28.34.

In the varsity boys, Kade Watson placed 5^th, Wyatt Turnquist, 8^th in 20:04.50.

Joseph Laprath placed 15^th in 22:20.20.

In the girls junior varsity race, Katherine Jankauskas took 4^th, Gabby Kocer, 5^th; Trinity Vrbka, 6th

In the junior varsity boys, Konner Osborn placed first.

The next meet for the Winner Area team will be Sept. 4 at Scotland.

By South Dakota Public Broadcasting

On Friday Aug. 17, night, high school football season kicked off in South Dakota for all three nine-man classes and class 11B. It’s always said that records are meant to be broken, and that nearly happened opening night when Colome hosted Centerville.

The theme of this game was lots of scoring… for the Cowboys that is. Coach Ben Connot’s Cowboys were victorious 72-6. Yes, you read that correctly, Colome scored 72-points. And it to make it even more impressive, all of the scoring occurred in just the first half.

For Class 11A, 11B, and all three nine-man classes, there’s a mercy rule. If a team has a lead of 50-points by the end of the first half, or if they secure a lead of that magnitude in the second half, the game is over.

Colome’s 72-point performance didn’t break a record but it came close. In South Dakota nine-man football history, Avon has the record for the most points scored in one half of football with 76. That record occurred in 2004, and it was a season that concluded with Avon winning the Class 9A State Championship.

Cowboys head coach Ben Connot said he’s proud of the way his team played to open the season. He mentioned the importance executing plays, and how preparation in practice correlated over to game day.

“I think a big thing is confidence. We’re doing a few things a little different this year than we did last year, so to come out that first game and execute – to show that we can put points on the board,” said Connot. “We relayed the message that we do have some confidence and that we can call any play and it’s going to work.”

Colome is currently ranked No. 3 in the South Dakota Media Preps High School Football poll, behind only Sully Buttes (No. 1) and Castlewood (No. 2). With the Cowboys football program receiving well-deserved respect from around the state, Coach Connot is keeping his team focused.

“It starts on the practice field and a sense of urgency in everything we do, making every rep count,” explained Connot. “Being on top of the kids for focus and just staying disciplined. Every game counts when you look at seed points and all that, so really we just try to keep kids locked in to practice and hope we execute the same way in our games.”

Colome football team defeated Tripp-Delmont/Armour/Andes Central/Dakota Christian 54-6 Friday in Armour.

This was the second victory of the season for the Cowboys.

They exploded for 48 first half points.

Scoring for Colome in the first quarter were Jaikob Week on a 9 yard run, Week on a 24 yard run, Chase Dufek on a 63 yard run.

In the second quarter, Jackson Kinzer scored on a 28 yard run, Calvin Ringing Shield on a 22 pass from Kinzer, Riley Shippy on a 7 yard run and Layton Thieman on a 32 yard pass from Kinzer.

In the 4^th quarter, Shippy scored on a 45 yard run.

Kinzer completed 7 of 9 passes for 140 yards.

Dufek rushed for 118 yards and Ringing Shield had 61 yards.

Thieman had three catches for 70 yards

Defensive leaders were Jacob Beckers and Jaikob Week with 5 tackles.

Michael Supik and Thieman had interceptions.

“I thought defensively we played very well,” said coach Ben Connot. “We were able to take away their best player and forced him to be uncomfortable. When we had chances to make plays on both sides of the ball we capitalized and made big plays happen,” said Connot.

Colome plays at Burke in Aug. 31.

Winner High School football team scored 44 points in the first half on the way to a 50-7 victory over Stanley County Friday night in Winner. This was the home opener for the Warriors which saw a great crowd follow the team.

Winner scored 14 points in the first quarter and 30 in the second quarter.

“We played well,” said coach Dan Aaker. “We got off to a good start both offensively and defensively. We had a big play factor which is one of the things we wanted to see this year.”

Trevor Peters opened the scoring for the Warriors on a 15 yard run. Six minutes later quarterback Brady Fritz completed a 54-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Volmer.

To start the second quarter, Fritz went to the air again and completed 34 yard pass to Joren Bruun.

With 9:42 left in the first half, Fritz threw a 37 yard TD pass to Nolan Sachtjen.

Peters scored his second touchdown on a 23 yard run with 4:47 left in the second quarter. Capping the scoring in the first half was Sachtjen on a 21 yard run.

Stanley County scored in the second quarter.

Neither team scored in the third period.

The final score for Winner was in the fourth quarter on a 16 yard run by Aaron Gilchrist.

Aaker said Fritz threw the ball well. The quarterback was 4-4 for 151 yards. “Brandon Volmer, Joren Bruun and Nolan Sachtjen all made some nice catches,” said the coach.

Winner had 407 yards of total offense and held Stanley County to 154 yards.

Winner had 21 first downs and their opponent had 8.

Peters was the leading rusher for the Warriors with 92 yards followed by Sachtjen with 36, Sam Kruger, 29.

The Warrior defense was led by Shea Connot and Phillip Jorgensen with 5 tackles each.

Elijah Blare had 4 tackles along with Preston Norrid.

Aaker noted the defense played much better. “We made strides. We saw a lot of improvement in a lot of areas. The biggest thing I was happy with was how we played with some emotion and having fun. You could just see it in the guys Friday night.”

Everyone got in the game. The second half the junior varsity played and the coach complemented them for how well they played.

The Warriors will host West Central on Friday at 7 p.m.

Last year the Warriors defeated West Central on the road.

Aaker says West Central has a great program, well coached and very disciplined.

“This will be a big challenge for us and we need to be ready,” he said.

Winner High School volleyball team opened the season with two wins.

The Lady Warriors defeated Bon Homme on Aug. 21. The scores were 25-19, 25-13 and 25-13.

Alexis Richey and Gracie Littau each were 100 percent in serving.

Ellie Brozik had 5 ace serves, Richey and Kalla Bertram had 2 each.

Morgan Hammerbeck had 14 kills and Abby Marts and Brozik had 4 each.

Mackenzie Levi had 17 set assists.

Brozik had a 2.33 serve receive rating and Richey 1.77.

Hammerbeck had 15 digs, Richey 12.

Marts had 3 block assists.

As a team, Winner was 87 percent in serving with 10 aces, 26 kills, 25 set assists. The team had a 1.78 serve receive rating. The team had 46 digs and 3 blocks.

“We came out a little nervous,” said coach Jaime Keiser. “Once we got the nerves out we did a great job of attacking the ball which kept Bon Homme on the defensive end. We were serving aggressively and getting in defensive position. We did a great job of talking and working together as a team,” said Keiser.

On Thursday, the Lady Warriors defeated Miller. The scores were 25-15, 26-24, 22-25 and 25-21.

Scoring leaders were Gracie Littau and Alexis Richey with 100 percent in serving.

Brozik had 4 aces serves and Richey and Hammerbeck, 2 each.

Hammerbeck and Marts each had 13 kills.

Levi had 27 set assists and Littau, 4.

Richey had 19 digs, Levi, 14 and Littau, 12.

Marts had 1 solo block and 2 block assists.

Levi had 2 block assists.

As a team, Winner was 92 percent in serving with 10 aces serves and 38 kills.

They had 33 set assists, 73 digs and 4 blocks.

Keiser said the team came out focused and ready to play. “We were very aggressive serving which kept Miller out of system. We were getting in defensive position and playing very well as a team. We did a great job of keeping Miller’s best hitter in the back row.

“It was a total team effort and everyone stepped up and did what they needed to do to win,” said Keiser.

The Lady Warriors are at Ainsworth, Neb., on Aug. 30.

On Sept. 4, Winner will host Bennett County and Gregory.

Colome volleyball team opened the season at Burke on Aug. 25 and lost the first match.

The Cowgirls lost 7-25, 24-26, 19-25.

Serving leaders were Haley Krumpus, 8 points, 1 ace; Kaydee Heath, 5 points, 1 ace; Makayla Shippy, 4 points.

Kill leaders were Kaydee Heath, 5 and Rayne Hermsen, 3.

Kaydee Heath had 2 solo blocks and Saydee Heath had 1 solo and 1 assist.

Kaydee Heath had 4 digs and Krumpus and Hermsen, 3 digs.

Shippy had 13 assists.

The C team lost 22-25, 21-25. Serve leaders were Libbie Petersek, 11 points and 3 aces; Ashlyn Hoffine, 6 points and 1 ace and Devon Dougherty, 6 points and 2 aces.

The junior varsity lost 11-25, 20-25.

Serve leaders were Dougherty, 5 points, 1 ace and Clarissa Ringing Shield, 4 points.

The next action for Colome is the Gregory Invitational on Sept. 1.

Winner High School football team was shut out by Sioux Falls Christian 36-0 Friday night.

This was the opening game of the season for the Warriors who played on the University of Sioux Falls field.

Sioux Falls Christian is the defending Class 11B state champions.

“We knew going into this game they would be a challenge,” said Coach Dan Aaker. “Give them credit, they are a tough team, they executed and hammered away at us. We knew if we did not make some stops defensively it would be tough on us,” said the coach.

Aaker noted the Warriors made some critical mistakes early and before you know it Sioux Falls Christian was up 12-0 early in the first quarter.

The Crusaders scored 12 points in the first quarter and added 16 more in the second quarter.

The coach said Winner had a nice drive moving the ball 45 to 50 yards and then fumbled. The telling statistic in the first half was Sioux Falls Christian scored four touchdowns on their possessions and Winner only had 2 the entire first half.

Aaker explained the Warriors played better in the second half. The team had a couple of drives and got some stops.

The Warriors had a total of 124 offensive yards and Sioux Falls Christian had 359. They had 24 first downs to Winner’s 7.

Phillip Jorgensen was Winner’s leading rusher with 56 yards on 9 carries. Trevor Peters had 23 yards and Brady Fritz, 13.

In passing, quarterback Fritz was 2-5 for 13 yards.

Leading tacklers for the Warriors were Shea Connot and Preston Norrid with 8 each, Elijah Blare, Colton Schroeder with 6 each, Brandon Volmer with 5.

Aaker says this is the first time in his 17 years in Winner that a team got a running clock on the Warriors. Also, this is only the seventh time Winner was shut out.

It was back to work on Monday. The loss left a sour taste in everyone’s mouth. “It is not about the scoreboard but about how we played,” said Aaker.

The Warriors will host Stanley County on Friday, Aug. 24. The game will start at 7 p.m. and is the first home game for the Warriors.

The Winner coach says Stanley County returns a lot of skill kids and has a nice junior running back.

This week in practice will be a Winner Warriors week. “We need to find out who we are and what kind of character we have. The question is are we going to let the Sioux Falls Christian game define our season or are we going to put that in the rear window and move on. I hope it is the latter,” said Aaker.

Colome High School football team made a strong statement to open the 2018 season.

The Cowboys rolled over Centerville 72-6 on Friday night in Colome. The game ended at the half due to the mercy rule.

Scoring touchdowns for Colome in the first quarter were Chase Dufek on a 22 yard run, Beau Bertram on a 1 yard run, Jackson Kinzer on a 64 yard run, Dufek on a 7 yard run, Bertram on a 4 yard run and Layton Thieman on a 3 yard pass from Kinzer.

In the second quarter, Mike Supik scored on a 33 yard run, Jaikob Week on an 8 yard run and Supik on a 14 yard run.

The Cowboys had a total of 351 yards in offense. Kinzer had 100 yards, Supik, 68 and Chase Dufek, 41.

In passing, Kinzer was 4-4 for 72 yards.

Calvin Ringing Shield had 2 interceptions.

On defense, Beau Bertram had six tackles, Supik and Adam Cole with 5 each.

“We came out and executed well. We did not make many mistakes,” said coach Ben Connot. “We got on them right away.”

Colome plays Tripp-Delmont/Armour/Andes Central/Dakota Christian on Friday in Armour.