NEWELL—Once again, the West River Tournament kicked off in Newell, with the school holding both boys and girls basketball games for the opening rounds of the 44th Annual Boys and 35th Annual Girls Contests. Newell School District shared hosting duties with Hot Springs, and both schools ran games on January 13, 15, and 16.
After the slate was set through the earlier rounds, the tournament moved to the Monument in Rapid City. The champions were crowned on January 17. Bennett County won the Girls Invitational, while Lead-Deadwood came out on top of the Boys West River Tournament.
The Newell girls team took home 5th place honors, while the Newell boys team ended in 8th place at the end of the tournament.
Two Irrigators, senior Rachel Stranberg and junior Orrin Youngberg were both named to the All-Tournament Team.
The Newell girls basketball team started first-round play against New Underwood, and they lost 45 to 39. The ballers came back to beat Moorcroft in the second round and went on to win against Hot Springs in the third round to end the tournament in 5th place.
The Newell boys team didn’t fare as well, losing to Faith 55 to 44, Moorcroft 52 to 20, and Edgemont 57 to 22 to finish in 8th place.
The eight high school teams that competed in this year’s West River Girls Invitational were Newell, Hot Springs, Faith, New Underwood, Moorcroft, WY; Upton, WY; Edgemont; and Bennett County.
Eight high schools also participated in the West River Boys Invitational. They were Moorcroft, WY; New Underwood; Newell; Faith; Lead/Deadwood; Edgemont; Hot Springs; and Upton, WY.
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