     The Chadron State College basketball teams will be wrapping up their regular season schedules tonight (Thursday, Feb. 23) by hosting Black Hills State in the Chicoine Center. The double-header will begin at 5:30 with the women’s game.Â
There were some doubts that game would be played following the blizzard-like conditions on Wednesday, but the Yellow Jackets played at Colorado Christian in the Denver area Wednesday night and will be coming to Chadron from the south.
This won’t be the end of the season for the Chadron State men and both Black Hills State teams because all three will advance to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference playoffs that will begin Tuesday, Feb. 28.
The Chadron State men are 18-9 for the season and 15-6 in the RMAC after defeating South Dakota Mines on Monday night behind guard Bryce Latimer’s 43 points, tying him for fifth on CSC’s single-game scoring list. This is best season for the Eagles since 1999-2000, when they finished 19-8 overall and 15-4 in the RMAC.
The Eagles have won 10 of their last 11 games, but know they’re in for a major battle tonight against Black Hills State, which defeated Colorado Christian 88-72 last night and are 24-3 for the season and 18-3 in the conference.
Black Hills is led by 6-foot-7 senior Joel Scott, who is shooting 61.7% from the field while averaging 22.6 points and 9.0 rebounds. He recently became the Yellow Jackets’ all-time leading scorer and now has more than 2,200 points in his career.
Last season, Scott was named the RMAC’s Player of the Year and earned first-team All-American after the Jackets won the conference tournament and went on to win four games at the DII National Tournament before finally losing in the semifinals to Northwest Missouri State and finishing with a 26-8 record.
Scott is not a one-man band. The Yellow Jackets have other standouts. They include 6-4 Matthew Ragsdale, who after starring for three years at Western Colorado, went through the transfer portal and enrolled at Black Hills last fall.
Ragsdale is Black Hills’ second leading scorer with a 13.8-point average. Two more Jackets, 6-3 Adam Moussa and 6-6 P.J. Hayes, are averaging 11.2 points.
Three-pointers are one of the Jackets’ major weapons. They are shooting an RMAC-best 40.5% from behind the arc and have made 294 treys while limiting their opponents to 162.
The Black Hills State women aren’t quite as potent as the men’s team, but the Lady Jackets also are having a great season. After beating Colorado Christian 70-61, they are 21-6 overall and 15-5 in the RMAC, good for third place in the standings and assuring them of a home court advantage when the first round of the playoffs beginning on Tuesday.
The team leaders include seniors Danica Kocer and Niki Van Wyk, who are averaging 13 and 12.4 points a game, respectively. They have joined forces to make 99 three-pointers this season.