Border War: Can the Chieftains take down Chamberlain
By Rich Winter
Curious moment in mid January when I asked Seth Friesz, Chamberalin who the Cubs' biggest rival was. Friesz was sitting amongst his teammates prior to the Todd County game, and while there was some whispered conversation amongst the Cubs players, hands down they said that Crow Creek was their biggest rival.
While Winner has danced in and out or Region 6A, the Cubs and Chieftains have always been there, always been good and played some hella important games with high stakes and big implications on the line.
These kids have played together, played against each other and know each other extremely well.
So do the coaches!
Seems like I heard earlier this year that Crow Creek head coach Billy Joe Sazue was a year behind Chamberlain coach Adam Nelson and both were coached by Nelson's father, a few years back.
Big game tonight in Chamberlain as Crow Creek travels to Chamberlain to battle it out for the Region 6A championship.
Chamberlain 44.43 11-3
Crow Creek 44.29 10-4
With all apologies to Miller and the rest of the boys teams in Region 6A, these are the two best teams in the Region, the teams that will likely advance to the Sweet-16 in just a few weeks.
The winner, solidifies their strength of schedule and likely earns a first-round game in that Sweet-16 against a lower-seeded team.
Chamberlain comes into the game at 11-3, having played in Madison Monday night, losing to the No. 1 ranked team in Class A, 62-56. Crow Creek, 10-4, had a seven-game winning streak broken Saturday when the 11-3 Pine Ridge Thorpes when they lost 53-47.
And did I mention that Joe Sazue III, Crow Creek's leading scorer, used to go to school in Chamberlain?
Dang!
Good luck to both teams in what is sure to be a tremendous atmosphere in an electrically charged environment.
Rich Marone sets a pick on Winner's Drew DeMers as Tiegen Priebe runs the offense for Chamberlain.
