Can the Crusaders hit the hardwood soon enough...
Alejandro Rama and Russell Leader Charge are part of the 2016 Red Cloud basketball team that opens the season Friday in Spearfish.
By Rich Winter
Since Red Cloud doesn't play Spearfish until Saturday, time to dip into the football bag one last final time. Was really mesmerized by the Red Cloud football team this season. Saw them early, they didn't look great and all of a sudden they went off. While I noticed statistically that Russell Leader Charge was just ripping people, I also noticed that Jevon Hacker joined Leader Charger on the South Dakota Class 11B honorable mention, all-state football team. While it's sorta easy for me to talk about Russell because I've known him forever, I wanted to hear about this Red Cloud football team one more time before we put football to bed.
Two guys, Hacker and Leader Charge on the 11B honorable mention team is pretty awesome. If memory serves, both guys made the Argus Leader, Elite-45 honorable mention team...That's a big award.
So, Leader Charge put up some gawdy numbers this fall....1500 yards and like 15 TD's, including some on special teams that players are still having nightmares about.
Leader Charge talked about his teammates that made is numbers possible.
"I did have an amazing year with many personal records, including a winning season which I've never been apart of. But there's no way I could've done it with out my team! Every single guy on the roster helped me and without them I wouldn't of been anything. I'd never had blockers that out so much effort and pride into blocking, they protected me like I was a prized possession," Leader Charge said.
Much has been made about Red Cloud starting 0-3 and then ripping off six straight wins, including the school's first-ever playoff win. How did that happen?
"We just kept at it and working out asses off every practice. But I think after the chamberlain game. We had a few players out and they just came back. We all decided after our 0-3 start that we were tired of losing. We also found our bread and butter with the run game and everyone was finding out what they're strengths were, as a team we found our strengths and played to them. None of this could've happened without our leadership from our seniors. Daveon Provost and Kasey Miller being our main vocal leaders! Another great leader on our team who wasn't a senior was fun course our QB Alejandro Rama. No matter what they kept us focused and always made us push harder every practice," Leader Charge said. "It was tough to practice. Sometimes we'd have injuries during the week and only have 10 guys at practice. But it didn't slow us down, it helped in a lot of areas. We often got no subs in Practice so that prepared us for playing the games."
All season long wondered about coach Duane Big Crow and just how he got that team to play at the level they did. Now I'm wondering why they call him syrup?
"Coach Duane Big Crow (Syrup) is probably the best coach I've ever had, and that might be an understatement. I've never seen a coach come take a team in last minute and believe in us until the end. He never gave up on us. He pushed us every practice and made us go harder and make ourselves better. He believed in us so much and that ultimately made us believe in ourselves and he taught us to never count ourselves out no matter who we're playing. He encouraged us to play our Jared all the time and play with your heart. That's where we were better than teams, we wanted every game more and played with soo much heart. Syrup treated us as if we were his sons and really took care of us," Leader Charge said.
I always marvel everytime I run into Russell's parents. I remember his mother, two-time state champion in the discus and an all-american javelin thrower at the University of Mary, competing in the mid 80's with St. Francis. While I don't remember father James setting the Todd County record in the 400 meters but I've heard the story of the day he ran 49....get chills everytime Dwight Clough tells me about it.
"My parents were great athletes and accomplished great things. Most people today don't know about them. They always pushed me when I was younger and showed me to always work hard no matter what. They helped me develop my work ethic. I wouldn't be where I am today with out them. For them to always take me to all these contest and compete against different competition. I used to hate it because I always lost, I thought they just liked me losing or something. But they were trying to make me understand that no matter how good I think I am, someone is always better. No matter how hard I'm working, someone is working just as hard. So yeah I think about them all the time and how munched they helped me. I'll never be able to repay them," Leader Charge said.
Ok, football is in the books...Let's play some hoops already!!
The 2016 Red Cloud squad hits the hardwood Saturday in Spearfish.
Alright, so one of the more intriguing teams at the upcoming LNI tournament, for me, is Red Cloud. Got in a little hot water this summer when I did a pre-seed for LNI and put the Crusaders like 6th or 7th. The actual seeding committee found the Crusaders worthy of the No. 3 seed. A ton of graduation losses but, as the seeding committee suggests, perhaps they really do just reload at Red Cloud.
Can't wait to misspell Wakinyan Luta Forney's name and to see the young man play. Saw a video of him dunking here recently and oh-my, the kid has some hops.
Alejandro Rama also makes the Panic Button watch list. Sometimes on great teams it's fun to watch the JV team and see who's coming up. Rama was electric at the JV level last season, got a lot of varsity minutes in big games, and according to Forney, put a lot of work in this off-season and is someone that's gonna be dangerous this winter.
Asked Leader Charge to fill me in on the team and I'm kinda dropping my jaw at the depth he went into.
This years team is definitely something I never played on before. There is so much athleticism. Ale Rama- 5'9 G, sophomore, can shoot that ball and handle it. He is definitely one of the main leaders on the team. Willard Garnier- 6'2 G, senior. Can shoot the ball and is a defensive stopper. He is another great leader on the team , he's very smart and has a lot of experience. Wakiyan Forney- 6'2 F, senior. Wak is a great vocal leader and can shoot the three. He also has great athleticism. Jesse Jenson- 6'1 G, sophomore. Jesse is a great defender, one of the best I seen. He's very athletic and can run the floor and he definitely cause problems for opposing guards. Louis Her many horses- F 6'3 junior. Louis has length and freakish athleticism. This makes him a great defender and rebounder. Mahpiya Briseno- 6'5 F- senior. Mike has length and athleticism. This also makes him a great rebounder and he's a run protector. He also can spread the floor on the offensive end with a great mid range jumper. Manuel Yellow horse-6'4 F, junior. Manny has great size and athleticism. He's a great rebounder and can also protect the rim. Joe black crow- 6'2 g, senior. Joe is another athlete on our squad, he also can lock up on the defensive end, he can also run the floor and play in transition. He can also knock down the open 3. Jordan shott or jshott- 6'3 F, senior. Jordan has great range and is a sharp shooter. He can also get down low and bang I the post, great rebounder. Garrett Richards- 6'2 G, junior. Garrett is great with running the floor and playing in transition, he can also knock down the 3. Jalen cross, Riyen Carlow, Jeremiah Whalen, Mato black Horn out are younger players who are learning a lot and are hard workers.
Ok, my job is in serious jeopardy if Leader Charge decides journalism is in his future.
While Leader Charge played for HOF'er Eldon Marshall at White River, he's been impressed with Crusader coach Christian Mcghee this fall.
"Christian is doing a great job in preparing us. This guys know how to play and will definitely be ready."
So, sometimes I'll ask a kid who inspires him or who he wants to see play....Dang if Russell didn't point to his old 'Lob-City' buddy, Aiden Bizardie, the super soph over at Todd County as the guy he wants to see play.
Two of the founding member of Lob City could meet up in the quarterfinals. If the seeds hold in the first round, we'll see some Russell Leader Charge vs. Aiden Bizardie...Front row...yes please!
"I really want to watch Aiden Bizardie play. Me and him have been great friends for a long time now. I know things aren't how we planned them when we were younger, we visioned playing and winning on the same team. But I definitely want to see how he plays this year, it's going to be a great year for him," Leader Charge.
As we get ready to gather in Rapid City for the Lakota Nation I always like to get a feel for what people love about one of the true gems of South Dakota sports.
"My favorite part about LNI is definitely the atmosphere. The big gym with the loud and big crowd, definitely makes it fun. It feels great to see all these different tribes come together for a great event and enjoy something us natives love, basketball. It's a great positive event for our people, it makes me happy to see so much Native American people from different tribes come together to watch basketball," Leader Charge.
Big shout out to Russell for taking the time, some serious time, to tell us a little more about Red Cloud sports....Good luck Saders....will be watching.
