Red Cloud Crusaders: Year-End Review

<p>The Crusaders had a very nice season while picking up 14 wins along the way. Red Cloud made it into the SODAK 16 but came up short against a very good Winner team. When you think about the fact that Red Cloud missed last season due to COVID, that is quite the accomplishment! The Crusaders are young and talented. They will be a tough team next year and you should expect big things from the Crusaders in 2022-2023! </p> <p>Read below for Red Cloud stats, coach McGhee comments, and the scores/schedule from this season.</p> <h4><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Players Stats</strong></span></h4> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="963768" first="Adriano" last="Rama"] (2023) |5-10 G| </strong>- 15.5 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 2.7 apg, 2.3 spg</p> <p><strong>Haedyn Haas (2023) |5-10 G| </strong>- 11.5 ppg, 1.7 rpg, .8 apg, 1 spg</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1227977" first="Jules" last="Ecoffey"] (2023) |6-2 G/F| </strong>- 9.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.2 apg, 1 spg</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1227976" first="Josiah" last="Cottier"] (2023) |5-11 G| </strong>- 8.6 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.1 spg</p> <p><strong>Stacy Eagle Bear-Poignee (2023) |6-1 F| </strong>- 4.2 ppg, 2.8 apg, .4 apg, .7 spg</p> <p><strong>Monty Montileaux (2024) |6-1 G| </strong>- 4 99g, 2.9 apg, .7 apg, .8 spg</p> <p><strong>Gabriel Brooks (2023) |6-4 F| </strong>- 3.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg, .2 apg, .5 spg</p> <p><strong>Nick Zuniga (2023) |5-11 G| </strong>- 2.5 ppg, 1.3 apg, .5 apg, .8 spg</p> <h4><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Team Stats</strong></span></h4> <p><strong>PPG</strong>: 62</p> <p><strong>RPG</strong>: 25.8</p> <p><strong>APG</strong>: 8.4</p> <p><strong>SPG</strong>: 8.6</p> <p><strong>FG%</strong>: 42</p> <p><strong>3FG%</strong>: 33</p> <p><strong>3’s Made</strong>: 160</p> <h4><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Crusader Talk with coach <em>Christian McGhee</em></strong></span></h4> <p><strong>PHD: What were some of the highlights of the season?</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Coach McGhee</span>: "<em>Some of our highlights were taking 4th at LNI in December- also playing a ton of close games and coming out on the winning end most of the time really showed toughness for our young group.</em>" </p> <p><strong>PHD: Who was your "go-to" player when you needed a basket?</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Coach McGhee</span>: "<em>We had a lot of guys who are similar but <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="963768" first="Adriano" last="Rama"]</strong> was our leading scorer and our leader this year.</em>" </p> <p><strong>PHD: Which players improved the most for you this season and what did they improve on?</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Coach McGhee</span>: "<em>We had 8 juniors, 2 sophomores, and 2 seniors. 2 seniors played limited so the majority of our team will be back next year. We saw a ton of improvement from <strong>Monty Montileaux</strong> and <strong>Nathan LeBeaux</strong> both our sophomores this year. They kept getting better and better (it was like their freshman year due to missing last season) so that was exciting to see. <strong>Nick Zuniga</strong> became one of our better shooters on the team with consistent work in the gym. <strong>Haedyn Haas</strong> became one of the best shooters in South Dakota from lots of reps in the gym and hard work in the off-season. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1227977" first="Jules" last="Ecoffey"]</strong> was a kid on our team who can do little things very well- defends well, rebounds well, shoots it well, and can create for others. <strong>Gabe Brooks</strong> went from playing limited on the JV team his sophomore year to being a starter early in the year for us. He really improved on his outside shooting and rebounding. <strong>Stacy Poignee</strong> was one of our better post defenders and really shot the ball consistently for us.</em>" </p> <p><strong>PHD: Who were a few of your hardest workers and what did they do well?</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Coach McGhee</span>: "<em>A couple of our hardest workers were <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="963768" first="Adriano" last="Rama"]</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1227976" first="Josiah" last="Cottier"] </strong>- Adriano was in the gym all year and worked extremely hard to get to where he is now, and he will be even better his senior season. Josiah gives everything he has every possession he is on the floor. He is also one of our best defenders on the team.</em>"</p> <p><strong>PHD: Can you talk about a time when you and the team overcame adversity?</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Coach McGhee</span>: "<em>Our team had to overcome SO MUCH adversity this year. It started when we weren’t able to play last year, and dealing with Covid and protocols from having no fans sometimes to limited fans sometimes, to practicing with masks etc.. On top of that having some deaths in families on our team and injuries- our 2nd best player (Jules) was out against Winner with Vertigo and he tried to give it a go but couldn’t do it. I am so proud of my team and how they competed while battling with everything going on around them. Very excited to coach them next season!</em>"</p> <h4><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Team Comments from coach <em>McGhee</em></strong></span></h4> <p>"<em>This year was an up and down year for us as we came back from not playing together last year due to COVID. When we were able the kids came and worked extremely hard.</em>" </p> <p>"<em>I feel like we should be one of the best teams in the state next year. I am very excited about the opportunity to work with this group in the summer and try to get better in the off-season. I have a group that gets good grades, and is very fun to be around which makes it awesome to coach them.</em>"  </p> <h4><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Crusaders Scores/Schedule (14-7)</strong></span></h4> <p><strong>Hill City</strong> <em>W</em> 74-41</p> <p><strong>Todd County</strong> <em>W</em> 70-51</p> <p><strong>Tiospa-Zina</strong> <em>W</em> 64-49</p> <p><strong>White River</strong> <em>L</em> 41-63</p> <p><strong>Lakota Tech</strong> <em>L</em> 67-73</p> <p><strong>Pine Ridge</strong> <em>W</em> 81-45</p> <p><strong>Lakota Tech</strong> <em>L</em> 57-67</p> <p><strong>St. Francis Indian School</strong> <em>W</em> 74-33</p> <p><strong>Little Wound</strong> <em>W</em> 72-42</p> <p><strong>Rapid City Christian</strong> <em>L</em> 49-52</p> <p><strong>Douglas</strong> <em>W</em> 71-58</p> <p><strong>Lead-Deadwood</strong> <em>W</em> 65-32</p> <p><strong>Belle Fourche</strong> <em>W</em> 70-30</p> <p><strong>Spearfish</strong> <em>W</em> 71-70</p> <p><strong>St. Thomas More</strong> <em>L</em> 36-56</p> <p><strong>Hot Springs</strong> <em>W</em> 52-46</p> <p><strong>Sturgis Brown</strong> <em>L</em> 54-57</p> <p><strong>Mobridge-Pollock</strong> <em>W</em> 66-60</p> <p><strong>St. Francis Indian School</strong> <em>W</em> 80-47</p> <p><strong>Little Wound</strong> <em>W</em> 64-61</p> <p><strong>Winner</strong> <em>L</em> 28-57</p>