The Crofton hoopsters hit the hardwood for the grand finale of the 2024-2025 youth basketball season from Friday, February 21 to Sunday, February 23.
The 3rd-6th grade students played in Yankton’s Hansen-Haas tournament on Friday, February 23 and Saturday, February 24 while the junior high boys and girls teams played in Norfolk YMCA’s Northeast Nebraska (NEN) Youth Basketball Tournament on Sunday, January 23.
On Sunday, the junior high boys team finished the NEN tourney 2-1 with wins over St. Mary’s (38-24) and Wausa (43-34). They lost to the Jam Bees 42-29.
Similarly, the junior high girls played on Sunday at the YMCA in Norfolk. They fell to Yankton, beat Neligh-Oakdale, then lost to Norfolk Catholic in overtime.
The sixth grade boys played three games on Saturday in the Hansen-Haas tournament, going 1-2. They lost to O’Neill–St. Mary’s (51-16), Sioux City Heelan (44-19), and then beat Hartington-Newcastle (31-17).
Playing on both Friday and Saturday, the Crofton sixth grade girls fought in three difficult games: Yankton, Sioux Falls Shine, and Hustle, Heart, and Hoops.
Their game against Hustle, Heart, and Hoops came down to a one-point game. Hustle, Heart and Hoops ended up winning 16-15.
The fifth grade boys earned second place at the Hansen-Haas tournament with wins over the River Rockers (41-30) and the Yankton Mambas Red (34-17). Their only loss came in the championship game against Lennox (39-20).
Also, participating in the Hansen-Haas tournament, the Crofton fourth graders earned third place.
They defeated Yankton 35-30 on Friday. Then, on Saturday, they lost to Brandon Valley 30-16 and defeated Sioux City (34-26).
The Crofton fourth grade girls went 1-2 over the weekend. They lost their first two games (both on Friday) to Yankton Fever Red (15-10) and then to the CS Jags (21-13.)
They then defeated Wagner (SD) 17-0 to end their season.
The third grade boys went 1-2 during the tournament. They played two of these games Friday, where they were defeated by Lennox 27-18 and then beat Yankton Bucks White 18-15.
On Saturday, the third grade boys were defeated by Avon.
The third grade girls earned third place. They lost their two games on Friday 12-8 to Yankton and 16-9 to the Future Stars.
They turned around on Saturday and won 33-9 against the CS Jags. They will finish their season playing in a couple pick-up games at Hartington.
“We are proud of all the Crofton youth teams (their kids, coaches, and fans) who chose to spend time playing basketball! We can’t wait to see how this time and effort pays off at the high school level,” said Scott Morrison