Chamberlain looking to end tourney woes

Region 6A has had its struggles at the South Dakota boys’ Class A state tournament recently.

Chamberlain’s 50-42 loss on Friday marked the 18th consecutive loss for the region at the state tournament.

“It’s something that we’re not very proud of in our region,” Chamberlain head coach Allan Bertram said. “When we come to the state tournament, we don’t want to just be a participant.”

Chamberlain has lost its last nine and was the last team in the region to come away with a victory with its 57-51 win over Little Wound in the consolation semifinals in 2006.

The Cubs finished sixth at the state tournament that year and will play today in the seventh-place matchup.

The Cubs finished eighth in 2007 and 2008 and have another tough matchup against a Winner team that beat Chamberlain 70-57 this season.

“In central South Dakota, you play with what you have,” Bertram said. “We don’t have a luxury of kids moving in and out. We have to take what we have walking the halls and make them a solid basketball team.”

Bertram added he feels confident his team can compete with any of the other teams in the tournament. But his team’s woes equate to having problems finishing games.

The Cubs lost a back-and-forth game in the opening round of this year’s tournament 57-54 to Aberdeen Roncalli.

“We take pride in the blue-collar kids we’ve got,” Bertram said. “We find ways to battle and find chances to win.”

Miller, Crow Creek and McLaughlin are the other Region 6A schools that have gone 0-3 in the state tournament since Chamberlain’s sixth-place finish.

“You always hear the battle that there’s better teams that should be in the tournament,” Bertram said. “But I don’t believe that. We can play with anybody and we’ve shown that. It’s just unfortunate that we can’t get one out.”

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