November 30 was the last day of the Turkey Tournament, the Championship game. The Pirates’ record was 2-0 against the River Ridge Wildcats and the Scales Mound Hornets, with a score of 37-54.
The first quarter ended up head to tail, The Galena Pirates down 10-11. Dakota’s player Jake Seiver had 6 points in quarter 1 for the Indians. Andrew Keonigs ‘26 had 2 points in the first quarter with great defense and ball-handling skills. Myles Schumacher ‘25 had a score of 4 points by the end of the first quarter. “It felt great getting us on the board,” said Schumacher.
By halftime, both teams had adrenaline rushing through their veins, and the score was 21-19. While Galena was up, Dakota had not given up. Seiver made two more shots, gaining four points, and Austin Stuckey made a three-pointer and a free throw, gaining four points. Senior Josh McNett had made Galena their first three-pointer of the game. “Right when it left my hand, I knew it was going in,” said McNett. “It felt pretty good, and the crowd went wild.”
At the end of the third quarter, Dakota player 20 made 2 three-pointers as well as Stuckey. Galena’s player Samuel Amaya ‘26 made 4 points helping the score but with the Inidians up by 6 the end score of the quarter was 29-35 Dakota. “Trying to keep the team motivated was hard,” said Amaya “but they understood we had to play hard to try and get the win we wanted”.
By the long and hard-played tournament, Dakota took the win with a score of 37-54. Player number 20 took the last quarter with 6 points. The Pirates’ Junior, Mason Smith had made a three-pointer, and Keonigs had made a shot and a free throw helping Smith. “I was excited about making the three, but I knew the game was practically over.” said Smith “But I tried keeping us in the game”.
