CHADRON, Neb. -- December 15, 2016 -- Both Chadron State College basketball teams will wrap up their pre-Christmas schedules this weekend by visiting their South Dakota rivals in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference double-headers.  The Eagles will play South Dakota Mines in Rapid City on Friday starting at 5:30 and Black Hills State in Spearfish on Saturday beginning at 4.

Both South Dakota teams have opened their RMAC schedules by playing the same teams as the Eagles, only the schedules have been flip-flopped.  Chadron State played at Colorado Mines and Colorado Christian in their conference openers two weeks ago, then hosted Colorado-Colorado Springs and Metro State last weekend.  The Hardrockers and the Yellow Jackets opened by visiting Colorado Springs and Metro, then hosted Colorado Mines and Colorado Christian last weekend.

The Lady Hardrockers are 3-6 overall and 1-3 in the RMAC.  They are a tall team with all six of their top scorers at least 5-foot-10.  Megan Rohrer, a 6-1 senior, is the scoring leader at 10 points a game. The remaining five are averaging at least 6.5. 

The Mines men are 6-4 for the season and 2-2 in the conference after losing to both Metro (73-54) and Colorado Springs (66-64) on the road, but defeating Christian (85-72) and Colorado Mines (74-62) at home.  They are led by 6-7 senior Konor Kulas, who is shooting 64 percent from the field and ranks second in the RMAC in both scoring  at 20.4 points and rebounding at 8.7 a game.  CSC coach Houston Reed calls Kulas "the best low post player in the conference." Kulas is a former high school rival of Eagle forward Matt Reader from Wisconsin, where the two attended schools six miles apart, although they were separated by two grades.

The Hardrockers have other weapons. Both Brian Orr, 6-6, and Marco Pascolo, 6-7, are averaging about 11 points.  Pascolo has made half of his 36 three-point shots.

The Black Hills State women were fourth in the RMAC coaches' preseason poll, but are just 1-7 overall.  They found some spark last Friday night when they knocked off Colorado Mines 86-68, but they fell to Colorado Christian 64-55 on Saturday night.  Their top scorer is 5-11 senior Kassidy Scott at 8.8 points a game     

The Yellow Jackets' men are 4-6 for the season and 1-3 in the conference.  The RMAC victory was a 57-56 squeaker over Colorado Mines, then ranked No. 18 in the nation, last Friday night.  Colorado Christian won 66-61 the next night.  Zach McLamore, a 6-1 junior, leads the Jackets at 13.1 points a game.  Fraser Malcolm, a 6-6 native of Scotland, is next at 11.1

Both Chadron State teams are rebuilding and have won just once this season.  But the Eagles' new coaches, Janet Raymer for the women and Reed for the men, believe their teams are gaining momentum. They say their players are willing workers, the chemistry is good and their quintets are improving as the players become better acquainted with the new systems.   

The Chadron State women are led in scoring by guards Kalli Feddersen and Erin Graham at 12.6 and 10.4 points a game, respectively.  Both are among the conference's most accurate free throw shooters.  Feddersen has made 35 of 39 and Graham has hit 15 of 18. 

The CSC men are led in scoring by guards Warren Gordon at 15.4 points a game and Darius Polley at 14.4.

The CSC men hope to have another of its backcourt leaders, Bronte Corbray, available for at least part-time duty this weekend.  He missed both of last weekend's games because of a knee injury.