The top-seeded Highmore-Harrold Pirates held serve against No. 4 Hitchcock-Tulare and the Sanborn Central/Woonsocket Blackhawks upset second-seeded Wolsey-Wessington to move into Thursday night’s 281 Conference Championship game.

Highmore-Harrold 56, Hitchcock-Tulare 35

HIGHMORE — The Highmore Pirates got a bit of payback Monday night, with a 56-35 win over the Hitchcock-Tulare Lady Patriots in a championship semifinal of the 281 Conference Tournament.

Last year, the Lady Pats came out on top when the two teams met in the finals of the tournament, but this year, it was the Pirates who remain unbeaten at 9-0 and will play for the championship trophy against Sanborn Central/Woonsocket.

The Pirates got 16 points and nine assists from Kassie Hale as they return to the 281 Conference title game for the second straight year. Letha Jessen knocked down 15 points and had a game-high seven rebounds and Grace Knox added 11 points for Highmore-Harrold.

For the Lady Pats, no one got to double figures, but Kaitlyn Schoeder scored eight and had six rebounds, while Ashley Masat, Dannyn Peterson and Kaitlyn Rathjen each contributed seven points. Hitchcock-Tulare, now 4-4, will play for third place on Thursday, at Wolsey.

Score by quarters
Hitcocock-Tulare    8 16 26 35
Highmore-Harrold 16 31 37 56

Hitchcock-Tulare (4-4): Madison Hofer 2 0-0 6; Ashley Masat 2 3-4 7; Dannyn Peterson 2 3-9 7; Kaitlyn Rathjen 3 1-1 7; Katelyn Schroeder 4 0-0 8. Totals: 13 7-14 35.

Highmore-Harrold (9-0): Hailey Husted 3 1-4 7; Kassie Hale 5 2-4 16; Grace Knox 4 1-4 11; Letha Jessen 6 3-4 15; Alexis Roth 0 0-2 0; Maddie Knox 2 0-0 5; Kendal Cermak 1 0-0 2. Totals: 21 7-18 56.

FG: HT 11-40 23%; HH - 21-63 33%; Rebounds: HT - 20 (Schroeder 6); HH - 28 (Jessen 7). Turnovers: HT - 30; HH - 16.

The Blackhawks will play for the title after finishing fourth in last year’s tournament, dropping the third-place game to Wolsey-Wessington.

Trista White led the Blackhawks, who improve to 5-6 on the season, with 20 points. Teya Moody added 14 points and led the Blackhawks with eight boards, while Trinity Boschee chipped in 11 points.

For the Lady ‘Birds, Leah Williams scored 12 points and Faith Nelson added 10. Wolsey-Wessington falls to 6-2 on the season and will host Hitchcock-Tulare Thursday night in the third-place game.

Score by quarters
Sanborn Central Woonsocket                        16 24 36 49
Wolsey-Wessington         8 18 24 35

Sanborn Central/Woonsocket (5-6): Teya Moody 6 2-2 14; Trinity Boschee 5 1-2 11; Trista White 7 3-7 20; Brooke Doering 1 0-0 2; Morgan Schmiedt 0 2-2 2; Ellie VonEye 0 0-1 0. Totals: 19 8-14 49.

Wolsey-Wessington (6-3): Brynn Haider 1 0-0 2; Leah Williams 3 5-6 12; Macie Luce 0 2-3 2; Mya Boomsma 2 3-7 7; Faith Nelson 5 0-0 10; Nailey Clarke 1 0-0 2. Totals: 12 10-16 35.

James Valley Christian 65, Sunshine Bible Academy 9

HURON – The James Valley Christian Lady Vikings coasted to a 52-6 first half lead and rested much of the regular rotation in the second half in defeating the Sunshine Bible Academy Crusaders Monday night 65-9 in 281 Conference tournament consolation semifinal action.

Karilyn Wieting scored her 1,000th point of her career for the Lady Vikings on the evening (see Around the Horn) on the way to 28 points in the first half for JVC. She also nabbed six steals on the evening.

Brenna Held pitched in 13 points and led the team with 11 rebounds for the Lady Vikings, who move to 7-6 on the season.

The Crusaders fall to 0-9 on the year with the loss. Taylor Nelson led SBA with five points. Jakki Burma led Sunshine Bible with nine rebounds.

James Valley will host Wessington Springs for fifth place Thursday while Sunshine Bible will travel to Iroquois to play Iroquois/Doland for seventh place.

Score by quarters
Sunshine Bible Academy              4 6 8 9
James Valley Christian                  25 52 59 65

Sunshine Bible Academy (0-9): Betra Amare 1 0-0 2, Jakki Burma 0 0-2 0, Taylor Nelson 1 3-4 5, Abby Haun 1 0-0 2. Totals: 3 3-6 9.

James Valley Christian (7-6): Karilyn Wieting 12 2-2 28, Kerstyn Fast 2 0-0 4, Emily Hasart 2 0-0 4, Brenna Held 6 1-2 13, Lily Hofer 1 0-0 2, Kaylie Robinson 2 0-0 4, Alexa Goertz 3 0-0 7, Abby Hamilton 1 0-0 2, Tessah Cronin 0 1-2 1. Totals 28 4-6 65.

Results from the Iroquois/Doland vs. Wessington Springs consolation semifinal game in Iroquois Monday night were not reported before the Plainsman went to press.

They may be included in the Wednesday edition.