Lynx win 60-52 in ESD Conference girls’ basketball
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HURON — A pair of Brandon Valley runs - one in each half - put the Huron Tigers into too deep a deficit and although the Tigers put forth what was one of their top efforts of the season, the Lynx ultimately pulled out a 60-52 ESD Conference girls’ basketball win Friday night at Huron Arena.
Despite playing from behind virtually the entire game, the scrappy Tigers used a never-say-die approach to keep the game within reach. The Lynx pushed the lead to double digits in the first half and while Huron got the difference down to four points on several occasions, the Tigers were never able to get it down to a one-possession game.
Brandon Valley, ranked No. 3 in this week’s South Dakota Sportswriter’s Class “AA” poll, improves to 9-2 while Huron remains winless at 0-11.
“This was by far our best four-quarter effort of the season,” said coach Wade Stobbs. “Outside of a couple mental errors at bad times, we played right with one of the top-ranked teams in the state. We played very well against Mitchell on Tuesday and had a better effort tonight.”
The Tigers’ team defense and solid rebounding on the defensive end kept the game close in the first half.
After Danica Kocer opened the game with a three-pointer in the opening seconds for the Lynx, Huron responded with a basket by Gracie Schoenfelder and a three from Havyn Heinz put Huron on top.
Another three from Heinz made it 8-5 with 6:14 left in the quarter, but the Lynx went on a 10-0 run over the remainder of the period. That was the first bump.
But Huron kept scrapping.
A Heinz bucket cut the difference to five points before Brandon Valley scored four more points on a pair of free throws from Lexi Ellingson and a bucket from Ashley Wells pushed it back to nine, at 19-10.
Ally Fullerton stepped in when Schoenfelder was whistled for her third foul with just under seven minutes left in the half and responded with a solid interior move that resulted in a pair of free throws.
Another Heinz three was countered by a three-pointer from Jazmyn Larson and a pair of Kocer charity tosses. Jayda Shillingstad scored on back-to-back possessions to cut the lead back to five points, 24-19 and the teams traded buckets to make the halftime score 27-21 for the Lynx.
The Tigers cut the margin to three points early in the third quarter, Brandon Valley got a basket from Wells, but Huron responded with a layup from Shillingstad and a three-pointer from Sami Shoultz made it 29-26. Brandon Valley got another three pointer, but Shoultz cashed in an offensive rebound to keep it at a four-point difference.