RAPID CITY — The Centerville Tornadoes jumped out early and held serve the rest of the way to earn the school’s first ever championship by defeating the top-seeded Arlington Cardinals 62-44 Saturday at the Monument in Rapid City.

The Tornadoes finish the year 24-2 while Arlington fell to 23-3.

The first half of the first quarter went back and forth between the two teams as both defenses forced a number of turnovers and missed shots. The teams were tied 4-4 when Lillie Eide began a 10-0 run that took less than two minutes for the Centerville Tornadoes.

The Tornadoes, who have three 1,000-point career scorers on the roster spread the scoring around to push out to a 16-5 first quarter edge.

The first two minutes of the second quarter saw the teams play to a deadlock, but Centerville then scored a 9-0 run in a matter of two minutes in the second quarter to continue expanding the lead.

Centerville, with four of five starters listed as tall as any regular member of the Arlington rotation, dominated the boards in the first half, limiting the Cardinals to one shot offensively and ripping away offensive rebounds when the Tornadoes had the ball to get multiple shots in a possession. By the end of the second quarter, the lead was up to 20 at 34-14.

The deep rotation of Centerville began to create a difference in the third quarter as the Tornadoes continued to bring rested legs off the bench into the game while the Arlington shallow rotation led to top scorers needing a break. Harley Johnson came back from one of the breaks with some vigor to attempt to spike Arlington with a pair of baskets, but the hole had gotten too deep at that point.

A sign of how things were going for the Cardinals on the night was as the third quarter came to a close, leading Arlington scorer Jaelyn Huntimer shot a long three that bounced on every part of the rim...before falling out. The Cardinals entered the fourth quarter trailing 44-22 while shooting a paltry 24% on the night.

Addalyn Steffensen hoped to spark her Arlington squad with a three to open the fourth quarter, but Althea Gust answered with a three of her own for Centerville. The Cardinals kept chipping away, though, getting the score within 47-32 with 5:30 left in the game.

However, it was too little too late, as the Cardinals went through a long dry spell in the middle of the final quarter, alowing Centerville to push the lead back over 20 again, eventually closing out a championship victory, 62-44.

The Tornadoes had four players in double figures, led by MaKayla Heesch with 15 points. Emma Marshall had 14 points and led Centerville with nine rebounds.

Althea Gust scored 13 and dished out four assists and Lillie Eide scored 12 points.

Addalyn Steffensen scored 15 points to lead the Cardinals and Jolyssa Steffensen chipped in 10 points before fouling out. Harley Johnson grabbed eight rebounds to pace Arlington.

Centerville 16 34 44 62
Arlington 5 14 22 44

Centerville (24-2): Keira Austin 0 1-4 1, Althea Gust 4 2-2 13, MaKayla Heesch 5 3-4 15, Lizzie Eide 2 0-0 4, Lillie Eide 3 5-10 12, Emma Marshall 7 0-3 14, Kiylee Westra 1 0-0 2. Totals: 22 11-23 62.

Arlington (23-3): Addalyn Steffensen 5 4-5 15, Harley Johnson 4 0-0 9, Jaelyn Huntimer 2 1-2 7, Jolyssa Steffensen 4 2-5 10, Elizabeth Rowen 1 0-0 3. Totals: 16 7-12 44.

FG: C - 22/45 49%; A - 16/60 27%. 3-pt FG: C 6/14 (Gust 3, Heesch 2, LEide); A 5/19 (Huntimer 2, ASteffensen, Johnson, Rowen). Rebounds: C 46 (Marshall 9), A 30 (Johnson 8). Assists: C 12 (Gust 4), A 4. Steals: C 4 (Heesch 2), A 6 (ASteffensen 3). Turnovers: C 21, A 17. Fouls: C 13, A 22 (ISteffensen, JSteffensen).

Third place

Ethan 67, Lyman 42
The Ethan Rustlers left no doubt in the third place game Saturday, defeating the Lyman Raiders 67-42 at the Monument in Rapid City.

While Mak Scott gave Lyman the first basket of the game, the Rustlers controlled most of the first half. Ethan senior Ava Lingemann hit a long-range shot halfway through the first quarter that was her 106th three-point basket of the season, setting a new single-season record for South Dakota high school basketball, breaking Jill Young’s record for 3-point baskets made.

Ethan kept pushing out the lead, to 17-9 at the end of the first.

The two teams exchanged blows through the first five minutes of the second quarter, but with the score at 30-20 and three minutes left, the Rustlers went on a 9-0 run to end the first half.

They went into the break ahead 39-20.

The teams played fairly even through the first quarter and a half of the second half, but Ethan had built a margin that allowed them never to feel like the lead was in jeopardy, closing out with a 67-42 victory.

The Rustlers finish the year 22-3 behind 22 points from Marissa Storm, including five 3-point baskets. Ava Lingemann added 16 points and nine assists. Lingemann finished with 108 three-point baskets in the 2023-2024 season.

Lyman closes the year 21-4. Mak Scott had 15 points to lead the Raiders while Skyler Volmer grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.

Lyman 8 20 35 42
Ethan 17 39 57 67

Lyman (21-4): Jordyn Scott 1 1-2 4, Skyler Volmer 3 1-2 8, McKenzie Laverdure 2 0-0 6, Mak Scott 5 5-5 15, Brooke Palmer 4 0-0 9. Totals: 15 7-9 42.

Ethan (22-3): Leah Klock 3 2-3 8, Marissa Storm 8 1-2 22, Ava Lingemann 6 1-4 16, Rachel Klock 3 1-2 7, Ella Pollreisz 4 0-0 9, Madeline Bartscher 1 2-2 5. Totals: 25 7-13 67.

FG: L - 15/39 39%; E - 25/46 54%. 3-pt FG: L 5/16 (Laverdure 2, JScott, Volmer, Palmer); E 10/24 (Storm 5, Lingemann 3, Pollreisz, Bartscher). Rebounds: L 24 (Volmer 8), E 25 (LKlock 6). Assists: L 7 (Three with 2), E 19 (Lingemann 9). Steals: L 3, E 8 (Lingemann, Bartscher 2). Turnovers: L 13, E 6. Fouls: L 17, E 7.

Consolation championship

Wall 60, Harding 51
The Wall Lady Eagles jumped out to an early lead and held on for a 60-51 victory over the Harding County Ranchers to claim fifth place in the Class B State Girls’ Basketball tournament Saturday in Rapid City.

Wall’s Alexis Stephan opened the game with a pair of three-point baskets within the first 40 seconds for Wall, but the game was quite sloppy the rest of the way, with 60 combined turnovers by both teams.. Harding County got back to a 10-10 tie, but could never take the lead the rest of the game.

The Lady Eagles pushed the lead out to as much as 18 at 51-33 with 5:10 left in the fourth before Harding County went on an 8-0 run. The Lady Eagles sank free throws down the stretch to hold on for the victory.

The Lady Eagles finish the season at 21-5 behind Paige Kjerstad with 20 points, 15 rebounds, and three steals. Nora Dinger added 14 points and six steals and Rhea Tucker chipped in 11 points.

The Ranchers finished 23-2. Macey Wendt led Harding County with 10 points while Jaelyn Wednt grabbed 11 rebounds.

Wall 20 32 43 60
Harding County 12 21 31 51

Wall (21-5): Nora Dinger 5 2-4 14, Paige Kjerstad 4 12-15 20, Rhea Tucker 3 4-6 11, Bailey Cerney 1 3-3 5, Faith Frink 1 2-2 4, Alexis Stephan 2 0-0 6. Totals: 16 23-30 60.

Harding County (23-2): Claire Verhulst 2 0-0 4, Macey Wendt 3 4-6 10, Bailey Verhulst 3 2-2 8, Raelee Hunsucker 1 0-0 3, Kaylen Padden 3 2-3 8, Kelsi Costello 1 2-2 4, Kamry Padden 1 0-2 2, Jozi Schuchard 1 0-0 2, Jaelyn Wendt 3 0-0 6, Brayden Padden 2 0-0 4. Totals: 20 10-15 51.

FG: W - 16/48 33%; HC - 20/58 35%. 3-pt FG: W 5/20 (Dinger 2, Stephan 2, Tucker), HC 1/7 (Hunsucker). Rebounds: W 37 (PKjerstad 15), HC 44 (JWendt 11). Assists: W 7 (Three with 2), HC 8 (BVerhulst). Steals: W 17 (Dinger 6), HC 16 (BVerhulst, BPadden 4). Turnovers: W 30, HC 30. Fouls: W 15, HC 25 (CVerhulst, JWendt 5).