STURGIS — The Huron Tigers overcame a double-digit first half lead in a foul plagued game to emerge with a 60-54 come-from-behind win over the Sturgis Scoopers Saturday afternoon at the Sturgis High School gym.

Huron moves to 6-8 with the win while Sturgis falls to 2-10 as a total of four players - two from each team - were escorted to the bench after fouling out.

The teams traded buckets to open the action and Sturgis held a 7-4 lead after a three from Tori Williams and two charity tosses by Addisyn Jolley.

Huron got rolling as Lizzy Heinen hit one of two from the line, then Hamtyn Heinz, playing for a portion of the game with a knee brace after a collision on Friday night, scored inside and completed the three-point play to take its first lead at 8-7. A bucket from Hylton Heinz pushed the lead to three points, but Avreigh long hit a deuce, before Hamtyn Heinz dialed long distance for a three as the clock rolled past one minute. Long connected from behind the arc to make the score 13-12 Tigers after one period.

The pace of play changed in the second quarter. Huron dropped its full-court press and Sturgis ran off the first five points of the period to take a 17-13 lead. Aly Davis got a basket on a nice feed from Heinen, but back-to-back bombs from Long and Williams and another two-pointer from Leigha Long pushed Sturgis to a 10-point lead, 25-15.

Hylton Heinz hit a free throw, but a bucket from Leigha Long and a charity toss by Williams staked Sturgis to its largest lead of the half, 28-16.

The Tigers fought back, getting six straight points from the charity stripe - two from Davis and four from Hamtyn Heinz to get it back to six, but Williams hit two free throws with 57 seconds to play in the half. Both Heinen and Kenzie Siemonsma were whistled for their third fouls within seconds of each other mid-way through the quarter, forcing Huron to shuffle its lineup. Hylton Heinz hit a trey seconds later to cut the lead back to five and Sturgis took a 31-25 to the halftime break.

In addition to stopping the press, Huron coach Kody Kopfmann also made a switch to a man-to-man defense in the second quarter and the more aggressive defense paid dividends.

Needing a quick start to get rolling again Huron began the second half with an 8-0 run, with baskets from Siemonsma, Hamtyn Heinz and Hylton Heinz and a pair of Siemonsma free throws gave the Tigers their first lead since early in the first quarter.

Sturgis responded with a Long basket and the teams traded baskets and the lead until Williams hit one of two free throws to give the Scoopers a 37-35 lead.

After a timeout, Siemonsma scored in the paint on consecutive possessions and when Hamtyn Heinz stepped up and drained a straight one three from the point, Huron had its largest lead, 42-37 with 1:30 to play in the quarter.

In addition to establishing a Huron lead, Hamtyn Heinz’s trey also pushed her past the 1,000 point level in her Tiger career.

Avreigh Long scored, as did Williams, for Sturgis to get back a one point deficit. Siemonsma hit one of two, but then was whistled for her fourth foul and a buzzer beater from Avreigh Long actually gave the Scoopers a slim 44-43 lead after three quarters of play.

Siemonsma hit another one in the lane, but Addy Kossler hit two free throws and seconds later Siemonsma collected her fifth foul, with 5:09 to play.

Heinen returned but Kosler hit a tough shot on the baseline to give Sturgis its largest lead of the fourth quarter, at 51-47. Hylton Heinz hit two free throws and Heinen fouled out on the next Sturgis possession, forcing Kopfmann to again play small.

But Hamtyn Heinz connected from distance and then hit one of two from the line to put Huron up 53-51.
Avreigh Long was the second Scooper to foul out, exiting the game with 2:11 to play and joining her sister Leigha on the bench.

With a two point lead, Huron was patient on offense, moving the ball and finding Hylton Heinz free on the wing and the 5-foot, 8-inch sophomore buried the three pointer for a 56-51 lead. Down the stretch, Huron hit its free throws and closed out the win.

Hamtyn Heinz scored 21 points to pace the Tigers and Hylton Heinz added 19. Siemonsma ended the game with 11 points, all in the second half of play.

Avreigh Long led Sturgis with 19 points and Williams chalked up 18. Kossler added 10 for Sturgis.

Preliminary action found the Tigers collecting a 52-22 win in the JV contest.

Huron returns to action Tuesday, traveling to Pierre to battle the Governors.

Score by quarters
Huron 13 25 43 60
Sturgis 12 31 44 54

HURON (6-8): Kenzie Siemonsma 4 3-6 11; Aly Davis 2 2-2 6; Hamtyn Heinz 5 8-9 21; Hylton Heinz 5 7-8 19; Lizzy Heinen 2 1-2 3. Totals: 17 21-27 60.

STURGIS (2-10): Addisyn Jolley 0 2-2 2; Avreigh Long 8 0-0 19; Tori Williams 6 4-7 18; Taylor Price 0 1-2 1; Hannah Killinger 0 0-2 0; Leigha Long 2 0-0 4; Addy Kossler 3 4-6 10. Totals: 19 11-18 54.