HURON — In a game determined by offensive spurts, the Huron Tigers got the last one, as they closed the game on a 19-2 run, as they pulled away late to defeat the Brookings Bobcats 55-37 in ESD girl’s basketball action at Huron Arena. The win pushes Huron’s record to 5-4, while Brookings falls to 2-5.

“We found our defense in the second half tonight, for sure,” said Tiger coach Tim Buddenhagen. “Only giving up 11 points in the half, forcing turnovers and getting rebounds served us well tonight.”

The Tigers jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead on threes from Bella Shreeve and Alexis Feenstra, but Logan Smidt hit a three to get the Bobcats on the board. A pair of Reese Rozell free throws put Huron up 8-3 with 5:25 to play in the quarter.

Out of a timeout, Smidt hit a deuce, then Ashton Austreim hit a long three to tie the score. Isabelle Ellwein hit a three and Heavan Gainey got a deuce, but the Bobcats got a buzzer-beating layup from post player Ainsley Shelsta to take a 14-13 lead at the break.

The second quarter was one of 10-point runs.

Shelsta got another easy deuce to open the quarter, but Huron scored the next 10 points, from five different players, over a five-minute period, to take a 23-16 lead as the clock rolled past three minutes. But Brookings reorganized during a timeout and closed the quarter on a 10-0 run of its own, to own a 26-23 lead at the halftime break.

The back-and-forth acton continued throughout the third quarter, as Hamtyn Heinz hit a short jumper and followed it up with a three-point field goal on back-to-back possessions to open the period, to put Huron back on top, but fouls plagued the Tigers, as Brookings kept pounding the ball inside, but were unable to hit free throws.

Austreim converted a three-point play to put Brookings back on top, but Heinz countered with a three from the win. Smidt hit a baseline jumper to make it 33-31 for the Bobcats, then Ellwein hit a short jumper and Heinz scored a basket and free throw to put Huron up 36-33, before a late field goal from Landree Wilson cut the lead to one after three quarters of play.

But then the Tiger offense which fired at times and sputtered in between caught fire. Ellwein hit a three seconds into the period, Shreeve hit a short jumper and Heinz hit one of two to put Huron up 42-35, however Huron was just getting started.

Feenstra hit another three, Ellwein found her three-point spot on the wing and Heinz converted another basket and free throw as the lead swelled to 16, at 51-35. Only a late basket from Wilson averted Brookings taking an 0-for-the-quarter as the Tigers closed out the win.

Brookings was led by Shelsta with 12 points, 11 of them in the first half, as the aggressive Tiger defense limited her touches in the second half.

“At the start, everything they did was drive to the basket and that created opportunities for her to just sit on the box and either get a pass or a rebound and score,” Buddenhagen noted. “We pressured their guards more in the second half and limited their ability to get to the basket and to make the interior pass. Instead of short shots, we forced them into shots they didn’t want to take, got long rebounds and out hustled Brookings to the ball.”

Smidt added 10 points and had nine rebounds for the Bobcats.

Huron got 17 points from Heinz to lead the way in the game, while Ellwein added 16 off the bench on six-for-six shooting. Gainey led the way on the boards with seven for the Tigers.

Huron returns to action Friday night when the Spearfish Spartans come to Huron Arena, then will tangle with the Sturgis Scoopers on Saturday afternoon.

Lower level action found Huron taking the “C” game, 56-33, behind 22 points from Hylton Heinz and 12 from Kiki Eagle Star, while Brookings took the JV game, 53-50.

Brookings (2-5): Ashton Austrem 2 0-0 6; Landree Wilson 2 0-2 4; Logan Smidt 4 0-2 10; Ainsley Shelsta 5 2-3 12; Sophia Hammrich 1 1-3 3; Paige Mahlke 1 0-0 2. Totals: 15 3-10 37.

Huron (5-4): Bella Shreeve 2 0-0 5; Reese Rozell 0 3-5 3; Hamtyn Heinz 5 5-6 17; Alexis Feenstra 3 0-0 8; Heavan Gainey 3 0-0 6; Isabelle Ellwein 6 0-0 16. Totals: 19 8-11 55.

FG: B - 15-41 37%; H - 19-50 38%. 3-pt FG: B - 4-14 29% (Austreim 2, Smidt 2); H - 9-26 35% (Ellwein 4, Heinz 2, Feenstra 2, Shreeve). Rebounds: B - 28 (Smidt 9, Shelsta 8); H - 35 (Gainey 7). Turnovers: B - 19; H - 13. Fouls: B - 14; H - 14 (Shreeve out).