HURON –– Trailing by as many as 19 in the fourth quarter, the Huron Tigers made a valiant comeback but fell short against the Sioux Falls Roosevelt Rough Riders Tuesday at the Huron Middle School Gym.

The Tigers showed early that they would struggle putting the ball in the hoop, as Abagail Harrington got the first points with one of two free throws after initially missing a pair.

Rough Rider freshman Henlee Loof drained a three from the wing to open Roosevelt’s scoring, and Hylton Heinz answered with a hard drive to the hoop for two to knot the score at 3-3.

Huron’s offense then went cold as Brooklyn Koll hit a short shot and then Katelyn Duin hit a three for Roosevelt to send the teams to the second quarter with a slight 8-3 Roosevelt lead.

Rough Rider 6-foot-2 post Kalli Harris powered up two trips in a row to push the visitors’ lead out to 12-3.

Harrington was fouled going to the hoop and hit both free throws. Heinz then did the same and hit one of two charity shots. Chloe Carr completed the 5-0 Huron run with a cut to the hoop that sliced the Roosevelt lead to 12-8.

Koll was fouled, missed both free throws, but the Rough Riders got the offensive rebound and Koll was fouled again, this time draining both shots.

Loof was fouled on a three and hit two of three free throws, then Heinz was fouled and hit one of two to cut the lead back to 16-9.

The Rough Riders then found Duin underneath for a bucket. Madison Jurgens hit a long jumper for Huron to close out the first half with the Tigers trailing 18-11.

Swapping sides of the court at half didn’t have a positive effect for the Huron offense in the third quarter as the first eight points of the second half were scored by Roosevelt.

Harrington hit one of two free throws to get Huron its first points of the second half, halfway through the third quarter.

Loof then drained a three before Chloe Carr got one of two free throws and then hit a short shot underneath.

Loof would get a pair of free throws and Carr answered with a three from the top of the key, but Loof shook loose through the lane for a layup.

Heinz hit a runner at the buzzer to cut the Roosevelt lead to 33-20 entering the fourth quarter.

Huron Tigers coach Kody Kopfmann was frustrated with his team’s play to open the game.

“The first three quarters, our execution wasn’t there,” he said. “I just didn’t think we had it tonight.”

The girls continued to struggle out of the gate in the fourth quarter as Harris powered her way to the hoop for a bucket, Loof hit another three, and after an Aly Davis free throw, Harris got a putback bucket to make it 40-21 Roosevelt.

That’s when Huron begin to chip away. Davis hit a bucket, Harrington cut behind the defense for two, and Carr got the hoop and the harm to cut the lead to 40-28 before Harris got another bucket to end the Tigers run.

They just began another one, as Davis got a pair of free throws,

Harrington knocked down two charity shots, and Heinz also hit a pair of free shots before Harrington got a bucket in close to cut the lead to 42-36.

At that point, the clock determined that the Tigers needed to foul. Koll hit one of two and Harrington answered by doing the same. Huron would turn the ball over twice before Koll ended up hitting one of two again, but at that point there was not enough time for Huron to complete the comeback. A Heinz bucket made it 44-39 for the final tally.

Roosevelt moved to 5-9 behind two freshmen, Loof and Harris, with 15 points apiece. Harris would also grab a game-high 10 rebounds.

Huron fell to 6-7 despite three girls in double figures. Carr and Harrington had 11 points apiece and Heinz added 10.

Carr grabbed six rebounds to lead the Tigers.

Coach Kopfmann expects that his team will play much different this coming weekend.

“The fourth quarter Huron Tigers girls - that’s what’s expected every night,” Kopfmann emphasized. “I would expect a much better effort on Friday, and we need it.”

Huron hosts Spearfish on Friday and Sturgis Saturday.

Roosevelt 8 18 33 44
Huron 3 11 20 39

Sioux Falls Roosevelt (5-9): Brooklyn Koll 1 5-10 7, Susan Olson 0 0-2 0, Kinsley Pesicka 1 0-0 2, Katelyn Duin 2 0-0 5, Henlee Loof 4 4-7 15, Kalli Harris 6 3-3 15. Totals: 14 12-22 44.

Huron (6-7): Madison Jurgens 1 0-0 2, Aly Davis 1 3-4 5, Hylton Heinz 3 4-6 10, Abagail Harrington 2 7-12 11, Chloe Carr 4 2-3 11, Isabelle Kremer 0 0-2 0. Totals: 11 16-27 39.

FG: SFR - 14/36 39%; H - 11/41 27%. 3-pt FG: SFR 4/19 (Loof 3, Duin); H - 1/9 (Carr). Rebounds: SFR 33 (Harris 10), H 26 (Carr 6). Turnovers: SFR 17, H 13. Fouls: SFR 20, H 20 (Janes out).