HURON In their first matchup with the Tea Area Titans as members of the Eastern South Dakota Conference, the Huron Tigers trailed the entire game and struggled to make things work until the fourth quarter, but the margin was too much to overcome in a 69-63 loss Friday at Huron Arena.
Huron coach Tim Buddenhagen owned up to his share in the loss.
They had a great game plan. We got out-coached, Buddenhagen lamented. Defensively, we allowed too much middle penetration. That set up their shooters and backdoor cuts.
Titan top returner Marshall Smythe nailed a three to open the game, but the Tigers responded with a scoop shot from Anderson Porisch and a spin move by Blake Ellwein to take a 4-3 lead. It would be the only Huron lead of the game.
The Titans went on a 9-0 run before Trace Wenz and Blake Ellwein hit back-to-back shots, but Smythe responded with another three. Ellwein got to the free throw line twice to end the quarter but could only hit one of four as Tea Area held an 18-9 advantage after one.
Porisch nailed a three after an offensive rebound by the Tigers to open the second quarter, but the Titans responded with a 8-0 run to take a 14-point lead.
Blake Ellwein was the only working offense for the Tigers, as he scored eight of the ten points the team scored the rest of the half, going into the break trailing 30-22.
Hurons offense continued to struggle to get going as Tea Area continued to spread the ball around, with four players reaching double figures for the Titans by the end of the quarter.
The Tigers went into the fourth quarter trailing 52-39, with Porisch and Blake Ellwein combining for 30 of the teams 39 points.
Buddenhagen shook up the lineup to open the fourth quarter, inserting freshman Myles Ellwein and sophomore Ty Kleinsasser, and the two underclassmen provided a spark both on the defensive end and the offensive side of the ball, combining to score the first eight points of the frame for the Tigers, cutting the lead to single figures.
Griffin Wiebenga nailed a jumper to push the lead back out to double-figures, but thats when having other options in the offense freed up Porisch and Blake Ellwein, as the duo scored five straight points to bring the score to 58-52.
The two teams battled close for the next couple of minutes, staying between a four and six-point gap until Myles Ellwein stepped into a three ball, cutting the lead to 63-61.
The Titans had an answer as Smythe glided to the bucket for a layup and Wiebenga hit a jumper in the lane. Hurons offense couldnt come up with the answer, and the Titans came away with a 69-63 upset victory over the Tigers, ranked fourth in the AA preseason rankings.
Waiting until the end really left the Tigers in a tough position, according to Coach Buddenhagen.
We got in scramble mode, and Blake and Anderson got tired. We tried to use our timeouts to give those guys breaks, he said. Smythe and Wiebenga were the two guys we knew we needed to stop, and they scored 35 of their 69, so we didnt get the guys we knew we needed to get.
The Titans move to 1-0 as Smythe led four in double-digits with 18 points. Wiebenga added 17, Jaxson Merrigan had 14, and Gavin Shawd scored 13 for the Titans in the win.
Huron fell to 0-1 despite having three players in double figures, led by a game-high 26 for Blake Ellwein. Porisch added 17 and Myles Ellwein came off the bench to chip in 11, nine in the fourth quarter.
Even with the loss, Buddenhagen feels there are better days ahead.
The guys when theyre open need to hit shots. We didnt do that tonight, Buddenhagen stated. I dont think we brought our best shot tonight.
Huron is back in action Tuesday at home against Brookings.
Tea Area 18 30 52 69
Huron 9 22 39 63
Tea Area (1-0): Marshall Smythe 7 2-2 18, Cole McKinney 0 2-2 2, Mitch Grant 1 0-0 2 , Griffin Wiebenga 6 2-2 17, Rylan Norris 0 1-2 1, Jaxson Merrigan 6 1-3 14, Kayden Williamson 1 0-1 2, Gavin Shawd 4 4-5 13, Isaac Slowey 0 0-2 0. Totals: 25 12-19 69.
Huron (0-1): Trace Wenz 1 0-0 2, Myles Ellwein 4 0-0 11, Kolby Hofer 1 0-0 3, Jonathan Peterson 1 0-0 2, Blake Ellwein 6 13-19 26, Anderson Porisch 7 1-1 17, Ty Kleinsasser 1 0-0 2. Totals: 21 14-20 63.
Leave a Reply