HURON With six points through three quarters, Huron junior Blake Ellwein was not an impact on the scoreboard coming into the fourth quarter, but 15 points in the quarter and another six in overtime helped the Huron Tigers to a 69-64 victory over the Harrisburg Tigers Saturday afternoon at Huron Arena.
Both teams end the game with a 4-2 record.
Harrisburg was coming off an upset of top-ranked and defending state champion Mitchell coming in and took a bit to get in gear offensively in the first quarter.
Trace Wenz hit a three to open scoring for Huron. Kaden Anderson answered with a three for Harrisburg and Aiden Costain hit one of two free throws for Harrisburgs first lead of the game, 4-3.
Huron went on a huge run after that, with Anderson Porisch nailing a three, Blake Ellwein making a quick post move, and Davis Chase getting a bucket on a give-and-go with Ellwein and then getting fouled and putting in two free throws. Colton McNeil put in a layup after a steal to cap an 11-0 Huron run.
Costain got a bucket on the backend of the press break, but Wenz then got a steal and made a layup to end the first half with Huron up by ten, 16-6.
Wenz opened the second quarter with a three to give Huron a 13-point lead, the largest lead either team would enjoy on the day. Stellen Larson responded with a three, but Chase got one of two free throws to make it 20-9 Huron.
Harrisburg then went on an elongated 16-3 run that saw multiple Harrisburg players contribute from long distance. to take a 25-23 lead. Porisch added a pair of free throws to send the game to the break tied at 25-25.
Huron coach Tim Buddenhagen said his clubs defensive game plan seemed to go out the window in the second quarter, allowing Harrisburg to come back from a big deficit early.
We really didnt follow the game plan, which was to limit the three on their shooters, Buddenhagen explained. We punched them in the mouth early, but their shooters responded and we didnt communicate in the second quarter to let them back in.
Nolan Krull recovered a block by Ellwein and put in a bucket to open the second half, and Porisch responded with a putback. Anderson then sliced into the lane for a bucket and Ellwein responded by getting a fouled and putting in two free throw shots. Costain missed a pair of free throws, but he drew Ellweins third foul on the play.
Ellwein responded by getting fouled and hitting two free throws. Chase then got a bucket underneath for a 33-29 Huron lead midway through the third.
Krull and Costain combined for all of the Harrisburg scoring on a 10-1 run to jump out by five, 39-34. Porisch hit a three to end the run. Anderson put in one of two shots from the charity stripe to end the third quarter with a 40-37 lead for Harrisburg.
Ellwein seemed to have a switch flip when the buzzer sounded to open the fourth quarter. Playing with three fouls, Ellwein scored Hurons first six points as Huron tied the score at 43-43.
Krull would hit a three, Porisch responded with a bucket on the offensive end, and Costain hit a pair of free throws to keep the lead 48-45 for Harrisburg. Ellwein nailed a pair of free throws, and after a Larson three, he drove hard to the hoop to get within 51-49.
The Huron defense lost Larson on consecutive inbounds plays, and he got short shot baskets, pushing the lead out to 55-49. Huron got a turnover and got the ball ahead to Ellwein for a bucket, but Krull drove hard to the hoop, fouling out McNeil and pushing the lead back to six at 57-51 with less than a minute remaining.
Chase hit a bucket and was fouled, and he missed his free throw, but on the rebound, Ellwein hit a corner three to bring Huron within one. Krull hit a pair of free throws, putting Huron down 59-56, but Wenz nailed a three that was closer to the half-court line than the three-point line with 11 seconds left to tie the score at 59 and force overtime.
On the opening tip, Porisch drove in hard and was fouled. hitting both free throws, and Huron never trailed in the extra period as Ellwein responded with a three to make it 64-59 right away in overtime.
Huron would get a key defensive stop and Ellwein hit a jumper before closing out the game with a free throw to make it 69-64 Huron at the final buzzer.
Huron was led by Ellweins 27 points. Porisch had 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Wenz had 13 and Chase chipped in nine.
Harrisburg had four players in double figures, led by Krull with 18 points before he fouled out in overtime. Larson had 13, Anderson 12, and Costain 11 points for the visitors.
Huron edged out a win in the junior varsity game 57-49 but fell 73-37 to Harrisburg in the sophomore game.
Huron faces defending champion Mitchell, who was ranked No. 1 in the most recent Class AA poll, on Tuesday, and Buddenhagen likes what he has seen out of his top three players.
We still have some things to work on, but Anderson, hes a sophomore; hes going to get better, he smiled. Davis, hes a sophomore, hes going to get better. Blake, hes a junior, hes still going to get better.
Harrisburg 6 25 40 59 64
Huron 16 25 37 59 69
Harrisburg (4-2): Kaden Anderson 4 1-3 12, Isaiah Tap 2 1-1 5, Crayton Jibben 2 0-0 5, Nolan Krull 5 4-4 18, Stellen Larson 4 3-4 13, Aiden Costain 3 5-8 11. Totals: 20 14-20 64.
Huron (4-2): Trace Wenz 4 2-2 13, Colton McNeil 1 0-0 2, Jonathan Peterson 0 1-2 1, Blake Ellwein 7 11-13 27, Anderson Porisch 4 4-4 14, Ty Kleinsasser 1 0-0 3, Davis Chase 3 3-5 9. Totals: 20 21-26 69.
Leave a Reply