MITCHELL The Mitchell Kernels, receiving votes in the most recent Class AA girls poll, survived a very strong rally in the third quarter by the Huron Tigers and held on for a 51-39 victory Tuesday at the Corn Palace in Mitchell.
Mitchell opened quickly as freshman Londyn Hajek hit a three to open scoring, and the Kernels quickly turned over the Tigers and Hajek hit another three to quickly give the home team a 6-0 lead.
Hylton Heinz opened the scoring for Huron with a drive across the lane. The next trip down the court, Aly Davis stepped back for a three. After Heinz drove hard and put in a reverse layup, the Tigers grabbed a 7-6 lead.
Hajek would drive the baseline and make the bucket while drawing a foul. She missed the free throw, but Mitchell regained the lead 8-7.
That would last all of one trip down the court as Abagail Harrington found Allison Janes on a backdoor cut, and Huron took an 8-7 lead into the second quarter.
Mitchell came out guns blazing in the second frame, as Hajek drove through the lane for a basket, Lauren Van Overschelde hit a reverse layup, and then Matteah Graves hit a pair of threes to give Mitchell a 10-0 run and an 18-9 lead within the first two minutes of the second quarter.
Heinz ended the run, getting fouled and hitting one of two free throws. After a pair of missed Kernel free throws, Mitchell turned over the Tigers and Hajek hit another three to push the lead to double digits, 21-10.
Davis responded with a hard drive, and Addyson Knight split a pair of defenders in transition for a bucket to cut the lead to 21-14.
Van Overschelde got into the lane and hit a floater for Mitchell. Heinz responded with a drive through the lane that resulted in a bucket, but Addie Siemsen nailed a three from behind the college stripe to give Mitchell a 26-16 halftime edge.
Janes opened the second half strong for the Tigers with a drive through the lane for two and then stepping back for a three from the top of the key to quickly cut the lead to 26-21.
Siemsen responded with a three. Chloe Carr was fouled and hit one of two before Heinz then cut through the lane for a bucket to make it 29-24.
Van Overschelde hit a pair of free throws – the first made charity shots of the game for the Kernels – and Heinz responded with another basket. Davis hit a short shot to make it 34-31.
A controversial call got Heinz her third foul and another controversial call gave a free throw attempt to Hajek. She hit one of two. Carr hit one of two free shots to close the quarter with Mitchell leading 35-32.
A pair of turnovers led to layups for the Kernels to open the final period, and Huron never could recover, despite the best efforts of Heinz, who scored all seven of Hurons points in the quarter. Van Overschelde hit a pair of fouls after a technical foul call on Huron coach Kody Kopfmann to put the final points on a 51-39 victory for Mitchell.
The Kernels move to 6-2 behind 14 points from Hajek, 13 of which came in the first half. Siemsen finished with 13 points, seven in the final quarter to help put away the Tigers.
Huron was led by a game-high 21 points from Heinz. Janes and Davis each put in seven points for the Tigers.
Kopfmann expressed frustration with the Tigers effort and missing assignments.
We think we can take plays off and we just cant take those plays off. We werent cutting to the ball hard three of the four quarters, Kopfmann said. In the third quarter, we came out and played hard to get close. Then we just didnt come out in the fourth the way we should have.
Mitchell took the girls junior varsity game by the score of 48-22.
Huron travels to Sioux Falls Lincoln on Friday.
Huron 9 16 32 39
Mitchell 8 26 35 51
Huron (3-5): Allison Janes 3 0-0 7, Aly Davis 3 0-0 7, Hylton Heinz 8 3-4 21, Addyson Knight 1 0-0 2, Chloe Carr 0 2-4 2. Totals: 15 5-8 39.
Mitchell (6-2): Londyn Hajek 6 1-3 14, Londyn Schroeder 1 0-2 3, Matteah Graves 2 0-0 6, Lauren Van Overschelde 2 4-4 8, Carsyn Welch 3 1-4 7, Addie Siemsen 5 0-0 13, Delaney Zoss 0 0-2 0. Totals: 19 6-15 51.
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