by Benjamin Chase
of the Plainsman
HURON — With two starters fouled out, the Huron Tigers rallied from a double-digit deficit to get within one, but couldn’t pull out the win as the Yankton Gazelles stole a 54-50 victory Thursday at Huron Arena.
The Yankton press gave Huron fits throughout the night, but especially early on. Nora Krajewski got a layup after a steal for Yankton to open scoring. Hylton Heinz responded for Huron with a runner in the lane.
Jordyn Kudera hit a pair of free throws and then got a layup after a steal. September Rauch nailed a wing three to push the early Yankton lead out to 9-2.
Jencie Goergen came off the bench and hit a deep wing three. Heinz got a basket and Harrington knocked in a pair of free throws. After Heinz hit one of two free throws, Huron completed an 8-0 run to take its first lead with 1:37 left in the first quarter.
Yankton leading scorer Eden Wolfgram would get her first points on a long jumper, and after Addyson Knight got one of two free throws, she sliced down the lane to give the Gazelles a 13-11 lead.
Goergen would nail a second three to give Huron back the lead, but Wolfgram sank a jumper at the first quarter buzzer to give Yankton a 15-14 lead after one period.
Heinz opened the second quarter by getting fouled, hit one of two shots, but the Tigers were able to get the offensive rebound on the missed, and Heinz ended up with the ball on a short jumper to give Huron a 17-15 lead early in the second.
Kudera then launched a wing three, and Wolfgram pulled up for a jumper as the shot clock expired to give the Gazelles a 21-17 lead.
Aly Davis worked the pick and roll with Heinz and ended up with a layup, Chloe Carr put in a short lefty basket, and Davis was fouled and hit a pair of free throws to give Huron a 23-21 lead.
Unfortunately, Yankton would go off over the last minute of the half. Kudera got one of two free throws, Wolfgram got a steal and a layup, and Rauch sank a three to send the Gazelles to the locker room with a 27-23 lead.
Huron coach Kody Kopfmann expressed his frustration with his team’s start, especially attempting to break the Yankton press.
“We’ve got to have better starts. We’ve got to have better ‘want to,’” Kopfmann lamented. “Credit to Yankton; they sped us up and turned us over, but that’s not the best press we’ve seen.”
The Tigers used their height advantage to open the second half as Carr got back-to-back buckets to tie the game at 27, and then Jayla Schley made a putback and Davis scored on a pull-up jumper to make it 31-27.
That’s when Yankton simply took over on both ends of the court, with some assistance from the officiating crew. Wolfgram sank a pair of free throws and Krajewski nailed a three to take back the lead.
After a few questionable calls, a very questionable call gave All-Stater Heinz her fourth foul with 2:57 left in the quarter. The Tigers did take back the lead as Harrington scored on a backdoor pass from Davis to go up 33-32.
Rauch then nailed a three and Kudera dropped in a pair of free throws to put the Gazelles up 37-33.
Schley would get a bucket for Huron and a free throw, but she was the only Huron player to score over the final two minutes as Yankton finished the quarter on a 13-3 run to head into the fourth quarter up 45-36.
Rauch nailed a three to open the final frame, giving the Gazelles their biggest lead, 48-36.
Knight would make a free throw and then get a basket on a backdoor pass from Schley to get Huron within 48-39, but then Heinz fouled out with 5:50 left in the game and Knight fouled out with 4:50 left.
Kudera hit one of two free throws to push the lead back to ten, but Goergen then sank a three. After one of two free throws from Wolfgram, Goergen nailed a three to close the lead to 50-45.
Kudera hit one of two free throws and Goergen sank her fifth three. After a baseline drive from Davis, Huron was within 51-50.
Unfortunately, the turnover bug then bit, and two turnovers led to three free throws for Yankton to close out a 54-50 Gazelle win.
The Gazelles move to 3-7 with just four girls scoring in the game, led by Wolfgram with 21. Kudera had 16 and Rauch had 12 points on four three-point baskets.
Huron falls to 5-7, committing 26 turnovers on the evening. Goergen led the scoring with 15 points, all from deep. Davis and Heinz each had eight points.
Huron swept the lower-level action, winning the JV game, 45-39, and the sophomore game, 35-25.
The Tiger girls travel to Roosevelt on Tuesday. Kopfmann said that the finish to the game was a good sign, but that the upperclassmen on the team would need to step up for the Tigers to finish the season strong.
“Credit to our girls: we made it a game in the fourth when we could have been run out of here,” Kopfmann said. “We’ve got five seniors and two juniors. Someone has to step up with some leadership to turn this around.”
Yankton 15 27 45 54
Huron 14 23 36 50
Yankton (3-7): Eden Wolfgram 6 7-10 21, Nora Krajewski 2 0-0 5, Jordyn Kudera 3 8-14 16, September Rauch 4 0-0 12. Totals: 15 15-24 54.
Huron (5-7): Addyson Knight 1 2-4 4, Aly Davis 3 2-2 8, Hylton Heinz 3 2-4 8, Abagail Harrington 1 2-2 4, Jencie Goergen 5 0-0 15, Chloe Carr 3 0-0 6, Jayla Schley 2 1-2 5. Totals: 18 9-14 50.
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