Heinz nets career-high 37 to lead Huron
by Benjamin Chase
of the Plainsman
SPEARFISH –– Hylton Heinz had a career-high 37 points Friday as the Huron Tigers held the Spearfish Spartans to just 13 points in the second half to secure a 45-34 win in Spearfish.
The first quarter showed two teams used to using their defense to key their offense. Plenty of turnovers were recorded, but not very many offensive sets were successful. Heinz opened the scoring with a drive through the lane for two.
Tiersyn Grubb got loose behind the Huron defense for two, but then Aly Davis found Heinz cutting to the hoop for a 4-2 Huron lead.
Anna Eisenbarth came off the bench and sank a three for Spearfish to give the Spartans a 5-4 lead. Kate Sharf got the defender with a fake and then sank a baseline jumper to push the lead out to 7-4.
Heinz hit the first of two free throws. She missed the second, but Jayla Schley got the offensive rebound and scored on the putback to tie the game, 7-7.
Eisenbarth stepped back and hit a corner three, and that’d be the last points of the first quarter as Spearfish held a 10-7 advantage after one quarter.
Huron scored the first five points of the second quarter, as Heinz got a bucket on a putback of her own miss, then Jencie Goergen nailed a corner three to put the Tigers up 12-10.
Sierra Sandford was fouled on the drive for Spearfish and made one of two, then Kali Reiners nailed a three from the top of the key to give the Spartans a 14-12 lead.
Heinz responded with a deep wing three, but Spearfish answered with a three in transition for Sharf. Adelyn Bouman nailed a three off a baseline drive and dish to push the Spartan lead to 20-15.
The Spartans got one of two free throws from Grubb, but that was the only scoring for either team in the final three minutes of the first half. Spearfish took a 21-15 lead into the locker room.
Heinz nailed a three from the top of the key to open the second half, but Scharf responded with a similarly-placed three on the other end of the court.
Heinz then hit a long two and scored on an inbounds play. After she hit two free throws, Heinz had ten points in the quarter, and Huron was tied 24-24.
Bouman took the ball hard for Spearfish into the lane for two. Aly Davis then hit a corner three. Heinz was able to get a coast-to-coast layup and rattled in a corner three to push the lead to 32-26. Grubb hit a pair of free throws to send the game to the final frame with Huron up 32-28.
The Tiger defense stepped up in the fourth. Heinz continued to be the primary Huron offense, getting through the lane for two. Once the Spartans were in the bonus, Heinz began a long free-throw parade. She hit 5-of-six to put Huron up 39-28.
Reiners finally nailed a three to get Spearfish on the board in the fourth quarter with less than a minute remaining in the game.
Heinz hit two sets of free throws before Bouman connected from deep again. Heinz closed out her big night with two more free throws to lock up a 45-34 win.
Huron coach Kody Kopfmann was very pleased with his team’s defensive effort.
“They bought in. We changed some stuff in our system,” Kopfmann explained. “We’re trying to find our strengths on the defensive end, and we seem to have found them. The last two nights have been incredible.”
Huron evens its record at 7-7 behind 37 points from Heinz.
Coach Kopfmann was surprised at the scoring imbalance based on his team’s play.
“I thought we did some very good things and spread the ball around on offense,” Kopfmann said. “Hylton benefited from that tonight, but that was a good team offensive game.”
Spearfish falls to 7-5. They were led by Bouman and Scharf with eight points apiece.
The Spearfish girls edged Huron, 48-46, in the junior varsity game, but the Tigers were able to win the sophomore game, 40-33.
Huron 7 15 32 45
Spearfish 10 21 28 34
Huron (7-7): Addyson Knight 0 0-2 0, Aly Davis 1 0-0 3, Hylton Heinz 10 14-16 37, Jencie Goergen 1 0-0 3, Jayla Schley 1 0-0 2. Totals: 13 14-18 45.
Spearfish (7-5): Sierra Sandford 0 1-2 1, Anna Eisenbarth 2 0-0 6, Adelyn Bouman 3 0-2 8, Kali Reiners 2 0-0 6, Tiersyn Grubb 1 3-4 5, Kate Scharf 3 0-0 8. Totals: 11 4-8 34.
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