by Benjamin Chase
of the Plainsman
HURON –– In a battle between the fourth-ranked Huron Tigers and fifth-ranked Watertown Arrows, the Tigers came out with a hard-fought victory, 61-56, on senior night at Huron Arena Friday.
The Tigers opened the game going to their leading scorer, Blake Ellwein, on the post for an easy two. Jack Mack got a falling scoop in the lane to tie the game at two.
Blake Ellwein fed Davis Chase cutting down the lane for a dunk, but Kaden Decker scored on a quick drive to knot the game at four. Blake was fouled on a baseline jumper and hit a pair of free throws, and Carter Buisker answered for Watertown, scoring on a backdoor cut.
Mason Jurgens nailed a three from the corner for Huron. Anderson Porisch got a feed from Chase to score a reverse layup, and then Blake Ellwein got a block on an outside shot and turned it into a dunk on the other end for a quick 7-0 Huron run to make it 13-6.
Huron’s Carter Porisch drives to the basket against Dane Stark of Watertown during their game Friday at Huron Arena.
Isaac Rehorst hit a pair of free throws to end the Huron run, and Buisker then hit an off-balance three.
Blake Ellwein hit a pair of free throws, but Jackson McClemans sank a tough three to make it 15-14 Huron at the end of one.
McClemans began a very good quarter with a steal, layup, and a free throw to give Watertown its first lead. Myles Ellwein quickly responded with a three to give Huron back an 18-17 lead.
McClemans then scored on a backdoor cut. Blake Ellwein answered with a post move to keep Huron on top, 20-19.
Carter Buisker was fouled on a drive and got the bucket, putting Watertown up 22-20. Carter Porisch was fouled for Huron and made a pair of free throws to tie the game.
McClemans hit a pair of free throws, and Blake Ellwein answered with a backdoor cut for two. McClemens hit an off-balance jumper, and Anderson Porisch scored for the Tigers to tie the game, 26-26.
Buisker got a basket underneath, and Huron then missed both ends of a pair of free throws. Buisker then put down a pair of free throws to give Watertown its biggest lead, 30-26.
Carter Porisch got a basket, and then Anderson Porisch was fouled on a drive to the hoop. He hit a pair of free throws to make it 30-30 at half.
Huron’s Mason Jurgens puts up a 3-pointer during the first half of a game against Watertown on Friday at Huron Arena.
Blake Ellwein opened the second half scoring with a steal and a dunk. Chase then hit a baseline fadeaway to put Huron up 34-30.
Buisker nailed a quick-trigger three, but Anderson Porisch skied for a putback tip. After a pair of Blake Ellwein free throws, Huron was up five, 38-33.
Mack then got one of two free throws and put in a putback on the next possession to bring the Arrows within two, 38-36. Chase then ripped down a putback.
Decker got his defender to fall down and hit a short jumper, but Myles Ellwein nailed a corner three to push the Huron lead back to five, 43-38. That would be the tally as the teams headed to the final quarter.
The fourth quarter opened slowly. Rehorst scored on a bucket underneath, and Carter Porisch got Huron on the board in the final period with a pair of free throws.
Blake Ellwein was fouled on a drive, but he missed the and-one opportunity. Buisker responded with a finger roll to get within 47-42.
Anderson Porisch got a lob from Blake, made the basket and was fouled, sinking the free throw.
Blake then sank a pair of free throws to give Huron a 52-42 lead with 2:26 remaining.
That’s when things went crazy to finish the game.
Buisker hit a deep wing three, and Decker was able to get a steal and make the layup. After Rehorst put in a putback, Watertown was within 52-49.
Blake Ellwein was fouled and hit a pair of free throws to end the Arrow run. He then got a steal and a dunk to swing the momentum.
Chase got a putback, but he then picked up his fifth foul when McClemans threw up a desperation three.
McClemans’ shot went in, and he hit the free throw to climb within five. Anderson Porisch sank a pair of free throws with 20 seconds left.
McClemans drained another three with 8.5 seconds left, and Blake Ellwein was fouled on the inbounds. He made one free throw and missed the second, but when the ball was tipped out, he secured it, and that ended the game with Huron ahead on the scoreboard, 61-56.
Blake Ellwein slams down the ball during Friday’s game against Watertown at Huron Arena.
It wasn’t the prettiest win, but Huron coach Tim Buddenhagen was pleased with his team’s defensive effort.
“I thought we did a great job defensively,” he said. “Our guys just hung in there.”
Huron clinches a share of the ESD regular season championship with the win, moving to 14-4. Blake Ellwein led the way with 25 points and Anderson Porisch chipped in 13.
Carter Porisch led the Tigers with eight rebounds, and Chase secured seven boards.
Watertown falls to 14-4. Buisker (20 points) and McClemans (19 points) did the lion’s share of the scoring. Rehorst secured seven rebounds.
Huron hosts O’Gorman on Tuesday before traveling to Brandon Valley with a chance to win the ESD title outright in that final game.
“ESD champions sounds good,” Buddenhagen smiled, but quickly got serious. “We have a share of it, now we have to go win it outright next week, but we have O’Gorman coming in first.”
Watertown 14 30 38 56
Huron 15 30 43 61
Watertown (14-4): Carter Buisker 7 3-3 20, Jack Mack 2 1-2 5, Kaden Decker 3 0-0 6, Jackson McClemans 6 4-4 19, Isaac Rehorst 2 2-4 6. Totals: 20 10-13 56.
Huron (14-4): Myles Ellwein 2 0-0 6, Mason Jurgens 1 0-0 3, Blake Ellwein 7 11-13 25, Anderson Porisch 4 5-5 13, Davis Chase 4 0-1 8, Chase Schuchhardt 0 0-2 0, Carter Porisch 1 4-6 6. Totals: 19 20-27 61.
FG: W – 20/42, 48%; H – 19/47 40%. 3-pt FG: W – 6/18 (Buisker 3, McClemans 3); H – 3/11 (MEllwein 2, Jurgens). Rebounds: W 21 (Rehorst 7), H 28 (CPorisch 8). Assists: W 3 (McClemans 3), H 9 (BEllwein 3). Steals: W 7 (Decker, McClemans 2), H 6 (BEllwein 4). Turnovers: W 16, H 13. Fouls: W 23 (Mack out), H 17 (Chase out).
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