De Smet rallies past Sully Buttes to reach consolation title game in B

By Plainsman Staff
ABERDEEN — De Smet scored 21 of the final 25 points in the game to rally for a 50-43 victory against Sully Buttes in the consolation semifinals at the Class B State Tournament at the Barnett Center in Aberdeen.
The Bulldogs, who were the No. 3 seed entering the tournament, held a 24-21 lead over seventh-seeded Sully Buttes entering the second half.
The Chargers would outscore De Smet 18-8 in the third quarter to build a 39-32 lead.
The Bulldogs used a 3-pointer by Noah Leuthmers to slice their deficit to just one point at 39-38 with 5:22 remaining in the game.
A putback and a foul by Grant Wilkinson put De Smet in front 41-39, but the Chargers answered with a field goal by Easton Moore to tie for the final time in the game.
A 3-pointer by Carter Wilkinson kick-started a run of nine unanswered points, which netted the Bulldogs a 50-41 lead with 21.1 remaining on the clock
After struggling to find points throughout the game due to stiff defensive pressure by Sully Buttes, Grant Wilkinson would score the final nine points for De Smet to finish with a team-high 18 points.
“We hadn’t been shooting it well kind of all day and even Grant today just couldn’t get in there,“ De Smet coach Jeff Gruenhagen said. “We kind of held it together, made a couple shots, a couple key shots from our guys and finally got a couple threes to go in for us.
Coy VanRegenmorter finished with nine points for the Bulldogs, who improved to 20-5. Leuthmers and Kolby Sinclair each had eight points, while Carter Wilkinson had seven points.
Grant Wilkinson led De Smet with 18 rebounds, while Slayten Wilkinson had four assists.
Wesley Wittler had a game-high 19 points to lead three players in double figures for Sully Buttes, which is now 18-7. Easton Moore and Jett Yackley each had 10 points.
Wittler also had a team-high 11 rebounds and five steals for the Chargers, while Yackley had three assists.
De Smet will face fourth-seeded Aberdeen Christian for the consolation championship at 12:45 p.m., today at the Barnett Center.
Sully Buttes will play top-seeded Viborg-Hurley for seventh place at 11 a.m., today at the Barnett Center.

De Smet 11 24 32 50
Sully Buttes 12 21 39 43
De Smet (20-5): Noah Leuthmers 2 2-4 8; Kolby Sinclair 3 0-0 8; Grant Wilkinson 6 6-10 18; Carter Wilkinson 2 1-4 7; Coy VanRegenmorter 4 0-2 9. Totals: 17-38 9-20 50.
Sully Buttes (18-7): Easton Moore 4 0-0 10; Jett Yackley 2 4-4 10; Wesley Wittler 7 3-7 19; Gavin Colson 1 2-2 4. Totals: 14-53 9-13 43.
Rebounds: D 38 (G. Wilkinson 16); SB 30 (Wittler 11). 3-point goals: D 7-14 (Leuthmers 2, Sinclair 2, C. Wilkinson 2, VanRegenmorter 1); SB 6-26 (Moore 2, Yackley 2, Wittler 2). Turnovers: D 12; SB 5. Assists: D 15 (S. Wilkinson 4); SB 7 (Yackley 3). Steals: D 2; SB 6 (Wittler 5). Fouls: D 15 (C. Wilkinson, out); SB 20 (Falkenhagen, out).

Late surge lifts Wall to victory against De Smet in Class B tourney

BY MIKE CARROLL
OF THE PLAINSMAN
ABERDEEN — Three of the top four seeds in the Class B State Boys’ Basketball Tournament suffered setbacks in the opening round on Thursday at the Barnett Center..
Eighth-seeded Lyman opened the upset parade with a 49-44 victory against top-seeded Viborg-Hurley in the first game of the tournament and fifth-seeded Castlewood followed with a 53-50 win against fourth-seeded Aberdeen Christian.
Second-seeded Freeman was the lone top seed to secure a win with a 63-55 victory against seventh-seeded Sully Buttes.
Sixth-seeded Wall ended the opening day with a 60-57 victory against third-seeded De Smet.
The Eagles, who improved to 20-4, set the tone early with an umtempo attack against the much taller De Smet squad.
After the Bulldogs went ahead 4-2 on the first of 17 field goals in the game for 6-foot, 10-inch Grant Wilkinson, Wall embarked on a 16-3 run. Teelan Kjerstadt had nine points in the rally, which netted the Eagles their biggest lead of the opening half at 18-7 with 2:07 to play in the first quarter.
With back-to-back baskets by Grant Wilkinson, De Smet would pull back to within single digits at 20-11 by the end of the opening quarter.
With a putback by Grant Wilkinson followed by a field goal by Kolby Sinclair the Bulldogs sliced their deficit to 20-15.
Wall would build its lead back to eight points at 25-17, before De Smet used a 3-pointer by Noah Leuthmers and a shot by Grant Wilkinson to pull to within three at 25-22.
After watching the Eagles stretch the lead back to nine points at 31-22 , the Bulldogs would score the final eight points of the opening half.
Grant Wilkinson had a pair of putbacks, while Leuthmers had a pair of baskets in the rally, which cut Wall’s lead to just 31-30 at the half.

De Smet would pull even a 31-31 with a free throw by Wilkinson near the start of the third quarter, however, the Eagles built oa 5-point advantage with five straight points form Kjerstad.
The Bulldogs answered the run with one of their one to net their first lead since early in the game.
Sinclair and Slayten Wilkinson started the rally for De Smet with drives that resulted in layups to pull within a point at 38-37.
Back-to-back baskets, followed by a pair of free throws by Grant Wilkinson gave the Bulldogs a 43-38 lead.
The teams would swap baskets for the final three minutes of the third quarter, which ended with De Smet holding a 49-45 lead.
Wall would resort to a double team on Grant Wilkinson in the middle to slow the Bulldogs offensively in the final quarter. The move would pay dividends, as De Smet would manage just eight points during the final eight minutes of play.
A free-throw by Jace Mohr brought the Eagles back to with three to start the fourth quarter, but Grant Wilkinson would follow with a field goal to give the Bulldogs otheir biggest lead of the final quarter at 51-46.
After a field goal by Kjerstad, Emmet Dinger hit back-to-back shots, including a 3-pointer, to put Wall back in front 53-51 with 5:40 to play.
Luethmers scored on the ensuing possession to pull De Smet even. Two minutes later, Grant Wilkinson scored to put the Bulldogs in front 55-33.
Kjerstad then converted on a 3-pointer for Wall on the ensuing possession to snag a 56-55 laed with 3:02 the play.
Neither team would score again until the final minute of play. A basket by Kjerstad stretched the lead to 58-55 for th Eagles with 24.2 seconds to play.
Grant Wilkinson converted on his third field goal of the fourth quarter to putll the Bulldogs to with a point at 58-57 with 15.1 second remaining on the clock.
A pair of free throws by Kjerstad clinched the 60-57 victory for Wall with 3.1seconds to play.
Kjerstad finished with 31 points to lead the Eagles, while Dinger also reached double figures with 10 points. Dawson Handcock and Mohr had six points each.
Grant Wilkinson led all scorers with 40 points for De Smet. The effort put him one point shy of the record for single game scoring in the opening round.
Leuthmers added 11 points for the Bulldogs, who are now 19-5. Grant Wilkinson had 19 rebounds, while Slayten Wilkinson had six assists.

Wall 20 31 45 60
De Smet 11 30 49 57
Wall (20-4): Emmet Dinger 4 0-0 10; Dawson Handcock 3 0-0 6; Jace Mohr 1 4-6 6; Teelan Kjerstadt 10 9-9 31; Trevor Schulz 1 0-0 3; Carter Sundall 2 0-0 4. Totals: 21-48 13-15 60.
De Smet (19-5): Noah Luethmers 4 2-2 11; Slayten Wilkinson 1 0-0 2; Kolby Sinclair 2 0-0 4; Grant Wilkinson 17 6-8 40. Totals: 24-62 8-10 57.
Rebounds: W 25 (Mohr 5, Amiotte 5); D 41 G. Wilkinson). 3-point goals: W 5-17 (Dinger 2, Kjerstad 2, Schulz 1); D 1-18 (Leuthmers 1). Turnovers: W 9; D 12. Assists: W 8 (Mohr 3); D 11 (S.Wilkinson 6) . Steals: W 5 (Mohr 2); D 2. Fouls: W 14; D 14.