Brandon Valley holds on against Huron girls

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HURON — A pair of Brandon Valley runs - one in each half - put the Huron Tigers into too deep a deficit and although the Tigers put forth what was one of their top efforts of the season, the Lynx ultimately pulled out a 60-52 ESD Conference girls’ basketball win Friday night at Huron Arena.
Despite playing from behind virtually the entire game, the scrappy Tigers used a never-say-die approach to keep the game within reach. The Lynx pushed the lead to double digits in the first half and while Huron got the difference down to four points on several occasions, the Tigers were never able to get it down to a one-possession game.
Brandon Valley, ranked No. 3 in this week’s South Dakota Sportswriter’s Class “AA” poll, improves to 9-2 while Huron remains winless at 0-11.
“This was by far our best four-quarter effort of the season,” said coach Wade Stobbs. “Outside of a couple mental errors at bad times, we played right with one of the top-ranked teams in the state. We played very well against Mitchell on Tuesday and had a better effort tonight.”
The Tigers’ team defense and solid rebounding on the defensive end kept the game close in the first half.
After Danica Kocer opened the game with a three-pointer in the opening seconds for the Lynx, Huron responded with a basket by Gracie Schoenfelder and a three from Havyn Heinz put Huron on top.
Another three from Heinz made it 8-5 with 6:14 left in the quarter, but the Lynx went on a 10-0 run over the remainder of the period. That was the first bump.
But Huron kept scrapping.
A Heinz bucket cut the difference to five points before Brandon Valley scored four more points on a pair of free throws from Lexi Ellingson and a bucket from Ashley Wells pushed it back to nine, at 19-10.
Ally Fullerton stepped in when Schoenfelder was whistled for her third foul with just under seven minutes left in the half and responded with a solid interior move that resulted in a pair of free throws.
Another Heinz three was countered by a three-pointer from Jazmyn Larson and a pair of Kocer charity tosses. Jayda Shillingstad scored on back-to-back possessions to cut the lead back to five points, 24-19 and the teams traded buckets to make the halftime score 27-21 for the Lynx.
The Tigers cut the margin to three points early in the third quarter, Brandon Valley got a basket from Wells, but Huron responded with a layup from Shillingstad and a three-pointer from Sami Shoultz made it 29-26. Brandon Valley got another three pointer, but Shoultz cashed in an offensive rebound to keep it at a four-point difference.

But Schoenfelder was whistled for her fourth foul, and Ellingson’s free throws ignited a 10-2 Lynx run that made it 42-30 as the quarter drew to a close.
The lead bloomed to 14 as Brandon’s Sam Taylor hit the first of three three-pointers she would knock down in the fourth quarter, but the Tigers fought back. Reagan Rozell hit her second trey in the quarter and a Shoultz put-back made it 53-44. After a Taylor three, Hienz hit three of four from the line and Shoultz scored on back-to-back possessions to make it 56-51 with 1:45 remaining in the game.
But Kocer got loose on the baseline for a layup, just before the shot clock expired to make it 58-51 and after a Tiger turnover, Wells hit a pair of charity tosses to seal the win for the Lynx.
Both teams shot the ball well - Brandon Valley shot 40 percent while the Tigers were at 44 percent. Huron’s higher percentage was helped by a 75 percent effort (6-8) from behind the three-point line, although Brandon Valley did make four more threes in the game.
Both teams had 10 successful free throws, but Huron had nine more turnovers in the game, which became nine more field goal opportunities for the Lynx.
Kocer scored a game-high 22 points for the Lynx, which also got 11 points from Wells, while Ellingson led the Brandon Valley rebounders with six caroms.
Heinz scored 19 points and had seven rebounds for Huron, while Shoultz came off Stobbs’ bench to score 12 points and grab a game-high eight rebounds.
“We really battled tonight,” Stobbs said. “For the second game in a row we took on a very tough team and played well, particularly against the pressure defense that Brandon Valley likes to play. I thought we handled the pressure pretty well and got some open looks.”
Preliminary action found the Lynx earning a pair of wins.
In the JV game, Brandon Valley took a 68-27 win. Huron was led by Sami Shoultz’s 12 points and Tenley Buddenhagen added six. In the Freshman game the Lynx came out on top of a 46-26 decision. Huron was led by Bessie Willemssen’s six points.
The Tiger girls will host Brookings Tuesday at Huron Arena.

Brandon Valley     15  27  42  60
Huron                     8  21  30  52
Brandon Valley (9-2):Lauren Wells 0 2-4 2; Danica Kocer 8 2-2 22; Felicity Klinkhammer 1 0-0 3; Ashley Wells 4 2-3 11; Lexi Ellingson 2 4-8 8; Sam Taylor 3 0-0 9; Marlie Tekrony 1 0-0 2; Jazmyn Larson 1 0-0 3. Totals: 20 10-17 60.
Huron (0-11): Reagan Rozell 2 0-0 6; Jayda Shillingstad 3 0-0 6; Havyn Heinz 5 6-8 19; Sami Shoultz 5 1-2 12; Gracie Schoenfelder 2 0-1 4; Tenley Buddenhagen 0 1-2 1; Allyson Fullerton 1 2-2 4. Totals: 18 10-15 52.
FG: BV - 20-50 40%; H - 18-41 44%. 3-pt FG: BV - 10-21 (Kocer 4, Taylor 3, Klinkhammer, A. Wells and Larson); H - 6-8 (Heinz 3, Rozell 2, Shoultz). Rebounds: BV - 25 (Ellingson 6); H - 36 (Shoultz 8, Heinz 7). TO: BV - 4; H - 13. Fouls: BV - 16; H - 15.


PHOTO BY MIKE CARROLL/PLAINSMAN
Huron’s Havyn Heinz drives the baseline against Brandon Valley’s Sam Taylor during their game Friday at Huron Arena.