Early surge helps Brookings past Huron

BROOKINGS – The outcome of Thursday night’s Eastern South Dakota Conference clash between the Bobcat girls and Huron wasn’t in doubt for long.
Brookings scored the first four points, and then, after Tenley Buddenhagen countered for the Tigers, the ‘Cats went on a 14-0 run to close out the first quarter on the way to a 67-44 win.
“We played phenomenal defense and shot 68 percent in the first half and that’s not going to happen very often,” said BHS head coach Mitch McLagan. “When we play that good on defense and then your offense clicks, you’re going to be a pretty scary team, and I thought that’s what we did in the first half.”
The Bobcats pushed their advantage to 28 points – 34-6 – following Regan Weisbeck’s 3-pointer with 3:48 left in the second quarter.
Johanna Miller scored the final five points of the half as Brookings extended its advantage to 29 points – 40-11 – at the intermission.
The Bobcat lead peaked at 36 points twice in the third quarter – both times following baskets by Kailee Bartels – as Brookings led 55-22 heading into the final frame.
Huron outscored the Bobcats 22-12 in the fourth quarter for the final margin.
“We missed a lot of shots and that fueled Brookings’ transition; (they) got easy baskets and then, the basket grows a little bit bigger,” said Tim Buddenhagen of the Bobcats’ quick start. “You can’t give a good team like that fire right away – we wanted to keep it close to a possession or two and then maybe have a chance.
“(Brookings) really runs the floor well; they know where to put the ball; they move it fantastically well; on defense, they are talking so you know that they are engaged – that’s how we have to start developing our program.”

Michaela Jewett’s 17 points and nine rebounds led the ‘Cats, who improved to 5-1 overall and 4-1 in ESD games. Miller finished with 15 points; Ava Burns added nine and Weisbeck chipped in with eight.
Havyn Heinz dropped 12 points for Huron, while Buddenhagen netted six as the Tigers fell to 1-4 and 0-2.
Brookings plays host to Brandon Valley tonight at 7 p.m. while the Tigers welcome Mitchell to the Huron Arena on Saturday.

Huron          2    9  11  22  –  44
Brookings                       18  22  15  12  –  67
Huron (1-4, 0-2 ESD):
Sami Shoultz 0-5 2-2 2, Libby Rounds 0-0 0-0 0, Kylie Overbay 2-4 0-0 4, Tenly Buddenhagen 3-10 0-0 6, Havyn Heinz 5-16 0-0 12, Melissa Berg 0-0 0-0 0, Chelsea Hofer 0-2 0-0 0, Bella Schreeve 1-3 0-0 3, Braylee Thomas 1-2 1-2 4, Lexy Gilbert 1-3 0-0 3, Abby DeJong 2-4 1-1 5, Mattie Huber 0-1 1-2 1, Brooklyn Boetel 0-0 2-2 2, Alexis Feenstra 0-0 2-2 2, Brooke Schiltz 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-50 9-11 44.
Brookings (5-1, 4-1 ESD):
Michaela Jewett 8-13 0-3 17, Johanna Miller 6-10 3-3 15, Alli Gordon 2-2 0-0 5, Carolyn Hieb 1-2 0-0 3, Ava Burns 3-7 3-4 9, Regan Weisbeck 3-5 0-0 8, Kailee Bartels 2-4 0-0 4, Clarissa Miller 0-1 0-0 0, Megan Lippert 0-2 0-0 0, Kennedy Schafer 0-0 0-0 0, Emily Rystrom 2-2 0-0 4, Celia Dobrenski 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 28-50 6-10 67.
3-point goals – H 5-26 (Shoultz 0-2, Overbay 0-1, Buddenhagen 0-5, Heinz 2-9, Hofer 0-1, Shreeve 1-3, Thomas 1-1, Gilbert 1-2, DeJong 0-1, Huber 0-1); B 5-10 (Jewett 1-4, Gordon 1-1, Hieb 1-2, Weisbeck 2-3). Rebounds – H 24 (Shoultz 6); B 37 (Jewett 9). Assists – H 7 (Buddenhagen 3); B 12 (Gordon 4). Steals – H 12 (Huber 3, Heinz 2, Hofer 2); B 9 (Burns 4, Jewett 2). Blocks – H 3 (Hofer, DeJong, Huber); B 0. Turnovers – H 18; B 20. Total fouls – H 12; B 14. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

JUNIOR VARSITY
Brookings 45-
Points – Kennedy Shafer 10, Emily Rystrom 10, Meredith Kindvall 8, Ainsley Shelsta 7
FRESHMAN
Huron 38-30
Points – Allie Clark 12, Claire Burns 5