HURON — Fair warning to all of the top Class “B” girls’ basketball teams that are aiming to play in this year’s State “B” in Huron: the Ethan Rustlers feel right at home playing on the Huron Arena floor.
The Rustlers scored the first 22 points of the game, held the Chester Area Flyers to six shots in the first quarter and punched their ticket to next week’s Class “B” SoDak 16 with a dominating 69-20 win Thursday night in a Region 4B semifinal game.
On paper, this was a collision between Ethan’s tough-as-nails defense and the Flyers’ post-season offense. On Tuesday night, while Ethan was doing everything but posting a shutout in a 54-9 win over Mitchell Christian in a quarterfinal match, Chester Area was outscoring Howard 83-78.
But while the Rustler defense made the trip to Huron, Chester Area’s offense wasn’t hitting on all cylinders Thursday night.
Jessica Bartscher and Karly Gustafson did much of the damage in the opening quarter, as Ethan jumped out to a 22-0 lead. An old-fashioned three-point play by Jennilee Hoyer with 17.5 seconds in the period kept Chester Area from going scoreless in the opening eight minutes of action. The Flyers had no answer for Ethan’s active 2-3 zone, while on the other end of the floor, the Rustlers moved the ball quickly, found open shots and on several occasions Gustafson managed to drive through Chester Area’s zone defense for layups. When the lane wasn’t there, however, the 6-foot senior stepped out behind the three-point arc and stroked the long ball.
A 22-3 first quarter lead grew to a 41-13 bulge at the half, and then Ethan did hold Chester Area scoreless for the third quarter, while tacking on 19 points themselves, slamming the door on any idea of a comeback.

Gustafson scored 21 points and had seven rebounds - both game-high totals - while Maddie Miiller scored 19 and Bartscher chipped in 11. The Rusters shot 58 percent from the field, including a gaudy 12-17 - 71 percent - from behind the three-point arc. Chester Area was led by Hoyer’s seven points while Makenna Larson and Jadon Wages each claimed four rebounds
Ethan won the “B” on the Huron Arena floor in 2015 with a three-point win over Sully Buttes, then finished second a year later, in a rematch against Sully Buttes, back in the Arena.

Chester Area       3 13 13 20
Ethan         22 41 60 69
Chester Area (10-11): Makenna Larson 1 3-4 5; Hanna Reiff 1 0-0 3; Jennilee Hoyer 3 1-1 7; Jadon Wages 1 1-2 3; Jayda Kenyon 1 0-0 2. Totals: 7 5-7 20.
Ethan (21-0): Jessica Bartscher 4 0-0 11; Maddie Miiller 7 1-1 19; Karly Gustafson 9 0-0 21; Cameryn Logan 2 0-0 4; Lexi Lingemann 1 1-2 4; Callie Hohn 2 1-2 5; Shawntel Hohn 1 0-0 3; Hannah Bartscher 1 0-0 2. Totals: 27 3-5 69.
FG: CA - 7-39 18%; E - 27-47 58%. 3-pt FG: CA - 1-13 8% (Reiff); E - 12-17 71% (Miiller 4, J. Barscher 3, Gustafson 3, Lingemann, S. Hohn). Rebounds: CA - 23 (Larson 4, Wages 4); E - 29 (Gustafson 7). TO: CA - 23; E - 11. Fouls: CA - 5; E - 7.