PIERRE — It was a close call for the Huron girls as the Tigers fell to the Pierre Lady Govs, 59-56, Thursday night in Class “AA” basketball action.
“We have a lot of games coming up in January; we need that time to gather and regroup,” said girls’ basketball Tiger Coach, Wade Stobbs.
The Tigers took an early lead with a three-point shot from Gracie Schoenfelder within the first minute of the game.
The Lady Govs’ doubled their score with a shot from Emry Heiss before Emily Mikkelsen took the score up to 8-5. Then Huron caught fire as Havyn Heinz made the basket with a three-pointer. Another three points plus free throws from Jayda Shillingstad won the Tigers the first quarter at a 12-10 lead.
Shillingstad took over the beginning of the second quarter with a two-point shot and free throws, as the Tigers took their lead to 16-10. Kylie Kessler then answered for the Lady Govs, which tied the score up at 16-16.
Sami Shoultz made a free throw with 4:50 left in the quarter, before the Lady Govs had a five point run with three pointers from Abigail Foster and Abbi Kittz, plus a Halle Gronlund free throw.
Reagan Rozell snatched up another three points, as the Tigers trailed behind. The Lady Govs finished with control of the second quarter at 24-20 with a shot from Mikkelsen.
Quickly Heinz came back from half time with two points, followed by another two from Shillingstad to tie up the score at 24-24, before Rath scored another three as the Govs took back the lead.

The Tigers climbed their way back into the lead late in the third quarter with a combination of points from Heinz and Schoenfelder, at 34-33 with one minute on the clock. Mikkelsen took the lead back  by one point at 37-36 for the Govs to end the third quarter.
The Lady Govs raced ahead with points in the fourth quarter, as the team’s competitive play kept them in the lead. The Tigers wouldn’t go down without a fight as Heinz caught fire and took the score from 44-52 to 54-54 with two minutes left in the game.
“We were down many points but then got a couple steals and buckets and tied it back up,“ Stobbs stated. “We gave ourselves a chance, we were right there and it was a step in the right direction.”
From then both teams played point tag, Rath made a two point basket before Tenley Buddenhagen came in with two points from free throws. But the game finished there for Huron, as Mikkelsen and Kittz collectively took three points from free throws, which won the game 59-56 for the Lady Govs.

Pierre     10  24  37  59
Huron     12  20  36  53
Pierre (2-3): Mack Rath 83-6 19; Emily Mikkelsen 4 5-6 14;  Kylie Kessler 5 3-7 13; Abbi Kittz 2 2-4 7; Abigail Foster 1 0-0 3; Halle Gronlund 0 1-2 1. Totals 21 14-27 59.
Huron (0-6): Jayda Shillingstad 74-5 19; Haven Heinz 5 8-8 19; Gracie Schoenfelder 5 0-1 12; Reagan Rozell 1 0-1 3; Tenley Buddenhagen 0 2-2 2; Sami Schoultz 0 1-2 1. Totals 18 15-19 56.

FG: P - 21/57, 36%; H - 18/65, 27%. 3-pt FG: P - 3/16, 18%; H - 5/14, 35%.

Photo:

Huron’s Sami Shoultz eyes the basket on a shot during a game against Pierre on Thursday in Pierre.

Photo by Scott Millard/Capital Journal