SIOUX FALLS — The Huron Tiger boys’ basketball team took a 69-54 loss to the Sioux Falls Lincoln Patriots, after a hard fought game, held Saturday night.
The Patriots are set to advance in the State Tournament, as they improved their season record to 14-6 with the win, while the Tigers ended their season with a 7-14 record.
“The turnovers killed us, we needed to attack but all of a sudden we got some fear that Lincoln could smell, then the pressure got harder,” said Huron coach Tim Buddenhagen. “We put on the brakes instead of attacking the basket, and when we attack the basket we get good shots.”
Alex Glanzer made the first basket for the Patriots within a minute of the game starting, but Tanner Evers tied it up at 2-2 with a quick comeback for Huron.
But then Glanzer made a layup on the transition and added another two points for the Patriots, taking back the lead early.
Huron’s Jett McGirr made a free-throw point from a Jared Jaros foul. Tanner Evers then rebounded followed by a Teegan Evers steal. That led to an Isaac Carr three-point shot, which put the Tigers at a two point lead at 4:40 left in the first.
The Patriots tied the score up to 6-6, but Teegan added three more points to reclaim the lead.
But the Tigers’ lead was short lived as Diang Gatluak and Glanzer each added two within two minutes to go. Huron wouldn’t go down easy though with a Carr three-pointer. Lincoln answered with a Gatluak three, then Alex Hill evened out the score at 14-14 with an offensive rebound before the buzzer.
Buddenhagen said, “our kids played hard; there was a couple time they were a little slow to the ball. We needed more energy, enthusiasm and a sense of purpose, but give them credit because they played their tails off.”
Glanzer netted a two-pointer to begin the second period, before Kobe Busch ran down the open court for the two-point layup, bringing the score to 16-16.
Jaros took another foul to give Carr some free-throw points, but Jymell Nave took the Patriots lead up to two, at 20-18.

Christophe Bwanya put his name on the Patriot board with his first bucket of the game midway through the second quarter, but a technical foul on Glanzer led to Busch free-throws, decreasing the lead to one point at 3:50.
A 5-0 run for the Patriots gave Huron a disadvantage leading toward half-time, but Busch claimed three points for the Tigers followed by another two from Dawson Diede.
But Bwanya netted a two-point shot, then went for another and missed the layup, which was followed up by Glanzer for two, going into half-time with a 31-26 Patriots advantage.
Busch came in with a three-point shot in the first seconds of the second half, but Glanzer immediately followed with three more for the Patriots. Then Carr took a free-throw point, taking the score to 34-30.
“When Kobe gets it going he’s tough to stop, I think he’s going to be a special player,” Buddenhagen explained. “We gave ourselves a chance, we just couldn’t get over the hump to get that lead.”
SF Lincoln added up the points early in the third, until Busch broke the run with an 18-footer and a rebound, before Jett McGirr shot triple two-point buckets, taking the Patriots lead down to two at 40-38.
Dillon Barrow made a three-throw point after a bucket from Bwanya, but Busch came back with two, followed by a Carr rebound. Then Busch made a shot from the top of the key at 3:56 to go, taking Lincoln’s lead down to one point.
Both teams passed the lead back and forth. Nolan Wiegel came in with a couple buckets for Huron, but back to back threes for Jaros put the Patriots in the lead at 52-47 to end the third period.
“We had good looks then Sioux Falls started to take the lead with threes, we just needed to do a little bit of a better job,” explained Buddenhagen.
Glanzer netted three points to open the last quarter, while the Patriots’ momentum kept the points coming.
Midway through the last period, SF Lincoln had its biggest lead of the game at 17 points, after a 12-0 run.
Huron was stuck at 47 until Carr made the defensive rebound. Then Diede bucketed two points and a free-throw, within three-minutes of the game.
At two minutes left, McGirr and Benjamin Walton added two more points each, but Gatluak’s last net ended the game with a 69-54 win for the Patriots.
“Our guys didn’t quit, thats the best thing about this group, they kept going at it. We could have packed it in but they kept working. Give our kids credit for playing hard tonight and being flexible,” Buddenhagen said.

SF Lincoln     14  31  52  69
Huron      14  26  47  54
Sioux Falls Lincoln (14-6): Diang Gatluak 6 3-4 16; Alex Glanzer 5 4-5 15; Christophe Bqanya 6 0-0 13; Jared Jaros 3 3-4 11; Jymell Nave 4 0-2 8; Dillon Barrow 1 1-4 3; Victor Games 1 0-0 2; Zach Sullivan 0 1-2 1. Totals: 26 12-21 69.
Huron (7-14): Kobe Busch 5 6-7 18; Jett McGirr 4 1-2 0; Isaac Carr 2 3-4 9; Dawson Diede 1 3-3 5; Teegan Evers 1 0-0 3; Tanner Evers 1 0-0 2; Alex Hill 1 0-0 2; Benjamin Walton 1 0-0 2. Totals: 18 13-17 54.
FG: SF - 26-55 47%; HU - 18-49 37%. 3-pt FG: SF - 5-22 (Jaros 2, Bwanya 1, Glanzer 1, Gatluak 1); HU - 5-18 (Carr 2, Busch 2, Tegen Evers 1). Rebounds: SF - 38 (Nave 7); HU - 27 (Carr 6). Assists: SF - 21; HU - 9. TO: SF - 13; HU - 14. Steals: SF - 10; HU - 5. Fouls: SF - 13; HU - 18.