SIOUX FALLS – The Huron Tigers saw a 10-point lead evaporate over the last four minutes of the fourth quarter Saturday afternoon, as the Sioux Falls Lincoln Patriots came back to post a 47-45 win in a non-conference girls’ basketball game, that was rescheduled from Friday night.

“We really didn’t do a good job on defense down the stretch,” said Tiger coach Tim Buddenhagen after the tough loss. “When the game got tight, we got quiet on defense and they were setting back screens for Sand. We got quiet, we didn’t talk and we can’t do that.”

Lincoln improves to 6-3 with the win, while Huron falls back to .500 on the season, at 4-4, with the loss.

Both teams started off toasty from the floor, and the score was tied at 5-5 after two minutes, before baskets from Hamtyn Heinz and Heavan Gainey staked Huron to a four-point cushion at the 4:44 mark of the opening quarter.

But most of the remainder of the period belonged to the Patriots, as four different Lincoln players combined for a quick 12-0 run over a two-and-a-half minute segment to put the Patriots up 17-9 at the 1:28 mark of the quarter. Huron got a rebound basket from Alexis Feenstra to break the string and the quarter ended with Sioux Falls holding a 17-11 lead.

Just as they did against Mitchell on Tuesday night, the Huron girls got back-to-back threes to open the second period. Isabelle Ellwein hit a three one minute in and Heinz tickled the twines 30 seconds later and suddenly the score was tied again.

A three from Addie Fawcett and a bucket by freshmen Kierra Lubovich put Lincoln back ahead by five, with just under three minutes in the half. Huron senior guard Bella Shreeve took an inbounds pass on the next Tiger possession and took it the length of the floor to cut the deficit to three points, the Ellwein hit three point baskets on consecutive possessions and give Huron a 25-22 lead as the teams headed to the halftime break.

Lincoln scored two quick buckets to open the third quarter, as Lubovich got a put back and Adyson Sand hit a three pointer to put the Patriots back in the lead. Shreeve countered with one of two from the line and a Heinz three put Huron back up by two, until a basket by Aubreigh McCall knotted the score at 29 with 2:25 to play.

But Huron ended the quarter on a 6-0 run, as Heinz hit a pair of charity tosses, Ellwein hit a runner in the line and Feenstra scored on a put back with 20 seconds to play, to give the Tigers a 35-29 lead headed to the final period.

“I thought we did some nice things in the second and third quarters,” Buddenhagen noted.

Feenstra opened the fourth quarter with a lay in off a nice feed from Shreeve, but Lincoln got a free throw and then a three from Fawcett. Huron responded with a Gainey basket off another Shreeve feed, all started by a steal by Feenstra and after Heinz hit pair of free throws, Huron held a 43-33 lead with 4:52 to play in the game.

Lincoln got a three from Sand seconds later to make it 43-36, and and the score stayed three for the next three mintues, until Sand got loose for two more threes, on back-to-back possessions, and suddenly the lead was down to one point, at 43-42.

Huron pushed the ball up the floor and Gainey found Feenstra cutting to the basket to respond and break the Lincoln rally, as Huron took a 45-42 lead, but Alicen Honner to open inside for Lincoln to cut the margin back to one with 22 seconds to play.

Huron missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw and the Patriots quickly moved down the court and Lubovich gave them their first lead, at 46-45, since early in the second half with six seconds left to play. On the ensuing inbounds, Huron was called for a turnover, despite what appeared to be a clear foul on a Lincoln player and the Patriots managed to hit a free throw with a half second left to make the final margin 47-45.

“I think we had chances to drive and get to the rim and maybe the free throw line in the final minutes,” Buddenhagen said. “But credit Lincoln, they packed the lane and made us shoot from the outside. But we just didn’t execute on offense and we let the game slip by us.”

Fawcett led all scorers with 16 points, while Sand ended with 15, nine in the final four minutes of play. Lubovich chipped in eight for the Patriots.

Huron put five players in the scoring column, as Ellwein led the Tigers off the bench with 11 points. Both Heinz and Gainey tallied nine points, while Shreeve and Feenstra each chalked up eight points.

Huron will need to regroup quickly, as Brookings visits Huron Arena on Tuesday and then the Tigers host Spearfish on Friday night and Sturgis on Saturday afternoon as the schedule ramps up.

“Every game is important for us going forward,” Buddenhagen said. “We must get better every time out, particularly on the defensive end of the floor.”

Lower level games found the Patriots taking a 40-38 win in the JV game, while Huron rebounded with a 52-30 mauling in the “C” game.

Huron         11 25 35 45
S.F. Lincoln     17 22 29 47

Huron (4-4): Bella Shreeve 3 1-2 8; Hamtyn Heinz 2 4-4 9; Heavan Gainey 4 0-0 9; Alexis Feenstra 4 0-1 8; Isabelle Ellwein 4 0-0 11; Bryn Huber 0 0-1 0. Totals 17 5-8 45.

S.F. Lincoln (6-3): Addie Fawcett 6 0-1 16; Adyson Sand 5 0-0 15; Kierra Lubovich 3 0-0 6; Alicen Honner 1 1-2 3; Aubreigh McCall 1 0-0 2; Mariah Siem 1 1-2 3; Alaina Sorenson 0 2-2 2. Totals: 17 4-7 47.