Pierre earns win against Tigers

HURON — The Pierre T.F. Riggs Lady Govs escaped with a 56-42 victory over the Huron Tigers in girls’ basketball action, Thursday night at the Huron Arena. The Lady Govs improved their record to 6-10 with the win, while the Tigers dropped to 0-17 on the season.
“They’re a good basketball team; they made a lot of shots,” said Huron coach Wade Stobbs. “We know what we have to get to offensively; we just have to get ourselves there.”
The Tigers came into the game with a bang, Jayda Shillingstad returned after a few weeks off due to an injury and started by scoring the first bucket of the game followed by two good free throws. Havyn Heinz then netted seven points in a row, which brought Huron to an 11-5 lead.
“We come out with a lot of energy; getting Jayda back brought a lot of energy to the game,” said Stobbs.
Pierre’s Mack Rath broke the Tiger’s 8-0 run with a two-point shot, then Emily Mikkelsen made a pair of three-pointers. Abbi Kitts and Abigail Foster each netted three’s to bring the Lady Govs into the lead late in the first quarter, before Huron’s Sami Shoultz brought to score to within one at 14-13 to Pierre, with 15 seconds left in the period.
A pair of buckets for Shillingstad gave Huron a one point lead early in the second quarter, followed by two points from Gracie Schoenfelder free throws, which brought the lead to 19-16. But the Lady Govs quickly brought their points up with an 11-1 run, en route to a 27-20 lead, before Mikkelsen scored a two-point net on the buzzer, which brought Pierre to a nine-point lead going into half time.
“Its one of those things that has happened to us all year long, when you don’t win a game the breaks don’t go your way,” said Stobbs. “Defensively we did a decent job; offensively we have to get to that 50 mark.”
Pierre started climbing in points late in the third as Huron was down five before Rath and Kitts brought the Lady Govs lead up to 35-29.
The third period brought Huron six points all from free-throws, before Kylie Overbay flew in with a three-point bucket with two minutes left in the quarter.  
Erika Stout came in with her first points of the match with a basket at 30 seconds left, which took Pierre to 41-32. Mikkelsen made two points on the buzzer to take Pierre’s lead into double figures, with 11 points up at 43-32.  

“We’re trying to get penetration and kicks; when you get those things you gotta make the shots,” explained Stobbs. “If you’re not getting the shots then one mistake turns into two mistakes, which just dominos.”
Two minutes of the last period went unanswered by both teams, but Rath broke the silence followed by three-points from Foster on an 11-0 Lady Govs run, coming in from the third quarter.
Reagan Rozell claimed five points with under two minutes left in the game, while Shillingstad took a late three points in free throws for the Tigers, 10 seconds from the end.
The Huron Tiger girls will travel Saturday to tangle with the Harrisburg Tigers, at 5:15 p.m.  
“Harrisburg not only have the size, they are very good basketball players,” Stobbs said.
“We have go out, throw our best foot forward, play with confidence and see what happens.”  
Pierre recorded a 54-29 victory against Huron in the junior varsity game.
Mattie Huber had 10 points to lead the Tigers, while Braylee Thomas and Madison Pfitzer added five points each.
Huber also had 12 points to lead Huron to a 46-27 victory in the C-game. Bree Gose and Libby Rounds added eight and seven points, respectively.

Pierre     14  29  43  56
Huron     13  20  32  42
Pierre T.F. Riggs (6-10): Mack Rath 6 4-5 16; Emily Mikkelsen 6 0-0 14; Abigail Foster 3 0-0 8; Abbi Kitts 3 0-0 8; Kylie Kessler 3 0-0 6; Erika Stout 1 2-2 4. Totals: 22 6-7 56.
Huron (0-17): Havyn Heinz 4 3-4 12; Jayda Shillingstad 3 5-6 11; Gracie Schoenfelder 1 4-6 7; Reagan Rozell 2 0-1 5; Sami Shoultz 1 2-2 4; Kylie Overbay 1 0-0 3. Totals: 12 14-19 42.
FG: P - 22-44 50%; H - 12-38 32%. 3-pt FG: P - 6-15 (Mikkelsen 2, Foster 2, Kitts 2); H - 4-16 (Heinz 1, Schoenfelder 1, Overbay 1, Rozell 1). Rebounds: P - 26 (Kessler 6, Kodi Severyn 5); H - 26 (Heinz 7, Shoultz 7). Assists: P - 5; H - 2. TO: P - 10; H - 14. Steals: P - 6; H - 7. Fouls: P - 18; H - 12.

MIKE CARROLL/PLAINSMAN
Huron’s Gracie Schoenfelder puts up a shot against the Pierre duo of Emily Mikkelsen (4) and Halle Gronlund during their game Thursday at Huron Arena.

Next, Huron’s Jayda Shillingstad dribbles past Pierre’s Abigail Foster during their game Thursday at Huron Arena.