HURON — The Huron Tigers fought back from an 11-point third-quarter deficit Friday night against the fifth-ranked Brandon Valley Lynx, but ultimately ran out of time and suffered a 51-44 ESD boys’ basketball loss.
“I thought our kids really put out the effort out there tonight,” said Huron coach Tim Buddenhagen. “We had a tough second quarter, we just couldn’t score and we could have laid down and died at the half, but we didn’t. We came back and fought hard tonight.”
The Tigers exploded out of the gate, racing to an 8-0 lead as a Teegan Evers three, an old-fashioned three-point play by Isaac Carr and a basket by Kobe Busch catapulted Huron to the quick advantage before Brandon Valley got on the board.
A pair of baskets by Brandon’s Max Wilde were countered by a lay-up from Evers, then Dawson Diede scored on a sweet save under the basket by Nolan Wiegel to make it 12-5.
But a Carr basket at the two-minue mark was balanced by two free throws and a short jumper by Cade Terveer and made it 14-9 Tigers at the buzzer.
The Lynx run continued into the second quarter, as they scored 10 more points to push into a 19-14 lead and prompted a Huron timeout.
Out of the break, the Lynx got three more points as Carter Olthoff hit one-of-two from the line, got the rebound on the missed charity toss and drained the short jumper, before Evers hit a three to stop the run and make it 22-18.
The Lynx, however, were not satisfied, as they scored five more points over the last two possessions of the half, including a three-pointer from Terveer to close the half on top, 27-18.
“That second quarter really hurt us tonight,” Buddenhagen noted.
The teams traded buckets to open the second half, then Terveer hit a pair of free throws to give the Lynx their biggest lead of the game at 31-20.
Huron responded, scoring 10 straight points as Evers ignited the rally with a three-point field goal, then found a cutting Alex Hill for an easy bucket.
Cooper Fryberger came off the bench and scored inside and then Tanner Evers took a long pass and converted the layup for a 31-31 tie and prompted a timeout from Lynx coach Brent Deckert.
Terveer scored on a short hook out of the timeout, and Huron got one-of-two at the line from Jett McGirr before Nate Keegan drained a three for the Lynx.
Huron held the ball for the last shot and Hill converted a layup at the buzzer to make it 36-34 Lynx.
Brandon opened the final period with a three-pointer from Evan Talcott - the first points of the game from the Lynx all-stater - and another three from Wilde countered an inside bucket from Tanner Evers.
Teegan Evers has both ends of a one-and-one, but Talcott responded with two charity tosses to make it 44-38.
Busch hit a deuce to cut it to four, but a couple of misfires and a turnover cost Huron possessions that turned out to be at a premium.
Talcott scored a basket and Ohltoff hit a free throw, but Tanner Evers converted an offensive rebound. Brandon Valley took a little air out of the ball, using as much clock as possible and hitting just enough free throws down the stretch for the win.
“I thought our guys did a nice job with the game plan,” Buddenhagen noted. “We played pretty good defense, but didn’t rebound at times and gave them too many second chances, which Brandon Valley made the most of. That and a lack of free throws dug us a hole tonight.”
Wilde scored 16 points for Brandon Valley, while Terveer added 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Olthoff led the Lynx on the boards with nine and also notched 10 points on the night.
Huron got a game-high 17 points from Teegan Evers, the second game he has led the Tigers in scoring. He was the only player in double figures, however. Carr snagged eight rebounds and Busch claimed seven.
“Every game, every possession has to be important because each game is a playoff game for us the rest of the way,” Buddenhagen said. “We only have three more home games, so each and every time we take the court we have to have that mindset.”
Brandon Valley swept the preliminary games as well, taking the JV game 61-28, despite 12 points from Remington Walton, and claiming the Sophomore game 62-30. Jaren Schley led Huron with seven points.
In the Freshmen games, the Lynx took the “A” contest 70-37, as Huron got 12 points from Derek Siemonsma, while the “B” game score was 58-17 for Brandon Valley. Huron was led by Juan Urena’s seven points.
Huron returns to action on Tuesday, when it travels to Brookings to face the Bobcats.
PHOTOS BY MIKE CARROLL/PLAINSMAN Huron’s Nolan Wiegel puts up a shot against Brandon Valley defenders Alex Tietjen, left, and Evan Talcott during their game Friday at Huron Arena.
Huron’s Jett McGirr handles the ball on the perimeter as he is guarded by Brandon Valley’s Mason VanWesten during their game Friday at Huron Arena.
