HURON — The Rapid City Stevens Raiders towered over the Huron Tigers by 32 points, as they took a 68-36 win on Friday night at the Huron Arena.
“Playing a good team like that will only make us better and my girls didn’t give up,” Wade Stobbs, girls’ basketball coach explained.
The teams played evenly through the early moments, as Stevens established an early 7-2, only to see Huron respond with two free throws from Havyn Heinz and a bucket from Tenley Buddenhagen cut the gap to a single point.
Then the Raiders went on an 8-0 run, all from the hands of Aly Hammon, to make it 15-6. Heinz got another free throw and hit a buzzer-beating three pointer to keep the margin at single digits, at 19-10 at the quarter stop.
“Buddenhagen came out extremely well in the first half for us,” said Stobbs. “Rapid City doesn’t really have a weak spot you can take advantage of.”
Stevens flexed their defensive muscles to open the second quarter, scoring the first 11 points of the period off five straight steals and scores to make it 30-10.
The Tigers got the margin down to 15 points with three minutes to go as Buddenhagen hit a runner in the lane and Ally Fullerton hit two free throws, which made the score 33-18.
But that was as close as it got in the first half, as the Raiders took a 39-23 lead to the locker room.
“They are one of the top teams in the state for a reason, there’s not a weak spot against them,” stated Stobbs. “They are very physical and athletic up front.”
Mya Hendry came back from half time with three two-point baskets sandwiched between buckets from Lexus Eagle Chasing and Elizabeth Schaefer.
Huron struggled in the third quarter as the Raiders took a 20 point run. The Tiger girls took some rebounds and turnovers but still didn’t manage to get the ball in the net, which concluded the quarter at a 59-23 score.

“We turned the ball over quite a few times in the third quarter,” Stobbs said. “Buddenhagen and Heinz did an excellent job for us. We put a lot of pressure on our girls, which they handled really well.”
Buddenhagen came in for the Tigers in the last quarter of the game to put some more points on the board, but Laura Petik answered back with a three-point shot.
Then Heinz caught fire with a triple threat, as she made one three-point basket and two two-pointers, which brought Huron up to 36 points.
Cameron Karley took a last minute basket, adding three points to the Raider’s impressive lead, and ended the game at 68-36.
Stevens ended the game with three players in double figures. Hendry led with 18, Eagle Chasing with 15 and Hammon put up 11 points.
Buddenhagen made 13 points and was awarded the Burger Plus outstanding player of the game, while Heinz led the Tigers with 19 points.
Coach Stobbs said, “It comes down to sucking it up and we’re going to give it everything we’ve got tomorrow to make the win happen.”
Stevens emerged with a 55-17 victory in the junior varsity game.
Melissa Berg and Mattie Huber had five and four points, respectively, for the Tigers.
Huron recorded a 61-55 win in the C-game.
Huber had 14 points to lead the Tigers, while Brooke Schiltz had 13 points and Braylee Thomas had nine points.
The Huron Tigers will host the Rapid City Central Cobblers  at 1:30 p.m. today at Huron Arena.

RC Stevens     19 39 59 68
Huron         10 23 23 36
RC Stevens (3-0): May Hendry 8 2-2 18; Lexus Eagle Chasing 4 6-8 15; Aly Hammon4 2-6 11; Grace Martin 3 0-0 7; Elizabeth Schaefer 2 1-1 5; Laura Petik 1 0-0 3; Cameron Karley 1 0-1 3; Delany Klosterman 0 1-4 1.
Huron (0-4): Havyn Heinz 3 12-14 19; Tenley Buddenhagen 6 0-0 13; Gracie Schoenfelder 1 0-0 2; Allyson Fullerton 0 2-2 2.
FG: RC - 25/66, 38%; H - 10/44, 25%. 3-pt FG: RC - 6/20, 30%; H - 2-12, 17%. Rebounds: RC - 37 (Hendry 11); H - 39 (Sami Shoultz 10). Assists: RC- 5 (Kyah Watson 2, Klosterman 2); H - 3 (Raegen Rozell 2). Steals: RC - 19; H - 2. Fouls: RC - 18; H - 17. TO: RC - 5; H - 25 (Shoultz 5, Heinz 4, Fullerton 4).

PHOTOS BY MIKE CARROLL/PLAINSMAN
Huron’s Gracie Schoenfelder puts up a shot against Rapid City Stevens’ Lexus Eagle Chasing during their game Friday at Huron Arena.
Huron’s Kylie Overbay passes the ball during the opening half of a game against Rapid City Stevens on Friday at Huron Arena.