HURON — Huron Tiger head coach Tim Buddenhagen knew that there was an unknown quantity for his boys’ basketball team. And on Friday night, the team got its first action of the season, dropping a tough 54-49 loss to the Yankton Bucks in the season opener for both teams.
“We hung in there, but overall, we just didn’t show any heart or toughness tonight,” Buddenhagen said. “Yankton was tougher and they made more plays. We had way too much standing around and watching Kobe.”
Both teams came out firing from long distance.
Matthew Mors opened the scoring, as he got behind the Tiger defense  and threw it down for a quick lead, but his dunk was answered with a long three from Kobe Busch for Huron‘s first lead.
Mors’ dunk was the only two-point field goal in the first half, as Huron got a pair of bombs from Busch, one from Nolan Wiegel and a trio of threes from sophomore Teegan Evers.
Yankton was hitting from deep as well. Cameron Krejci hit three long field goals, while Rex Ryken and Cooper Cornemann each had one. The last shot of the half came from Casey Krejci, who nailed a trey with 30 seconds remaining, for a 24-19 Yankton lead.
The game settled into more of a traditional ESD battle in the third quarter.
Busch countered a quick Buck basket with another three, but Cameron Krejci hit from long range to push the lead to seven points.
The remainder of the quarter was trading baskets, as Huron would cut the lead to five on a basket or four on a three-pointer, only to see Yankton extend the lead once again.
“We want to challenge their three-pointers and have them shoot contested twos,” Buddenhagen said. “We didn’t do that, and we need to find our toughness and not shy away from contact.”
Back-to-back baskets by Ryken and Mors pushed the lead to nine, 43-34 late in the quarter, and only a pair of Isaac Carr free throws kept it close for Huron, as they trailed by seven going to the final quarter.
The Bucks opened a bit of daylight, as Cameron Krejci hit two free throws and Jack Wolfgram drained a long three to push the Yankton lead to 12 at 48-69.
But Huron responded, as a three from Sean Flanery and a charity toss countered a pair of free throws by Mors. Busch hit another three and then nailed a pair of free throws to get huron within five, at 51-46.

Casey Krejci hit a runner to push the lead back to four and Huron could only manage a Teegan Evers deuce down the stretch. Mors hit only one of four in the final seconds, but it was enough for the Yankton win.
Cameron Krecji led the Bucks with 18 points, including a 5-for-8 night behind the arc. Mors added 15 for Yankton.
Busch and Evers each notched 17 points for the Tigers, while Carr led all rebounders with nine caroms. Evers added eight rebounds.
The Bucks put the game away at the charity stripe, as they hit 15 of 24, while Huron only attempted 12 free throws, making eight of them, while making the same number of field goals. Huron had two more three-pointers than did Yankton.
“I thought we did a good job to start tonight, limiting Mors,” Buddenhagen said. “The Krejci kid got hot, but we didn’t talk on defense and we just didn’t play with any energy tonight.”
It will be a quick turnaround for the Tigers, as the Mitchell Kernels invade Huron Arena tonight.
“A lot of our guys learned a lesson tonight,” Buddenhagen said. “It’s different playing at the varsity level when the lights come on. It’s something that we need to figure out quickly.”
In preliminary action, the Huron Freshman A team downed Yankton 38-32, behind Jaren Schley’s 15 points, while the Sophomores destroyed the Bucks 47-27, as Nathan Boehrns netted 17.
Yankton took both the Freshman B game (44-26) and the JV game (39-35). Ryan Janes scored 10 in the freshman loss, while Teegan Evers tossed in 10 for the JV team.


Yankton     12 24 43 54
Huron     13 19 36 49

Yankton (1-0) Jack Wolfgram 1 2-2 5; Rex Ryken 2 0-2 5; Casey Krejci 2 0-1 5; Cameron Krejci 5 3-4 18; Matthew Mors 4 7-11 15; Ben Jurrens 0 3-4 3; Cooper Cornemann 1 0-0 3. Totals 15 15-24 54.

Huron (0-1): Kobe Busch 4 5-8 17; Nolan Wiegel 1 0-0 3; Isaac Carr 0 2-2 2; Alex Hills 2 0-0 4; Jett McGirr 1 1-2 3; Teegan Evers 6 0-0 17; Sean Flanery 1 0-0 3. Totals 15 8-12 49.

FG: H - 15-39 39%; Y - 15-31 48%. 3-Pt FG: H - 11-25 44% (Evers 5, Busch 4, Wiegel 1, Flanery 1); Y - 9-19, 48% (Cam. Krejci 5, Wolfgram, Rykey, Cas. Krejci, Cornemann 1 each). Reb: H - 27 (Carr 9, Evers 8); Y - 18 (Several with three). TO: H - 14, Y - 10. Fouls: H - 19; Y - 15.


PHOTOS BY MIKE CARROLL/PLAINSMAN
Huron’s Teegan Evers ties up Yankton’s Matthew Mors as he heads for the basket during their game Friday at Huron Arena.
Huron’s Isaac Carr drives against Yankton’s Rex Ryken during their game Friday at Huron Arena.