HURON — The Huron Tigers dug themselves an early hole and never were able to mount much of a challenge to the Brandon Valley Lynx Friday night, dropping a 55-37 decision to the Lynx at Huron Arena.

“It’s frustrating,” said Huron coach Kody Kopfmann. “We didn’t execute the game plan and didn’t follow the scouting report. We just let them do what they wanted and didn’t really take anything away from them.”

The Tigers had difficulty from the opening tip, as Brandon Valley hit their first four shots - three of them three-pointers, two of them by Kennadi Deckert - and led 11-0 with 3:20 to play in the first quarter. Isabelle Ellwein got Huron on the board with a basket and free throw at the 3:15 mark, however the next nine points were scored by the Lynx until a three-point bomb from Ellwein made it 20-6 with just over a minute to play.

Jaida Metzger hit a three for Brandon Valley as time expired and the Lynx owned a 23-6 cushion after eight minutes.

Huron had trouble controlling the ball in the opening quarter, with seven turnovers on the state sheet, and when they had open looks, the shots just wouldn’t go down.

Madison Geiver and SDSU commit Hilary Behrens scored field goals to swell the lead, but the Tigers responded. Heavan Gainey scored on a nice feed from Hamtyn Heinz, then on the next Huron possession, Heinz hit a pair of free throws. Geiver scored inside again, but Heinz hit a three to make the scored 29-13.

The Lynx, however, scored nine points in the final four minutes of the half, while Huron was limited to a single Hylton Heinz free throw and Brandon Valley jogged off to the halftime break with a 38-14 lead.

The Tigers needed a boost to get rolling in the third quarter, and they looked to make it happen on the defensive end of the floor. Gainey got a steal on the wing and went coast-to-coast for the layup, but Paisley Hoff scored twice in the paint on consecutive possessions, to counter a three from Kristen Janes.

Huron continued to get decent looks in the middle of the lane against the 2-3 Lynx zone, but saw shot after shot roll off the rim. Defensively, the Tigers stepped up their game and limited the Brandon Valley team to only eight points in the third quarter, as Huron was able to get a hand on the ball and create turnovers.

The Lynx lead swelled to as may as 29 points, but Huron scored the final 11 points of the game to make the final margin of 55-37.

For the game, Brandon Valley ended up 21 of 48 from the field for 44% while Huron ended 11 of 49 for 22%, after hitting only 4 of 22 in the first half.

Behrens led all scorers with 12 points for the Lynx, while Alyvia Padgett added 11 and Deckert netted 10. Hoff led Brandon Valley with seven rebounds.

Hamtyn Heinz scored 10 points to be the only Tiger in double figures. Ellwein led the Huron rebounders with five caroms.

Huron will finish the regular season with a 9-11 mark and will wait to see where they will play in next week’s SoDak 16 state tournament play-in game. Brandon Valley, now 14-5, will close its regular season this afternoon, as they host Mitchell in a weather-related makeup game.

“We talked in the locker room after the game,” Kopfmann said. “I told the girls that the good news is that we are all 0-0 now. We set a goal of making it to the state tournament and we will need to win on the road to do that, but that’s okay. It’s right in front of us. We need to get back at it in practice after we find out where we’re going and get prepared to play."

Brandon Valley (14-5): Jaida Metzger 1 0-0 3; Kennedi Deckert 3 2-2 10; Paisley Hoff 3 0-0 6; Hilary Behrens 4 2-2 12; Alyvia Padgett 5 0-0 11; Madison Geiver 2 0-0 4; Ava Kellenberger 3 2-2 9; Brooke Burnette 0 0-1 0. Totals: 21 6-7 55.

Huron (9-11): Bryn Huber 1 0-1 2; Kristen Janes 2 1-2 7; Isabelle Ellwein 2 3-3 8; Heavan Gainey 3 0-0 7; Hylton Heinz 0 1-2 1; Hamtyn Heinz 3 2-2 10; Elizabeth Heinen 0 2-2 2. Totals: 11 9-12 37.

FG: BV - 21-48 44%; H - 11-49 22%. 3-pt FG: BV - 7-16 (Deckert 2, Behrens 2, Metzger, Padgett, Kellenberger); H - 6-14 (Janes 2, Hamtyn Heinz 2, Gainey, Ellwein). Rebounds: BV - 32 (Hoff 7); H - 26 (Ellwein 5). Turnovers: BV - 9; H - 14. Fouls: BV - 11; H - 12.