Kernels tame Tigers for third-straight trip to Class AA tournament semifinals
Mar. 20—RAPID CITY — On the back of a dominant defensive effort, the Mitchell High School boys basketball program's quest for a championship repeat remains alive.
Avenging an earlier defeat to their Eastern South Dakota Conference archrivals, the fourth-seeded Kernels staved off a huge third-quarter surge and controlled the fourth to knock out fifth-seeded Huron 50-41 in the Class AA state tournament quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon at the Summit Arena.
Mitchell (19-3) advances to face top-seeded Sioux Falls Lincoln in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Central time on Friday.
From opening tip to final whistle, the Kernels' suffocating defense dictated the game. In the first half, Mitchell limited Huron to three field goals and a 16.7% shooting mark. Even including a 15-point third quarter during which the Tigers temporarily flipped a six-point halftime deficit into a four-point lead, Huron finished 9-for-33 (27.3%) from the field, their scoring buoyed by a 19-for-24 mark at the free-throw line.
Further, Mitchell came away with 15 turnovers. Of Huron's 52 total possessions, it scored on 19 of them, a clip of 36.5% compared to a 28.8% turnover rate.
"It was a physical game. That's the way it was called, and it was consistent all night, so it was a real battle," said MHS coach Ryker Kreutzfeldt. "I thought it took us a couple quarters to get used to that on offense ... but it was a great team defense."
For the Tigers' part, they held Mitchell to 19 first-half points. But when Huron woke up in the second half, so, too, did Mitchell.
After a quiet opening 16 minutes for both sides' leading scorer, Huron's Blake Ellwein and Mitchell's Markus Talley heated up quickly in the third quarter half. Ellwein scored 10 of his team-high 16 points in the third quarter, while Talley countered with 11 of his 16 points. All other scorers for both teams combined for nine points in the frame.
In the fourth quarter, it was Gavin Hinker's turn, bringing Mitchell to the finish line by dropping in eight of the Kernels' final 11 points. Though Huron briefly came back to within 41-37 with three minutes to play, Mitchell put the game away with a 9-3 spurt that widened the gap to 10 points with under a minute left.
"It comes back to all these games we've played through the year, which we would have liked to win by 20, but we won by eight," Kreutzfeldt said. "We had to make plays late in all those games. We have so much experience with that, and I think that helped us tonight."
To Kreutzfeldt's point, Mitchell improved to 11-2 on the season in games decided by fewer than 10 points.
Between the pair, Mitchell's senior duo of Hinker and Talley combined for 26 of the team's 31 points after halftime.
"We've been here before, so we know what it takes to win these games," Talley said. "I don't think we were really nervous; we knew what we had to do."
All told, Hinker led all scorers with 18 points to go with three rebounds and one blocked shot, while Talley offered up 16 points, nine rebounds, three assists and four steals. Colton Smith, who battled foul trouble much of the afternoon, had nine points, three rebounds and one steal for Mitchell. Parker Mandel scored five points, and Collin Weier chipped in two points while playing a season-high 12 minutes.
Meanwhile, Ellwein's 16 points came on 1-for-10 shooting from the field, as he was 13-for-16 at the free-throw line. The Tigers' lone double-figure scorer, who went over 1,000 points for his prep career in the third quarter, added three rebounds, two assists and one block. Anderson Porisch tacked on eight points, three rebounds, two steals and one block for Huron (15-7), which will play 8-seed Spearfish in the consolation bracket at 1 p.m. Central time on Friday.
For Mitchell, its spot in the Class AA semifinals is secured for the third consecutive year. Awaiting is a Lincoln squad that dispatched of Spearfish 55-33 to tip off the tournament and has just one loss on the season to date. That blemish came against Mitchell by a 69-58 final back on Jan. 31, setting the stage for a highly anticipated encore on Friday night.
"I think both teams will be excited for that matchup," Kreutzfeldt said. "Obviously, they present a lot of problems that we have to take care of, but I think we do, too, so it should be a battle."
Mitchell 50, Huron 41
Huron (15-7): Trace Wenz 1-4 0-0 3, Colton McNeil 1-2 0-0 3, Jonathan Peterson 0-2 4-4 4, Blake Ellwein 1-10 13-16 16, Anderson Porisch 4-9 0-0 8, Myles Ellwein 1-2 0-0 4, Kolby Hofer 0-0 0-0 0, Mason Jurgens 0-0 0-0 0, Ty Kleinsasser 0-2 1-2 1, Davis Chase 1-2 1-2 3. Totals 9-33 19-24 41.
Mitchell (19-3): Gavin Hinker 6-15 6-10 18, Markus Talley 5-13 6-8 16, Colton Smith 4-8 1-2 9, Parker Mandel 2-5 0-0 5, Landen Soulek 0-1 0-0 0, Collin Weier 1-2 0-0 2, Owen Raml 0-1 0-0 0, Sutton Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Kendan Skinner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-45 13-20 50.
H 8 13 28 41
M 12 19 34 50
3-point field goals: H 4-17 (McNeil 1-2, B. Ellwein 1-3, M. Ellwein 1-2, Wenz 1-4, Porisch 0-2, Kleinsasser 0-2, Chase 0-1), M 1-8 (Mandel 1-3, Mandel 0-3, Talley 0-2, Raml 0-1, Soulek 0-1). Rebounds: H 26 (Chase 10), M 27 (Talley 9). Total fouls: H 18, M 19. Fouled out: Peterson. Assists: H 4 (B. Ellwein 2), M 6 (Talley 3). Turnovers: H 15, MHS 9. Blocks: H 2 (B. Ellwein, Porisch), M 2 (Hinker, Mandel). Steals: H 4 (Porisch 2), M 6 (Talley 4).
| 1d 7:47 PM ET ago |
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