Second-half surge propels Wessington Springs to Class B semifinals over Wall
Mar. 20—ABERDEEN — Wessington Springs was determined to make the third quarter the deciding one.
With a dominant opening to the second half where the Spartans outscored Wall 24-11 in the third quarter, Wessington Springs rolled to a 74-52 victory in the quarterfinals of the Class B boys state basketball tournament in Aberdeen on Thursday.
The lopsided third quarter signaled a major shift in the game following a close battle in the opening half. Wall leaned heavily on its two best scorers — Emmet Dinger and Teelan Kjerstad — throughout the game as Wessington Springs struggled to contain the pair.
But the Spartans found a spark at the end of the first half, scoring seven consecutive points to take a 32-25 lead into halftime. After going on an initial 7-0 scoring run early in the third quarter, Wessington Springs went on a larger 13-0 run over the final three minutes of the period to take a 20-point lead into the final quarter.
Wessington Springs head coach Joey Mitchell said the big spark for the third quarter was a combination of factors, including efficient rebounding, executing offensive sets better and a greater focus on slowing Wall's offense down.
"Talking at half, we needed to clean up the transition defense," Mitchell said. " We talked about how fast an athletic Wall was, and I thought I had fast and athletic kids, in all honesty. But they made my guys look slow at times, they really did. Talking those things at halftime, and then I thought my guys cleaned them up, executed offensively, found a little groove and we had a good run in the third quarter."
Karter Mebius, who finished with 20 points for the game, said the Spartans weren't sticking to their defensive game plan, but once they did, it changed everything.
"Our game plan was to keep a hand on their two best players by far, (Dinger) and (Kjerstad)," Mebius said. "Then once we finally did that, we started to settle offensively and started rolling from there."
Already up by 17 with six minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Wessington Springs embarked on its largest scoring run yet. In less than three minutes of total game time, the Spartans scored 17 points in a row to extend the lead to 74-42 with 2:30 remaining in the period. After that, Wessington Springs emptied the bench.
Outside of Mebius, both Colby Flowers and Ryder Michalek ended the quarterfinal contest with double doubles. Flowers finished with 26 points and 16 rebounds, and Michalek added 19 points and 11 rebounds.
He was doing it all," Mitchell said of Flowers. "He was catching full-court passes, he was helping break the press, he was scoring, he was rebounding and even help side defense. I think he contested almost every shot they had at the rim. If he wasn't there contesting, he was damn close. So he's just all over the place."
Dinger led the Eagles with 19 points on 8-of-16 shooting. Kjerstad added 13 points with four rebounds and three assists. No other player had more than seven points, as Wall (17-7) faces Lyman in the consolation round at noon on Friday, March 21.
Wessington Springs (22-2) moves on to the Class B semifinals and will battle top-seeded Castlewood at 6 p.m. on Friday at the Barnett Center.
-
With postseason experience, Wessington Springs boys make repeat trip to Class B state tourney
Mar. 18—WESSINGTON SPRINGS, S.D. — For the second-straight season, the Wessington Springs boys basketball team is headed back to Aberdeen, eyeing a deep run at the Class B boys basketball state ...Yahoo Sports - 2d -
Castlewood boys seize control in opening half to down Lyman in Class B quarterfinals
Mar. 20—ABERDEEN — For a quarter and a half, eighth-seeded Lyman boys basketball hung with top-seeded Castlewood. Only leading by one with two and a half minutes remaining in the first half of ...Yahoo Sports - 19h -
L/L-M boys' hoops get tight 43-40 win over M/P-B in R1 third place game
Mar. 13—JAMESTOWN — The LaMoure/Litchville-Marion boys' basketball team's season will last for at least one more day after a 43-40 win over Medina/Pingree-Buchanan in the 2025 NDHSAA Class B Region ...Yahoo Sports - Mar. 14 -
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 ...Yahoo Sports - 19h -
Gloucester-Hartpury beat Sarries to win third straight PWR title
Gloucester-Hartpury lay down a dominant second-half performance to beat Saracens and win their third Premiership Women's Rugby title in a row.Yahoo Sports - 5d -
Duke survives, beats UNC for third time
As good as Duke’s first half was, the Blue Devils’ second half was nearly a disaster. Duke survived North Carolina’s second-half rally to win 74-71 in an ACC tournament semifinal game on Friday ...Yahoo Sports - 6d -
Rams overtake Ronan for third
Mar. 16—BILLINGS — For two and a half quarters Ronan had the momentum Saturday night, in its rematch battle with Billings Central in the State A boys basketball consolation game. Then it got away. ...Yahoo Sports - 5d -
Baldanzi discusses Roma’s turnaround in season’s second half
Roma attacker Tommaso Baldanzi spoke to DAZN about the team’s turnaround in the second half of the season and ahead of the final nine matchdays of Serie A.“Honestly, I don’t know what changed, b...Yahoo Sports - 4d -
Dakota Wesleyan women struggle in second half, falling in NAIA second round
Mar. 16—LANGSTON, Okla. — A rough second half spelled the end of the Dakota Wesleyan University women's basketball season on Sunday afternoon at the hands of fourth-seeded Langston University in a ...Yahoo Sports - 4d
More from Yahoo Sports
-
Ohio State women's basketball vs Montana State in NCAA Tournament first round
It's Ohio State women's basketball vs Montana State in the first round of March Madness. Follow for scores, NCAA Tournament updates from the game.Yahoo Sports - 26m -
Viktor Hovland contending at the Valspar Championship after (another) coaching change
Two weeks ago, Hovland announced a switch back to Grant Waite, insisting he's trying to "get to the bottom" of his slump.Yahoo Sports - 28m -
Auburn basketball vs Creighton: Who has edge in 2025 NCAA Tournament second round?
It’s Auburn Tigers vs. Creighton Blue Jays in the March Madness bracket. Here’s our prediction, pick for the 2025 NCAA Tournament basketball game.Yahoo Sports - 29m -
Georgia Amoore scores 34 points and Kentucky holds off charge by Liberty for 79-78 March Madness win
Georgia Amoore scored 34 points, including three free throws in the final 10 seconds for fourth-seeded Kentucky, which nearly blew a 17-point fourth-quarter lead but held on for a 79-78 victory ...Yahoo Sports - 29m -
Mexican club Leon banned from FIFA Club World Cup
Club Leon from Mexico were incensed Friday after they were banned from the June-July Club World Cup in the United States for violating rules on multi-ownership, FIFA announced Friday. A FIFA ...Yahoo Sports - 33m
More in Sports
-
Ohio State women's basketball vs Montana State in NCAA Tournament first round
It's Ohio State women's basketball vs Montana State in the first round of March Madness. Follow for scores, NCAA Tournament updates from the game.Yahoo Sports - 26m -
Poch after loss: Wearing U.S. shirt 'not enough'
Mauricio Pochettino was left visibly frustrated after the USMNT's shock 1-0 defeat to Panama in the Concacaf Nations League, bluntly telling his players it was not enough to just simply show up in ...ESPN - 26m -
Skenes' 1-of-1 rookie card fetches record $1.11M
Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes' 2024 Topps Chrome Update MLB debut patch autograph card sold for a stunning $1.11 million, including buyer's premium.ESPN - 26m -
Bronny has season-high 17 points in Lakers' loss
Bronny James scored a season-high 17 points on 7-for-10 shooting and added five assists, three rebounds and a block in 30 minutes of playing time against the Bucks.ESPN - 26m -
Wood carded for signing autographs in NZ win
Chris Wood picked up a yellow card for signing autographs and taking pictures with fans during New Zealand's win over Fiji in their World Cup qualifier on Thursday.ESPN - 26m