money Prep Basketball: State-tourney bid ends for Watertown girls, remains alive for 5 area boys' squads
RAPID CITY — When it mattered the most, the ball just wouldn’t go in the hoop for Watertown High School’s girls basketball team.
The 12th-seeded Arrows closed out a 9-12 season — their most wins since 2011-12 — with a 56-20 loss to fifth-seeded Rapid City Central (16-5) in a Class AA SoDak 16 state-qualifying game.
The loss kept Watertown out of the state tournament for the 13th-straight year. Central will open play Thursday in the tourney at Rapid City.
“Defensively they just get you pushed out so far,” said Watertown head coach Pat McClemans. “We need to be able to make a play and attack the basket and we weren’t able to do that.”
Watertown focused its defense on Central’s 6-foot-2 senior center Josie Hill, who scored 17 points in the Cobblers’ 43-24 regular-season win in the Civic Arena.
The Arrows held Hill to three points, but 5-8 senior Sadie Glade and other teammates stepped up. Glade canned two early 3-pointers to fuel a 15-0 game-opening run that put Central in control for good.
Watertown didn’t score until junior Jaida Young made a field goal with only 30 seconds left in the first quarter.
“Going in we felt we needed to take Hill away from them and we did that, but their other players made shots,” said McClemans. “We lost Glade a couple of times early, but their other players just really played well.”
Watertown never found its mark offensively. They made only two of 14 field-goal attempts for 14 percent in the first half and finished at 23 percent (seven of 30). The Arrows also committed 18 turnovers, compared to only six for Central.
Amarae Rinto and Aaliyah Jones each contributed eight points and Wicahpi Cuny seven for the Cobblers, who shot 50 percent (20 of 40) from the field and used Hill’s four rebounds to win the board battle 24-18.
Freshman Emery Thury led the Arrows with six points. Sophomore Addi Johnston added five and Young four.
Seniors Kayla Vohlken and Grace Ortmeier played their final games for the Arrows, who lost eight of their final nine games. Watertown also graduates Macee Osthus, who missed her senior year with a knee injury.
Region Boys Basketball
Region 1B
• No. 2 seed Waubay-Summit 66, No. 3 Warner 51 — Four players scored in double figures to lead the Mustangs (19-3) to the semifinal win.
Damon Opdahl scored 17 points, Jonathan Johnston 16, Seth Gaikowski 13 and JT Gulbraa 11. Opdahl also had 13 rebounds and five assists, Gulbraa seven rebounds and Jackson Wohlleber six assists.
Waubay-Summit led most of the way before Warner pulled within 39-37 late in the third quarter. The Mustangs used a field goal by Sonny Marquardt and a 3-pointer from Gaikowski to ignite a 29-12 game-ending scoring surge.
Hunter Cramer poured in 24 points and Trekk Hannahs 14 for the Monarchs (13-9).
• No. 1 Aberdeen Christian 60, No. 4 Langford Area 47 — Fifth-rated Aberdeen Christian (19-3) used 25 points from Jackson Isakson and 17 from Malek Wieker to win the semifinal game. Ethan Russell added nine.
Jesse Keough produced 23 points and four assists and Brayden Peterson 16 points and six rebounds for Langford Area (12-10).
Region 3B
• No. 1 De Smet 79, No. 4 Estelline-Hendricks 50 — The defending state B champion and top-rated Bulldogs improved to 21-1 by putting five players in double figures. De Smet will take an 18-game winning streak into its SoDak 16 state-qualifying game on Tuesday.
Kalen Garry led the pack with 20 points. Tory Holland followed with 18 and Rett Osthus, Damon Wilkinson and Blake Van Regenmorter 10 apiece. Osthus surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career in the game.
Wilkinson also added nine rebounds, Kadyn Fast five rebounds and Kalen Garry four assists.
The Redhawks (13-9) were paced by Braxton Saathoff’s 19 points and five rebounds. Lorenzo Iotti contributed 10 points, Joseph McAninch eight and Wyatt James six. Dawson Bury also grabbed five rebounds.
De Smet led only 22-15 after one quarter before adding to its lead in each of the final three periods.
• No. 2 Castlewood 45, No. 3 Wolsey-Wessington 41 — Lane Tvedt’s 3-pointer with 19 seconds remaining capped a comeback that lifted the Warriors (16-6) to victory in the first semifinal game on Friday at Madison High School.
Wolsey-Wessington (15-6) led 20-10 at halftime, 39-36 with 2:18 remaining and 41-40 with 40.7 seconds left. Castlewood got back into the game with an 18-12 spurt in the third quarter and used Tvedt’s clutch 3 to take the for good in the closing seconds.
Tristan Nielsen’s steal and two free throws with 1.7 seconds remaining wrapped up the win.
Nielsen finished with 22 points, five rebounds and three steals and Tvedt 10 points for the Warriors. Bryon Laue added six points and eight rebounds and Jackson Schofield six points.
Payson Gohn and Carson Zomer each notched 11 points for the Warbirds. Gohn also hauled in 11 rebounds.
Region 1A
• No. 1 Groton Area 59, No. 4 Milbank 51 — The top-seeded Tigers pulled out the semifinal game to up their record to 19-3 on the season.
The two teams were tied 25-25 at halftime and 41-41 after three quarters before host Groton Area pulled out the win.
Jayden Zak and Layne Tietz each tallied 16 points, Kaden Kurtz 11 and Jacob Zak and Wyatt Hearnen eight each for Groton Area. Jacob Zak collected seven rebounds and Kurtz six.
Bennett Schwenn had 19 points, Wylie Mursu and Kellen Hoeke 10 each and Garrett Mertens eight for Milbank Area (10-12). Schwenn added eight rebounds and Mertens five rebounds and five assists.
• No. 2 Clark-Willow Lake 47, No. 3 Tiospa Zina 40 — In the other semifinal game at Clark, the host Cyclones (15-7) used a quick start and a balanced attack to notch the win.
Kaplan Felberg scored 12 points, Trey Huber 10, Brady Jordan eight, Tyler O’Neill seven and Noah Boykin six for Clark-Willow Lake, which jumped out to a 14-7 lead after the first period and won by the same margin.
Perry Lufkins’ 13-point, eight-rebound effort topped the Wambdi (11-9). Jayvyn Adams contributed eight, Tate Never Misses A Shot six and Mike Smith five. Never Misses A Shot added five rebounds.
Region 2A
• No. 2 Sioux Valley 71, No. 3 Hamlin 52 — The host Cossacks (17-5) took over in the second half to notch the semifinal win. Hamlin led 37-36 at halftime before Sioux Valley posted scoring advantages of 17-6 in the third quarter and 18-9 in the fourth.
Hayden Ruesink’s big game (26 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks) paced Sioux Valley, which also got 17 points from Oliver Vincent, eight points and 10 rebounds from Alec Squires and eight points each from Damian Danzeisen and Parker Puetz. Puetz also dished out six assists.
The Chargers (15-7) received 20 points from Brennan Keszler, 14 from Tyson Stevenson and nine from Easton Neuendorf. Keszler and Stevenson each hauled in seven rebounds. Evan Stormo tallied five assists and Neuendorf four.
• No. 1 Flandreau 55, No. 4 Deubrook Area 37 — Tash Lunday’s 26 points and 15 rebounds carried the fourth-rated Fliers (18-3) to the semifinal win on their home court. Chase LeBrun chipped in with 14 points and seven rebounds.
Sutton Fritz and Nick Bowne each produced 10 points for Deubrook Area, which ended the season 14-8.
Other Friday South Dakota Scores
Girls Basketball
SDHSAA SoDak 16
Class AA
Sioux Falls Jefferson 52, Pierre 38
Sioux Falls Washington 83, Sioux Falls Roosevelt 62
Rapid City Central 56, Watertown 20
Rapid City Stevens 56, Brookings 32
Sioux Falls Lincoln 43, Mitchell 38
Sioux Falls O'Gorman 50, Yankton 25
Brandon Valley 45, Spearfish 33
Harrisburg 51, Huron 43
Boys Basketball
SoDak 16 Qualifiers
CLASS A
Region 3
Madison 75, West Central 69
Sioux Falls Christian 62, Dell Rapids 57
Region 4
Dakota Valley 73, Vermillion 35
Tea Area 66, Lennox 54
Region 5
Hanson 56, Bon Homme 20
Mt. Vernon-Plankinton 52, Parkston 38
Region 6
Stanley County 42, Chamberlain 34
Winner 75, Mobridge-Pollock 52
Region 7
Lakota Tech 79, Todd County 59
Red Cloud 64, Little Wound 61
Region 8
Rapid City Christian 77, Hill City 60
St. Thomas More 66, Custer 27
CLASS B
Region 2
Lower Brule 73, Ipswich 59
Potter County 77, Faulkton 56
Region 4
Chester 45, Howard 44
Ethan 41, Bridgewater-Emery 38
Region 5
Freeman Academy-Marion 66, Irene-Wakonda 32
Viborg-Hurley 48, Centerville 32
Region 6
Burke 66, Gregory 62
Platte-Geddes 52, Corsica-Stickney 38
Region 7
Lyman 55, Philip 46
White River 67, Wall 38
Region 8
Harding County 72, Faith 62
Timber Lake 65, Lemmon 55
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Prep Basketball: State-tourney bid ends for Watertown girls
