BROOKINGS – In a back-and-forth opening game for both squads, Watertown made a few more plays down the stretch to beat the Bobcats, 52-47, on Friday night at Bob Jostad Gymnasium.
“One of our big worries was what was going to come off the bench and what were we going to get from a bunch of kids that haven’t played much varsity basketball and I thought they handled it well tonight,” said Bobcat head coach Travis Engebretson. “We talked a lot about this being a group that works extremely hard – and I thought we worked hard tonight; we might have gotten tired; and then, the fact that we have to stick together – and I felt we did that.
“We fell behind early, down eight points early in the game and we just continued to battle and scratch and we found a way to get it back at halftime.
“Overall, I was pretty pleased with the effort – there’s a few possessions down the stretch that you probably want back, but that’s going to be the case every night when you come out on the losing end.”
The Arrows scored the first eight points of the game on a basket by Cade Cummings and two 3-pointers by Colton McClemans, but Brookings kept grinding and finally tied it at 14-all on a Riley Schafer basket.
Corbin Benson scored in the lane with a minute to play to put Watertown back up, but Drew Cole buried a 3 to give the ‘Cats a 17-16 lead after a quarter.
The lead changed hands five times to open the second quarter before the Arrows scored six straight on treys by Solomon Bach and Pierre Lear to take a 26-21 lead with 2:40 left in the half.
But Brookings closed the frame on a 9-2 run – capped off by Cole’s 3-point buzzer beater – to give the Bobcats a 30-28 halftime edge.
Both teams scored six points apiece in the third as Brookings led 36-34 heading into the final frame.
Bach scored the first basket of the fourth to tie it up and the teams traded points all the way to 45-45 – the seventh tie of the game – before Brandon Florey sank 1-of-2 free throws.
After an offensive foul was called on the ‘Cats, Bach scored down low to give the Arrows a 48-45 advantage.
Another offensive foul on Brookings led to Florey’s only 3-pointer of the contest – and a 51-45 Watertown lead.
Cole dropped a pair of free throws to make it 51-47 with 1:33 to play, and then, stole the ball on the Arrows’ next possession but ran into a teammate and was called for traveling.
The Bobcats started to foul, which worked when Watertown missed three free throws in a row, but Brookings missed a toss, as well, and never had a really good look at the basket to trim the deficit.
Cummings finally converted 1-of-2 for the Arrows with 13 seconds to play for the final margin.
Bach led Watertown, 1-0, with 17 points while Max Sonne added seven points before fouling out.
Cole finished with 16 points and six boards to lead Brookings, 0-1, as Trevor Woodall chipped in with 11 points.
Both teams continue conference play on Tuesday as Watertown travels to Aberdeen to face the Golden Eagle and the Bobcats take on the Tigers at Huron.
WATERTOWN 52, BROOKINGS 47
Watertown (1-0, 1-0 ESD)
Max Sonne 3-5 0-0 7, Solomon Bach 7-14 2-3 17, Cade Cummings 2-2 3-4 7, Colton McClemans 2-4 0-2 6, Parker Johnston 0-5 0-1 0, Pierre Lear 1-1 0-0 3, Brandon Florey 2-7 1-2 6, Corbin Chilson 3-8 0-0 6, Blake Holden 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 20-48 6-12 52.
Brookings (0-1, 0-1 ESD)
Seth Swedlund 0-1 0-0 0, Drew Cole 5-13 4-4 16, Riley Schafer 3-7 0-1 7, Trevor Woodall 4-8 2-2 11, Josh Sell 2-5 0-0 5, Eric Sell 1-5 2-2 4, Ryan McMacken 2-3 0-0 4, Trent Broksieck 0-1 0-0 0, Jacob Engen 0-0 0-0 0-0, Parker Beers 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-43 8-9 47.
Watertown 16 12 6 18 – 52
Brookings 17 13 6 11 – 47
3-point goals – W 6-18 (Sonne 1-1, Bach 1-5, McClemans 2-4, Johnston 0-3, Lear 1-1, Florey 1-4); B 5-15 (Cole 2-5, Schafer 1-1, Woodall 1-3, J. Sell 1-3, Broksieck 0-1, E. Sell 0-2). Rebounds – W 31 (Johnston 5); B 28 (Cole 6). Assists – W 14 (Sonne 5); B 8 (Schafer 3). Steals – W 5 (Bach 2, Florey 2); B 6 (Cole 2, Schafer 2). Blocks – W 2 (Bach, Johnston); B 1 (Schafer). Turnovers – W 13; B 12. Total fouls – W 16; B 18. Fouled out – Sonne, Swedlund.
