Bantam A places 2nd; Bantam B places 5th; JV girls finish 4th

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BANTAM A

The top-seeded Rangers posted a 2-1 mark, losing 4-2 to Sioux Falls 2 in the title game to finish second in the Bantam A State Tournament held in Mitchell over the weekend.

Brookings opened with a 5-2 win over Oahe, and then, beat Sioux Falls 1 in double overtime, 5-4, to advance to the championship.

Championship

• Sioux Falls 2 4, Brookings 2

Breck Hirrschoff tallied an unassisted goal to give the Rangers the early lead, but the Flyers came back to tie the game at 1-1 after one.

Trenton Pederson lit the lamp less than 4 minutes into the second off an Isaac Schulte assist before Sioux Falls tied it up with a goal just 2:15 later to send it into the third tied at 2-2.

The Flyers found the back of the net twice in the third for the 4-2 win to claim the state title.

Sioux Falls outshot the Rangers, 33-17, as Kade Brecher finished with 29 saves in the loss.

Semifinal

• Brookings 5, Sioux Falls 1 4 (OT)

Hirrschoff cashed in on a power-play chance off assists by Schulte and Zach Struck to get the Rangers on the scoreboard first, but the Flyers tied it up 7 minutes later with a short-handed goal to make it 1-1 after one.

Sioux Falls scored first to take a 2-1 lead, but Jack Merritt lit the lamp off assists from Pederson and Hirrschoff to knot it at 2-2 midway through the second.

The Flyers scored back-to-back goals before Brody Powers found the back of the net, as Struck and Pederson picked up the assists, to pull Brookings within 4-3 heading into the third.

Two minutes into the third period, Pederson tied the game with a power-play tally as Hirrschoff and Powers earned assists.

After a scoreless overtime period, Pederson cashed on a power-play chance less than 2 minutes into the second OT as Hirrschoff picked up another assist.

Sioux Falls held a 37-35 edge in shots as Brecher stopped 33 Flyer chances for the win in goal.

Opening Round

• Brookings 5, Oahe 0

The Rangers dominated play, outshooting Oahe, 46-12, as Brecher earned the shutout win with 12 saves.

Pederson and Schulte tallied unassisted goals for a 2-0 lead after one; and then, Merritt netted a power-play opportunity off assists by Powers and Pederson for a 3-0 lead through two.

Pederson notched another power-play goal as Schulte and Struck earned the helpers before Powers set up Pederson’s hat trick goal midway through the frame for the final margin.

JUNIOR VARSITY GIRLS

The Ranger JV went 2-2 at the Junior Varsity Girls’ State Tournament at Rushmore over the weekend to finish fourth.

Brookings, seeded third opened with a 10-0 win over the host Thunder, but lost 2-1  in overtime to second-seeded Sioux Falls in the championship quarterfinals. The Rangers then defeated Yankton, 9-3, to move into Sunday’s third-place game, where they lost, 2-1 in overtime, against Aberdeen.

Third-Place Game

• Aberdeen 2, Brookings 1 (OT)

The Cougars got on the scoreboard in the first period with a power-play goal before Addie Ramlo found the back of the net in the second off a Savannah Barber assist to tie the game at 1-1 through two.

After a scoreless third period, Aberdeen ended it early less than a minute into the OT with an unassisted goal.

Both teams had 29 shots on goal as Heidi Merriman collected 27 saves in the loss.

Consolation Semifinal

• Brookings 9, Yankton 3

The Rangers found the net early and often to lead 3-0 after a period. Brookings added four more goals in the second, and then, tacked on two in the third for the final margin.

Kiran Vugteveen lit the lamp less than 2 minutes into the game as Alexis Schelske picked up the assist. Barber scored back-to-back goals – the first on a power-play chance and the second unassisted – as Ramlo and Jenna Schulte earned the assists.

In the second period, Emma Rice tallied a power-play goal off a Ramlo helper just 24 seconds in, before Jadyn Kuehl and Barber netted unassisted goals to make it 6-0 with less than 4 minutes off the clock.

The Gazelles scored three straight goals to cut the margin in half, but Kuehl lit the lamp with a power-play goal as Barber earned the assist for a 7-3 lead heading into the third.

Barber scored her fourth goal of the game midway through the third off a Taryn Richter helper before Kuehl netted another unassisted goal for her third of the game for the final margin.

Brookings held a 28-7 edge in shots as Merriman stopped four Yankton tries.

Championship Quarterfinal

• Sioux Falls 2, Brookings 1 (OT)

Despite holding a 26-11 edge in shots, the Rangers got only one past the Flyer goalie – Barber’s goal late in the first period off a Vugteveen assist – as Sioux Falls scored early in the third to force extra time.

The Flyers cashed in on a power-play opportunity 35 seconds into the OT to advance as Merriman finished with nine saves in the loss.

Opening Round

• Brookings 10, Rushmore 0

It took the Rangers 5 minutes to get on the scoreboard, but when they did score a goal, plenty more followed as they led 5-0 after a period and 9-0 through two before tacking on one in the third.

Ramlo opened the scoring off assists by Barber and Rice before Vugteveen sandwich a pair of goals around a Barber tally. Kuehl set up the first and Ella Park had the helper on the second while Ramlo and Rice assisted Barber. Kuehl’s unassisted tally pushed the advantage to five goals heading into the second.

Ramlo again opened the scoring less than a minute in before tacking on her hat trick goal with just over 2 minutes to play in the period. In between, Rice and Kuehl each lit the lamp. Barber set up Ramlo’s first goal and Richter helped on the second, while Kuehl and Vugteveen assisted on Rice’s tally and Schulte and Park picked up assists on Kuehl’s goal.

Richter scored the lone goal of the third off a Kuehl assist for the final margin.

Brookings outshot the Thunder, 32-4, as Merriman earned the shutout win with four stops.

BANTAM B

The sixth-seeded Rangers went 1-1 to place fifth at the Bantam B State Tournament held over the weekend in Sioux Falls. Brookings fell 3-0 to No. 3 seed Brandon Valley in the opener; received a bye in the consolation bracket; and then, defeated fifth-seeded Rushmore, 4-3, to place fifth.

Fifth-Place Game

• Brookings 4, Rushmore 3

Gage Peterson tallied an unassisted goal less than 2 minutes into play as the Rangers led 1-0 after one.

The teams traded goals in the second period as Rushmore tied the game before Peterson netted another unassisted goal for a 2-1 lead. After the Thunder tied it up, Peterson lit the lamp with his third unassisted goal for a 3-2 advantage heading into the third.

Rushmore knotted the game at 3-3 3 1/2 minutes into the final frame, but Jacob Ramlo scored the late game-winning goal off assists from Garrett Bothe and Peterson.

Brookings held a 24-22 edge in shots as Addison Ronning finished with 19 saves in the win.

• Brandon Valley 3, Brookings 0

Despite outshooting the Ice Cats, 14-12, the Rangers couldn’t find the back of the net as Brandon Valley scored once in the first before tacking on two in the third for the final margin.

Ronning collected nine saves in the loss.

JUNIOR VARSITY BOYS

The Rangers JV posted a 4-2 win over Watertown on Friday before skating to a 3-3 tie with Oahe on Saturday to move into second place in the South Dakota Amateur Hockey Association standings with 29 points, courtesy of a 14-5-1-0 mark.

Brookings closes its regular season on the road – taking on Mitchell on Friday and Sioux Falls 2 on Sunday.

• Brookings 4, Watertown 2

The Rangers built a 3-0 lead as Nick Jonas netted the only goal of the first period off assists by Trevor Pederson and Kobe Hai, before Kane Kurtenbach and Carter Merritt lit the lamp in the second period. Trevor Berreth set up Kurtenbach while Jacob Drew helped Merritt.

The Lakers came back with two goals late in the second to make it 3-2 heading into the third.

Jonas added an unassisted goal for insurance with less than 6 minutes to play as Kaden Gutormson picked up the win in goal with 18 saves.

Brookings held a 21-20 edge in shots an neither team capitalized on one power-play chance apiece.

• Brookings 3, Oahe 3 (OT)

Despite nearly doubling up the Capitals in shots, 38-20, the Rangers managed to get just three shots past the Oahe goalie as both teams came up empty in overtime to decide a winner.

Brookings scored the only goal of the first period, but the Capitals tied the game at 2-2 through two as they sandwiched a pair of goals around Drew power-play tally as Merritt picked up the assist.

Jackson Law’s unassisted goal early in the third put the Rangers back on top, but Oahe scored with 6:09 to play to force overtime, where neither team lit the lamp.

Gutormson stopped 17 Capital shots in 61 minutes of play.

SQUIRT A

The Rangers capped off their season with five wins over the weekend as they defeated Brandon Valley, 11-0 and 8-0, on Saturday; and then, picked up wins on Sunday in Huron over the All Stars (5-3), Watertown (7-3) and Oahe (11-1).

Saturday’s Games

• Brookings 11, Brandon Valley 0

The Rangers outshot Brandon Valley, 19-1, as Matthew Bothe earned the shutout win with one save.

Brookings scored four goals in the first as Thor Kahler, Connor Buckley (unassisted), Miles Gerlach (unassisted) and Gideon Merhib all lit the lamp. Merhib assisted Kahler and Krogman set up Merhib.

Merhib scored the only goal of the second period for a 5-0 lead as Buckley earned the assist.

The Rangers tacked on five more third-period goals as Parker Nielsen sandwiched goals around a Bryce Helflin tally, before Buckley (unassisted) and Gavin Loy found the back of the net. Kahler set up Nielsen’s first goal and the second was unassisted; Denver Qiao helped Heflin; and Buckley assisted on Loy’s tally.

• Brookings 8, Brandon Valley 0

Statistics were unavailable.

Sunday’s Games

• Brookings 5, Huron 3

Cooper Schneider lit the lamp off a Buckley assist as the teams skated to a 1-1 tie after a period.

Nielsen netted an unassisted goal to make it 2-1 through two before the Rangers pulled away with three goals in the third.

Schneider tallied a pair of unassisted goals for a hat trick before Qiao provided for the final margin with another unassisted tally while Bothe stopped nine shots for the win in goal as each team finished with 12 shots.

• Brookings 7, Watertown 3

The Lakers led 2-0 after a period before the Rangers rallied with six goals in the second to go up 6-3 through two.

Nielsen, Buckley and Kahler tallied unassisted goals before Nielsen sandwiched a pair of goals, the second unassisted for a hat trick, around a Schneider score. Schneider set up Nielsen’s first goal while Qiao helped on Schneider’s tally.

Nielsen netted unassisted goal in the third period for the final margin as Brookings held a 21-8 edge in shots with Bothe collecting five saves for the win.

• Brookings 11, Oahe 1

The Rangers dominated play, outshooting the Capitals, 22-3, as Bothe finished with two saves in the win.

Schneider, Nielsen and Kahler scored in the first period as Buckley, Kahler and Nielsen had the respective assists as Brookings led 3-0 after one.

In the second period, Schneider tallied an unassisted goal before Buckley lit the lamp off a Heflin helper for a 5-1 lead heading into the third.

Qiao, Kahler, Schneider, Nielsen and Buckley lit the lamp with unassisted tallies in the third before Gerlach scored off a Schneider set up for the final score.