BROOKINGS – The Bobcat boys’ basketball team had a chance to pick up their first home win, but Jake Ammann’s 25-foot three-point attempt came up just short and Rapid City Central won 47-45 inside Bob Jostad Gymnasium at Brookings High School on Friday night.
The Cobblers trailed 29-27 at the half but held Brookings to just 16 second-half points to pick up the win.
“Our glaring weakness continues to be our offensive consistency,” coach Travis Engebretson said. “In the first half we come out and score 29 points but only score 16 in the second half. We had some costly turnovers down the stretch, and it comes down to that we have to value the basketball in those situations and do a better job of taking care of the ball.”
Brookings started out hot from the field as Ammann buried a pair of triples with a Jack Even trey sandwiched between as the Bobcats opened a 9-4 lead.
However, the Cobblers used a 7-0 run to take an 11-9 lead and would outscore Brookings 10-2 the latter half of the first period to lead 14-11 after eight minutes.
Central would extend the lead to five points on two occasions in the second quarter, but four straight points from Jett Leddy and five straight from Even kept the Bobcats close.
Zach Moe would bury a triple to tie the game at 25, followed by an Ammann free throw which gave Brookings a 26-25 lead.
Sam Hardin’s triple extended the lead to 29-25, but a costly turnover with just seconds left in the half allowed Central’s Jet Janvrin to scamper in for a layup as the Cobblers were down just two at the half, 29-27.
Both teams traded baskets to open the second half, and after a Nathan Lease three-pointer the Bobcats held a 34-32 lead, Central rattled off seven straight points to open a 39-34 advantage through three quarters.
Lease opened the fourth quarter with a basket to make it 39-36, then Ammann knocked down his third shot from distance in the game to knot the score at 39. Lease gave the ‘Cats a 42-39 lead a minute later, swishing another triple, then Ammann added his fourth to give Brookings a 45-41 lead.
Unfortunately for the Bobcats, they would be stuck on 45 the rest of the game while the Cobblers scored six straight, and after Ammann’s attempt fell short, Central walked out of the gym with the 47-45 win.
“Defensively, they scored 47 and we’ve got to take that and find a way to score 48,” Engebretson said.
For Brookings, having had the holiday break coupled with a postponement and cancellation, Friday night’s game was only the third game in 35 days for the Bobcats.
“It’s been a tough stretch for us with postponements and cancellations and stuff like that, so with all that going on I was really proud of the effort put forth tonight,” Engebretson said. “Tonight was only our third game in 35 days, so our guys are chomping at the bit to get back in the gym and play games.”
“We’re not in game shape; we just haven’t played any games consistently, and we’re not in game flow, either,” Engebretson added. “Getting into that groove will be huge for us as we go along.”
Ammann led Brookings with 13 points, while Leddy scored 10 points and had seven rebounds, five on the offensive glass. He also had seven assists.
Even and Lease each had eight points, with Even posting four steals as part of what Engebretson described as a “pesky” Bobcat team.
“We use the word pesky a lot, and we were pesky tonight,” Engebretson said. We were definitely outsized but still went out and grabbed 16 offensive rebounds which shows some of that peskiness we have.”
Keishawn Beasley scored ten points for Stevens, all in the first half.
Reno Lowe and Cooper Totten each had eight points.
RAPID CITY CENTRAL 47, BROOKINGS 45
Rapid City Central (4-5)
Jon Suarez 0-1 0-0 0, Jet Janvrin 2-4 0-0 4, Reno Lowe 3-6 2-2 8, Isaiah Whiting 1-2 1-2 4, Jace Brown 2-3 2-5 7, Keishawn Beasley 5-6 0-0 10, Casl Meisman 1-1 4-6 6, Cooper Totten 4-10 0-0 8. Totals 18-35 8-12 47.
Brookings (1-5)
Zach Moe 1-7 0-0 3, Jake Ammann 4-13 1-2 13, Sam Hardin 1-7 0-0 3, Jack Even 3-11 0-1 8, Jett Leddy 5-8 0-0 10, Nathan Lease 3-7 0-1 8. Totals 17-53 1-4 45.
Rapid City Central 14 13 12 8 – 47
Brookings 11 18 5 11 – 45
FG%: RCC .514, BRK .321. 3-pt FG: RCC 3-10 (Janvrin 0-2, Lowe 0-1, Whiting 1-2, Brown 2-3), BRK 10-23 (Moe 1-3, Ammann 4-8, Hardin 1-1, Even 2-5, Leddy 0-3, Lease 2-3). Rebounds: RCC 25 (Meisman 6), BRK 29 (Leddy 8). Assists: RCC 8 (Suarez 2), BRK 11 (Leddy 7). Steals: RCC 5 (Lowe, Janvrin, Whiting, Beasley, Brown 1), BRK 8 (Even 4). Blocked shots: RCC 1 (Brown 1), BRK 0. Turnovers: RCC 17, BRK 12. Fouls: RCC 15, BRK 13. Fouled out: None. Technical: none.
Junior Varsity
• Brookings 65, RC Central 64
Austin Clark scored 18 points and Nathan Lease had 11 points and six rebounds as Brookings outscored Rapid City Central 21-16 in the fourth quarter to claim the win by a point, 65-64.
Maxwell Engebretson added nine points, and Sam Conrad scored seven points and had nine assists.
Saturday (Varsity)
• RC Stevens 54, Brookings 42
BROOKINGS – A 19-3 first quarter in favor of the visiting Raiders was too big of a hole to dig out from as Rapid City Stevens picked up a 54-42 win over the Bobcats on Saturday afternoon.
Brookings’ last home win came against the Raiders last season, a 52-45 victory on Feb. 5, 2021.
Stevens opened up a 5-0 lead before an Ammann basket got Brookings on the scoreboard.
A Lease free throw near the midpoint of the quarter would prove to be the last point scored by Brookings for 5:24 of game time before Leddy’s basket made it 19-5.
Lease’s seven points led Brookings at the half as the Bobcats trailed 27-13.
Both teams scored 11 points in the quarter with every Bobcat basket being matched by the Raiders, keeping the deficit for Brookings at 14 points, 38-24, entering the final quarter.
Four straight points from Hardin cut the lead to 10, and after an Owen Burns basket and two free throws, the lead had shrunk to single-digits at six, 40-34.
However, Stevens scored the next seven points of the game to take a 13 point lead with 3:35 remaining.
A Burns triple got the Bobcats back within 10 at 47-37 but Brookings would get no closer.
Off the bench, Lease led the Bobcats with 13 points.
Ammann added eight points, while Burns scored seven points and had a team-high seven rebounds.
Stevens was led by Nate Kindred with 18 points and Charles Christensen with 11.
Brookings is at Brandon Valley tomorrow night. Tip-off between the Bobcats and Lynx is at 7 p.m.
RAPID CITY STEVENS 54, BROOKINGS 42
Rapid City Stevens (6-5)
Drew Marchant 1-3 0-0 2, Jaden Haefs 0-5 5-6 5, Kolin Ray 0-1 1-2 1, Easton Ogle 2-4 3-4 7, Charles Christensen 4-10 2-2 11, Cade Sobczak 1-1 0-2 2, Matthew Weber 2-3 0-2 4, Nate Kindred 5-10 5-6 18, Ben Goldy 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 17-42 16-24 54.
Brookings (1-6)
Trey Svennes 1-3 0-0 2, Jake Ammann 3-10 2-2 8, Sam Hardin 2-6 0-1 4, Jack Even 2-9 0-0 4, Jet Leddy 2-7 0-0 4, Nathan Lease 4-6 1-2 13, Owen Burns 2-3 2-2 7. Totals 16-44 5-7 42.
Rapid City Stevens 19 8 11 16 – 54
Brookings 3 10 11 18 – 42
FG%: RCS .405, BRK .364. 3-pt FG: RCS 4-13 (Haefs 0-4, Ray 0-1, Christensen 1-2, Kindred 3-6), BRK 5-17 (Ammann 0-5, Hardin 0-1, Even 0-3, Leddy 0-2, Lease 4-5, Burns 1-1). Rebounds: RCS 32 (Marchant 5, Weber 5, Kindred 5), BRK 27 (Burns 7). Assists: RCS 10 (Marchant 2, Haefs 2, Ogle 2, Christensen 2, Kindred 2), BRK 11 (Hardin 4). Steals: RCS 7 (Weber 3), BRK 6 (Ammann 2). Blocked shots: RCS 2 (Christensen 2), BRK 0. Turnovers: RCS 15, BRK 15. Fouls: RCS 13, BRK 19. Fouled out: Goldy. Technical: Moe.
Junior Varsity
• RC Stevens 61, Brookings 58
Engebretson scored 20 points including shooting 6-of-8 from three-point range, but Brookings was outscored 21-10 in the fourth quarter in a 61-58 loss to Rapid City Stevens on Saturday morning.
Lease added 17 points including three triples.
Conrad scored eight points and dished out nine assists.
Sophomore
• Brookings 56, RC Stevens 47
Sam Johnson and Engebretson each scored 12 points and Owen Burns added 11 points and eight rebounds as the Bobcats picked up a 56-47 win over the Stevens Raiders on Saturday afternoon.
Engebretson also had three assists, as did Clark, who chipped in with nine points.
Griffen Bartels scored five points and had eight rebounds.
