BROOKINGS – The Bobcats built a 16-point halftime lead; let Yankton get back into the game; and then, finished strong down the stretch to beat the Gazelles, 66-50, in an Eastern South Dakota Conference showdown on Tuesday night at Bob Jostad Gymnasium.
“I thought we got a little passive in the second half – we passed up some shots that we didn’t pass up early – we talked that we have to shoot with confidence; and then, we started to shoot with confidence and the ball just wasn’t falling,” said BHS head coach Mitch McLagan. “Yankton made a couple of big shots to get it tight again, but you look at a couple of our seniors on Senior Night – Michaela Jewett does it again with 27 (points) and 10 (rebounds); and then, Alli Gordon steps up big and hit a bunch of shots for us – really good to see her do that.”
Jewett provided the spark in the first half with 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor – including 3-for-5 from beyond the arc – to go along with 4-of-4 from the foul line.
Gordon provided the spark in the second half as she finished with 17 points after knocking down a pair of 3-pointers in the first 16 minutes.
The ‘Cats led 17-14 after the first quarter before going on a 21-8 run in the second for the big halftime advantage.
Jewett buried her third trey of the half with 4 seconds remaining to send Brookings into the locker room at intermission up, 38-22.
But the Gazelles whittled away at the lead and pulled within six points – 43-37 – with a 15-5 third-quarter surge.
Gordon popped a 3 to open the fourth quarter to put the Bobcats back up by nine points; and then, Ellie Karolveitz and Jewett traded baskets – an old-fashioned three-point play for Karolveitz; another 3-pointer for Jewett; and then, two-point baskets by each as Brookings still led by nine – 51-42 – with 5:07 to play.
And then it was Gordon’s turn as she hit back-to-back 3-pointers to push the ‘Cats’ advantage to 15 points – 57-42 – just inside of 4 minutes.
Although Yankton did get within 10 with 2:45 on the clock, the Bobcats closed on a 9-3 run, which included going 5-of-6 from the charity stripe, to improve to 13-4 on the season.
“I think we put some good practices together and this is a confident group – and they should be – we kind of earned that right,” McLagan said. “It’s about showing up every day and still getting better.
“It’s great to win these games, but we have to get better for March 1 and that’s the big thing.”
Madison Wuebben’s 14 points led the Gazelles, 8-10, while Karolveitz added 12.
Brookings play host to Sioux Falls Roosevelt on Friday night.
“They are playing really good basketball right now – they’re a team that is going to shoot a lot of 3s – we’re going to have to get out and chase them off the 3-point line, but a much better team than we saw earlier in the year,” said McLagan.
Tipoff against the Rough Riders at Jostad is scheduled for 7 p.m.
BROOKINGS 66, YANKTON 50
Yankton (8-10)
Maddy Hochstein 3-6 0-1 6, Payton Wolfgram 0-6 2-2 2, Kelsey Oswald 1-4 1-3 3, Madison Wuebben 5-12 0-2 14, Sadie Fedders 3-5 1-1 8, Ellie Karolveitz 5-11 2-4 12, Lauren Eidsness 0-0 0-0 0, Morgan Strahl 0-0 0-0 0, Hannah Muth 1-1 1-1 3, Gabby Pietila 0-0 0-0 0, Paige Gullickson 0-1 0-0 0, Stacia Sherman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-46 9-16 50.
Brookings (13-4)
Michaela Jewett 8-15 6-6 27, Johanna Miller 3-7 2-3 8, Alli Gordon 5-9 2-2 17, Carolyn Hieb 3-4 0-0 4, Regan Weisbeck 0-2 0-0 0, Kailee Bartels 0-1 0-0 0, Kennedy Schafer 0-0 0-0 0, Emily Rystrom 1-1 0-0 2, Celia Dobrenski 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-48 10-11 66.
Yankton 14 8 15 13 – 50
Brookings 17 21 5 23 – 66
3-point goals – Y 5-19 (Hochstein 0-2, Wolfgram 0-4, Oswald 0-1, Wuebben 4-7, Fedders 1-3, Karolveitz 0-1, Gullickson 0-1); B 12-26 (Jewett 5-10, Gordon 5-9, Hieb 2-3, Burns 0-2, Weisbeck 0-1, Dobrenski 0-1). Rebounds – Y 27 (Karolveitz 5); B 32 (Jewett 10). Assists – Y 8 (Hochstein 2, Fedders 2, Karolveitz 2); B 12 (Jewett 3, Hieb 3). Steals – Y 6 (Hochstein 2, Fedders 2); B 7 (Jewett 3). Blocks – Y 2 (Hochstein, Wuebben); B 4 (Jewett 2). Turnovers – Y 9; B 10. Total fouls – Y 14; B 14. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.
