BROOKINGS – Team is the theme, and it is working quite well for the Bobcats.
Brookings picked up its third win in five days, using a big third quarter to take down top-ranked Sioux Falls Washington 61-50 in a nonconference boys’ basketball game Saturday afternoon at Bob Jostad Gymnasium.
The victory came less than 24 hours after knocking off No. 3 Brandon Valley – a fellow front-runner in the Eastern South Dakota Conference title race – on the road.
“What a group of kids,” said BHS coach Travis Engebretson, whose team improved to 7-1. “The word of the week was ‘challenge.’ We felt like we were going to be challenged and there were going to be obstacles – Brandon Valley is a great basketball team and Sioux Falls Washington is a great basketball team – and the kids just accepted the challenge.
“It’s just been a businesslike group that’s just all about the team, and it’s just been fun to be around.”
It was actually a typical game for this season’s ‘Cats – balance, energy, defenese and unselfish play.
As usual, different players came through when needed.
Most notably, Devin Coughlin scored 12 of his game-high 17 points in the third quarter as the home squad turned a 26-23 halftime deficit into a 45-40 lead heading to the fourth.
“We kind of just started to move the ball more and really focused on the key things like rebounding and pushing the ball,” the senior said. “It just all ended up adding up and we played well, I thought.
“It was a tough game. Coming in here, we were like, all right, they’re big and strong and tough and they like to get up and play physical, but we played well, we played hard, we battled back.
“We won the game; that means a lot.”
The back-and-forth third stanza featured four ties and three lead changes – the last of which came when Coughlin scored to make it 39-38 with 1:55 to go in the period.
Carter Holm and Washington’s Zach Heins exchanged baskets, before Holm converted again in the paint and Coughlin got free for a layup in transition as the clock neared zero following a Sam Wilber steal and outlet pass to give the Bobcats a five-point cushion.
“We have a bunch of scorers; we have a bunch of kids that can put points up, and Devin had a good quarter and his teammates recognized that and they got him the basketball,” added Engebretson. “It’s just a group of unselfish basketball players that just like to win.”
The Warriors struck first in the fourth frame but never got closer than three points.
Josh Mohs and Coughlin had back-to-back buckets and Brennan Carlson tacked on a free throw with 4:24 to go to extend the advantage to 51-43.
Brookings took care of business down the stretch.
“It was just a complete team effort, you know,” noted Engebretson. “We fell down early 9-0 there and we didn’t panic; we were getting good looks, just didn’t knock down some shots. Defensively, we shored up the rebounding and from that point on we just kind of took it to them. So it was a great team effort.”
It took the Bobcats 5 minutes, 24 seconds to get on the scoreboard.
Ryan Argust removed the lid from the bucket with a 3-ball from the left wing and added another trey from the left corner 88 seconds later.
“You usually don’t expect a big post to come out and knock down 3s,” Coughlin said with a grin. “But I’ve been telling him for the past couple weeks to just let them fly, because in practice he’s been making a bunch; I’ve just been telling him to let them go.”
Following two Jack Talley free throws, Wilber hit a jumper as the deficit was just three points – 11-8 – despite the rough start.
“That was huge because it was 9-0 and we were just struggling to find ourselves,” Engebretson said of Argust’s long-range display. “He had the courage to take the shot and knocked two down, so that kind of stemmed the tide for us and kind of loosened us up and got us going.”
In ended up being an 18-3 run when all was said and done as Carlson had a bucket and a trey to open the second.
And, after Isaac Goeman made a free throw for Washington, Wilber hit a jumper and Coughlin buried a 3 to make it 18-12 at the 5-minute mark of the second.
The Warriors countered with a 14-5 run to grab the 26-23 edge at the break.
Mohs totaled 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
Holm added nine points, Carlson eight, Wilber and Argust six apiece, and Drew Cole two.
For the Warriors (6-4), Logan Uttecht had 12 points and seven rebounds and Goeman added 10 points and six boards.
The Bobcats return to ESD action playing host to Aberdeen Central on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Brookings is 6-1 in league games.
