Bobcats veto Lady Govs, move to 4-1

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BROOKINGS – Five games into the season and the Bobcat girls’ basketball team looks to be in midseason form.

Brookings shot 14-of-25 (56 percenter) from the field in the second half, including 6-of-12 from downtown, to pull away for a 57-39 Eastern South Dakota Conference win over Pierre on Thursday night at Bob Jostad Gymnasium.

“We knew, by watching tape, that if we moved the basketball, we were going to get open shots,” said Bobcat head coach Mitch McLagan. “I thought there were spurts that we struggled doing that, and our offense struggled. I was really proud of the girls’ effort – Pierre has a really good team and they’re athletic – and we defended them really well.

“We have enough shooters on this team – Alli Gordon hitting big shots for us really helped us out – it really opens everything up for us.”

The Bobcats actually trailed 7-5 with 2:29 left in the first following a Pierre 3-pointer by Emily Mikkelson.

But Michaela Jewett scored four straight points to give the ‘Cats a 9-7 edge after a quarter.

Gordon knocked down her second 3 of the game to open the second quarter before Megan Lippert gave Brookings a double-digit edge – 19-8 – midway through the frame with a trey.

A pair of Pierre 3-pointers in the final three minutes pulled the Lady Govs back within five, 21-16, heading into the intermission.

Mack Rath’s 3-pointer to open the second half made it a two-point game, but Jewett hit back-to-back 3s to give the Bobcats some breathing room before another Jewett bomb pushed Brookings’ advantage to 17 points – 41-24 – with 1:22 left in the quarter.

Gordon’s third trey of the night gave the Bobcats their biggest lead of the night at 19 points – 51-32 – with 5:31 to play and the Governors didn’t get closer than 15 the rest of the way as they dropped to 0-3 on the season and 0-1 in conference play.

Jewett finished with a game-high 26 points and a team-high eight rebounds, in addition to dishing out three assists as Brookings improved to 4-1 overall and 3-1 in the ESD.

Gordon added nine points while Johanna Miller contributed seven points, four blocks and a pair of steals.

Mikkelson’s 14 points led the Lady Govs as Rath posted a double-double of 12 points and 11 boards.

“We’re really excited about being 4-1 right now – going into Christmas 4-1, you feel pretty good,” McLagan said. “These games all matter now with the Round of 16 format, so it’s really nice to beat a good team at home.”

The next action for the ‘Cats is a home matchup with Huron on Jan. 2 at Bob Jostad.

BROOKINGS 57, PIERRE 39

Pierre (0-3, 0-1 ESD)

Kodi Severyn 1-6 3-4 6, Halle Gronlund 1-1 0-0 2, Mack Rath 3-10 4-6 12, Hannah Lingle 0-1 1-4 1, Emily Mikkelson 5-19 2-2 14, Remington Price 0-5 2-2 2, Miah Kienholz 0-1 0-0 0, Jessica Lutmer 0-0 0-0 0, Caytee Williams 1-1 0-1 2, Kylee Thorpe 0-2 0-0 0, Kenzie Gronlund 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-46 12-19 39.

Brookings (4-1, 3-1 ESD)

Michaela Jewett 9-19 5-6 26, Johanna Miller 3-7 1-2 7, Alli Gordon 3-8 0-0 9, Carolyn Hieb 1-2 0-0 3, Ava Burns 2-3 0-0 5, Regan Weisbeck 0-3 0-0 0, Kailee Bartels 1-1 0-0 2, Clarissa Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Megan Lippert 1-1 0-0 3, Kennedy Schafer 0-0 0-0 0, Emily Rystrom 1-1 0-0 0, Celia Dobrenski 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-45 6-8 57.

Pierre 7     9  12  11    39

Brookings 9  12  23  13    57

3-point goals – P 5-20 (Severyn 1-4, Rath 2-4, Mikkelson 2-8, Price 0-2, Thorpe 0-2); B 9-18 (Jewett 3-7, Gordon 3-7, Hieb 1-2, Burns 1-1, Lippert 1-1). Rebounds – P 37 (Rath 11); B 29 (Jewett 8). Assists – P 5 (H. Gronlund 2, Price 2); B 13 (Hieb 5). Steals – P 8 (Severyn 4); B 8 (Hieb 3). Blocks – P 3 (Rath, Lingle, K. Gronlund); B 4 (Miller 4). Turnovers – P 15; B 11. Total fouls – P 9; B 14. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

Junior Varsity

Pierre 57, BROOKINGS 28

Points – Emily Rystrom 8, Kennedy Schafer 7

Sophomore

Brookings 46, PIERRE 36

Points – Ainsley Shelsta 16, Claire Burns 8, Haley Sampson 5

Freshman

Brookings 33, PIERRE 15

Points – Ainsley Shelsta 10, Kat Charging 6, Claire Burns 6