WATERTOWN – In a tightly contested opening-night battle between two rivals, it was the Brookings Bobcats that had the firepower to come away with the win.
Neither Brookings or the host Watertown Arrows were able to get much offense going and it came down to taking care of the basketball and hitting free throws. At the end of the game, the Bobcats earned the 49-44 Eastern South Dakota Conference victory in the Civic Arena on Friday night.
“That’s a great win for us on the road against a very good opponent,” said Brookings head coach Lynn Frederick. “We hit our free throws when we needed to; offensively we hit some big shots, got some rebounds and on defense we got some stops.”
While the Bobcats found their offensive rhythm after the first four minutes of the game, the Arrows struggled to get much going. But Megan Fannin got to the line at will in the second quarter to keep Watertown in the game. The sophomore guard finished a perfect 10-for-10 at the line with a game-high 18 points in the effort.
The Arrows trailed for most of the contest but back-to-back layups from Fannin and Anni Cummings, plus a steal and two free throws from Cummings, tied things up with less than four minutes to play. Grace Eggebrecht connected on a jumper to retake the lead for the Bobcats and inside baskets from Megan Gilk and Johanna Miller gave Brookings a 42-37 lead with time winding down.
From that point, the Arrows opted to foul and the Bobcats took care of business at the line.
“The first game you’re always concerned about different things,” said Frederick. “We were a little bit nervous to start the game. Both teams were shooting but weren’t even close. Then we settled down.”
Brookings benefitted from a balanced scoring effort. Six players scored at least seven points, led by Carolyn Hieb’s 10 and Ava Burns’ nine points. The Bobcats went 11-for-14 at the line and hit six 3-pointers compared to Watertown’s three.
Eggebrecht added four steals and Hieb four assists for Brookings in the win.
Brookings is host to Huron on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
BROOKINGS 49, WATERTOWN 44
Brookings (1-0, 1-0 ESD)
Grace Eggebrecht 3 1-2 7, Megan Gilk 3 0-0 7, Carolyn Hieb 2 4-4 10, Ava Burns 2 4-4 9, Alli Gordon 2 1-2 7, Emma Hardin 1 0-0 2, Johanna Miller 3 1-2 7. Totals 16 11-14 49.
Watertown (0-1, 0-1 ESD)
Jackie Tetzlaff 0 3-4 3, Anni Cummings 4 4-5 12, Taylor Terronez 3 2-4 9, Megan Fannin 3 10-10 18, Drew VerDouw 1 0-0 2, Mariah Gloe 0 0-1 0. Totals 11 19-24 44.
Brookings 6 13 11 19 – 49
Watertown 4 13 11 16 – 44
3-point goals – Brookings 6 (Hieb 2, Gordon 2, Gilk 1, Burns 1), Watertown 3 (Fannin 2, Terronez). Total fouls – Brookings 20, Watertown 16. Fouled out – Brookings 1 (Gilk). FG Shooting – Brookings 16-43 (37 percent), Watertown 11-36 (31 percent). Rebounds – Brookings 21 (Miller 4), Watertown 26 (Cummings 8). Turnovers – Brookings 17, Watertown 19.
