WHITE – In an overtime thriller, the Deubrook Area boys’ basketball team advanced in the Region 3B Playoffs on Tuesday. The Dolphins topped Arlington 70-66 in quarterfinal action.

Arlington led 25-9 at the end of the first quarter. The Cardinals then went up 31-9 a minute into the second quarter and Deubrook head coach Jared Gass took a timeout to talk to his players.

“I just basically told them ‘you better get it figured out or it’s going to be a short night for you.’ Credit to the boys. They showed heart; they didn’t want to lose. … I just told them you better start playing or it’s going to be a long night and they did,” Gass said.

The Dolphins proceeded to go on a 13-0 run to end the half to cut the lead to 31-22 at halftime. Arlington came out hot again in the third quarter and stretched its lead to 48-29. Deubrook didn’t back down though and trailed 48-38 heading into the final quarter.

Duebrook fought all the way back and took the lead 58-56 with one minute remaining in the game. Arlington tied the game, but Mason Shaw hit a layup with 12 seconds left to give the Dolphins a two-point lead. Arlington’s Ryker Erstad responded and tied the game and sent it to overtime with a layup of his own.

Deubrook led 66-64 with under 30 seconds to play in overtime and the Cardinals missed a shot. The Dolphins grabbed the rebound and Sutton Fritz then hit four straight free throws and the Dolphins survived.

“I told the boys after the game, ‘the difference between regular season and postseason is postseason is twice as hard. It’s twice as fast. It’s just getting after it.’ So when we went to overtime, I was confident. No. 1, I knew [Arlington] was dead tired. We were too, but when you’re tired, their shots aren’t going in like they were in the first half and so when their legs are tired, they’re not going in. Then free throws down the stretch. Sutton Fritz hitting those free throws. In a close game like that, that’s always the thing that makes it or breaks it and Sutton made them,” Gass said. 

Andrew Trooien led Deubrook with 22 points. Shaw finished with 17 and Cooper Holmlund had 15. Nick Bowne added 10 points and Fritz had six.

The Cardinals were led by Erstad, who had 22 points. Caden Letsche scored 21 points and Mason Bunker 11. Britt Carlson finished with eight points.

The Dolphins will take on Wessington Springs in Huron on Friday with a trip to the SoDak 16 on the line. The game is set to start at 4 p.m.

“[Wessington Springs] has two 6-foot-5 kids, post players. So we’ll work on defending the post in practice the next two days. But they have good guard play, too. They’ve put together a nice season, only losing two times. I watched some film on them, but it’s postseason basketball. Anybody can win any given night, depending on how you play. Thankfully the Deubrook boys decided they wanted to advance and they battled their butts off tonight,” Gass said.

Region 3B – Quarterfinals

Tuesday

De Smet 79, Hitchcock-Tulare 47

Castlewood 54, Wolsey-Wessington 45

Wessington Springs 66, Estelline/Hendricks 33

Deubrook Area 70, Arlington 66, OT

Monday – First Round

• Hitchcock-Tulare 62, Lake Preston 57

LAKE PRESTON – The Patriots outscored the Divers 20-7 in the fourth quarter to pull out the victory.

The Divers were up 22-14 after a quarter, 33-29 at halftime and 50-42 through three.

HT’s Jackson Maynard (three 3-pointers) and TJ Salmen combined for 15 points in the final stanza. The former finished with 19 markers in the game and the latter added 15.

Jack Boomsma went 3-of-4 from the foul line in the fourth as he and Carter Binger chipped in with seven points apiece.

Lake Preston’s Jasper Denison finished with 22 points and eight rebounds.

Carter Malone had 19 points, nine boards and four assists.

Lake Preston finished the season with a 7-13 record.