High school boys basketball: Turnovers help Harrisburg pull away from Bobcats

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BROOKINGS – The Brookings Bobcats played well throughout the first half but a late second half run helped the Harrisburg Tigers pull away for a 66-41 victory at Bob Jostad Gymnasium in Brookings on Thursday night.

The Bobcats were fueled offensively by senior forward Nathan Lease, who scored 15 of his 19 points in the first half. With Lease leading the way, Brookings trailed 11-10 after the first quarter and went into halftime down 30-25.

“He set a good tone,” Brookings head coach David Rohrbach said of Lease’s performance. “He was aggressive. He played really well on Tuesday [against Lennox] and really carried that mentality tonight. He was doing good things inside and out and that’s something we knew going into the season. He has that ability and when he gets his shots going, he’s a tough matchup.”

While Lease was able to find his shot, the rest of the Bobcats struggled. Ben Moret, who scored seven points, was the only player that scored more than five points on the night. Harrisburg’s defense also played a key role as the Tigers limited Brookings to just over 33 percent shooting in the second half.

“They’re long and they have some length,” Rohrbach said. “It makes it difficult to get to the rim and to get your shot off. I think it’s just a matter of learning how to get guys open. You know how to get open but you have to use each other’s screens and make sure that when you put it on the duck, you’re penetrating gaps and getting guys open. We got a couple of back door cuts but we just need to do that more.”

Rohrbach also believed that the Bobcats needed to do more to improve their offense, such as getting to the free throw line on a night where they had just three attempts from the charity stripe.

“You always need some shots to fall and learn how to get to the free throw line,” Rohrbach said. “It’s a good way to stop their runs when we need a bucket. Whether it’s getting the ball inside for an easy bucket or putting pressure on the rim, you have to do things that will get you to the free throw line and help stop runs.”

The Bobcats also committed 15 turnovers on the night including 10 in the second half to allow Harrisburg to blow the game open. Leaning on 20 points and five rebounds from Ethan Determan and 16 points, six rebounds and five assists from Maxwell Knutson, the Tigers out-scored the Bobcats 16-9 in the third quarter and 20-7 in the fourth quarter to pull away for the victory.

Despite the late rally, Rohrbach liked what he saw from the Bobcats defensively.

“I thought we were pretty engaged,” Rohrbach said. “I thought our level of focus and intensity was there from the first half and into the third quarter.”

It was a tough result for the Bobcats who dropped their 10th straight game to fall to 1-10 on the season. Going forward with a road game against Sioux Falls Washington on Tuesday night, Rohrbach believes that taking care of the basketball should be his team’s top priority.

“We definitely have to take care of the ball and that will minimize the runs we are giving up,” Rohrbach said. “The turnovers are allowing our opponents to go on longer runs and we really have to cut back on those.”