BROOKINGS – Almost!

The Bobcats took one of South Dakota’s top teams down to the wire, but came up a touch short in a 49-45 nonconference loss to Sioux Falls Lincoln on Tuesday night at Bob Jostad Gymnasium.

“We’ve had some good moments; we’ve had some good games – I think Harrisburg was a good game for us; a complete game – and this game kind of ebbed and flowed a little bit,” said BHS head coach Lynn Frederick. “It was a great effort by our kids; defensively, I thought we did a great job and offensively, we played in spurts. I thought our depth was good tonight – we had a lot of kids make positive contributions.

“Like I told our kids in the locker room, we’re close – we’ve come really close beating the upper echelon teams – it’s going to come. We gave ourselves a chance to win tonight; we had some opportunities to tie the game; we had some opportunities to go ahead, and it just didn’t work out for us.

“And that’s a good basketball team, so I think it could be a confidence builder for us if the girls allow it to be.”

Lincoln led 12-5 after the first eight minutes and extended its lead to 10 points, 24-14, with 1:46 to play in the half before the Bobcats rallied with a 9-0 run to get within a point, 24-23, at the halftime intermission.

Grace Eggebrecht started the surge with a basket in the lane; Alli Gordon knocked down a 3-pointer; Eggebrecht drained a pair of free throws; and Michaela Jewett beat the buzzer with a jumper from the top of the key to cap the run as the ‘Cats forced a pair of turnovers in the final 13 seconds.

Jewett scored in the lane to open the second half, giving Brookings its first lead of the evening before Megan Gilk scored down low to put the Bobcats up 29-27 with 5:22 left in the third.

But the Patriots regained control and built up a 10-point advantage – 43-33 – following an offensive-rebound basket by Sydnaya Dunn with 1:27 on the clock.

Johanna Miller’s basket pulled the ‘Cats within eight – 43-35 – at the end of three.

Brookings clawed back into the game, getting within two points at 45-43, after another Jewett basket in the lane with 4:01 left in the game.

Emma Osmundson’s runner in the lane put Lincoln back up by four before Eggebrecht answered with a bucket down low with 1:40 to play.

Osmundson again scored in the lane for a 49-45 advantage and the ‘Cats couldn’t get one to fall in the final 27 seconds.

Gilk led Brookings with 12 points and seven rebounds as Jewett added 11 points and Eggebrecht chipped in with nine as the Bobcats dropped to 6-6 on the season.

Morgan Hansen’s 16 points and eight boards were tops for the Patriots, who improved to 12-3 overall.

On Friday, Brookings travels to Harrisburg to take on the Tigers, who are 10-3.

SIOUX FALLS LINCOLN 49, BROOKINGS 45

Sioux Falls Lincoln (12-3)

Sydnaya Dunn 2-3 1-2 6, Morgan Hansen 6-17 3-3 16, Emma Osmundson 4-12 0-2 8, Courtney Klatt 5-10 2-2 13, Mya Wilson 1-6 0-0 3, Lexi Hochstein 0-0 0-0 0, Kate Fehrs 0-0 0-0 0, Keenan Metzger 0-0 0-0 0, Jayda Hallman 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 19-48 8-11 49.

Brookings (6-6)

Grace Eggebrecht 2-5 5-7 9, Michaela Jewett 5-15 1-2 11, Megan Gilk 6-9 0-0 12, Carolyn Hieb 0-2 0-0 0, Ava Burns 2-8 0-0 4, Alli Gordon 1-2 0-0 3, Peyton Evans 2-6 0-1 4, Emma Hardin 0-1 0-0 0, Johanna Miller 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 19-50 6-10 45.

Lincoln 12  12  19  6  –  49

Brookings 7  16  12  10  –  45

3-point goals – SFL 3-12 (Hansen 1-6, Osmundson 0-1, Klatt 1-1, Wilson 1-4); BHS 1-8 (Jewett 0-3, Hieb 0-1, Burns 0-1, Gordon 1-2, Hardin 0-1). Rebounds – SFL 34 (Hansen 8); BHS 31 (Gilk 7). Assists – SFL 6 (Klatt 3); BHS 6 (Burns 2, Hardin 2). Steals – SFL 6 (Osmundson 2, Klatt 2); BHS 5 (Eggebrecht 2, Gilk 2). Blocks – SFL 8 (Hansen 4); BHS 3 (Eggebrecht, Jewett, Burns). Turnovers – SFL 10; BHS 11. Total fouls – SFL 12; BHS 11. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.