HURON – Riley Schafer scored the final five points of the game as the Brookings Bobcats overcame a 29-point effort by Huron’s Kobe Busch to take a 56-53 win from the Tigers on Tuesday night at Huron Arena.

It looked like Huron was about to notch its second straight win after Busch hit a pair of free throws and then a field goal on consecutive possessions to give Huron its only lead of the fourth quarter, 53-51, as the clock rolled past a minute to play.

But Schafer scored a field goal and added the “and one” to it, then iced the game with 3.1 seconds on the clock with two more free throws. A late heave for the Tigers fell short.

Both teams started out red hot.

Tanner Evers got Huron on the board in the opening seconds, but Josh Sell matched the field goal. Then Busch made the nets dance for the Tigers with a long 3-pointer, only to see Drew Cole hit a 3-pointer of his own – all in the first 2 minutes of play.

Sell and Busch traded buckets again in short order, but the pace slowed for the last half of the first period, which drew to a close as a 3-pointer from Jacob Engen gave the Bobcats a 13-9 lead at the horn.

Busch scored on back-to-back possessions for the Tigers early in the second quarter, to tie the game again. Then, after a Sell trey, Huron got a 3-pointer of its own from Isaac Carr, only to see Sell shake free again and hit from long range.

After a Huron free throw, Sell hit his third consecutive shot to give Brookings a four-point cushion at 21-17. The lead was short-lived, however, as Busch took advantage of a down screen and popped out for a trey. And with a steal and layup from Jett McGirr, Huron was back on top 22-21.

But from there on out, Huron was only able to manage a single free throw, while Schafer hit a short jumper, Trevor Woodall hit 1-of-2 free throws and Sell torched the twines for two more field goals for a 29-23 Bobcat lead at the half.

Out of the locker room, Busch again stepped to the forefront, as he hit a bucket and laced two free throws to carve into the lead. Sell scored again, but Teegan Evers countered and Busch converted an old-fashioned three-point play to give Huron the lead once again at 32-31.

The pace quickened, as did the frequency of the referees’ whistles, as both teams found themselves in the bonus mid-way through the third quarter. The lead switched several times in the third quarter until a pair of charity tosses from Blake Cruse gave Huron a 41-39 lead as the clock wound down.

But Engen got free and hit a 3 with seconds remaining to stake the Bobcats to a 42-41 lead heading to the final stanza.

Brookings went 10-for-10 from the charity stripe in the final quarter as the only Bobcat field goals in the fourth quarter came on the front end of 3-point plays.

Sell ended the game with 21 points, 17 of them in the first half, while Cole added 10.

Brookings (1-1, 1-1) plays at Harrisburg on Friday at 7 p.m.

BROOKINGS 56, HURON 53

Brookings (1-1, 1-1 ESD)

Riley Schafer 2-5 3-3 7, Trevor Woodall 1-5 5-8 7, Josh Sell 8-15 3-3 21, Seth Swedlunmd 0-3 3-6 3, Drew Cole 2-6 5-5 10, Jacob Engen 3-4 0-0 8, Eric Sell 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan McMacken 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-38 19-25 56.

Huron (1-2, 1-2 ESD)

Jett McGirr 2-5 0-1 4, Tanner Evers 3-10 0-0 6, Kobe Busch 10-22 7-8 29, Isaac Carr 2-5 0-0 5, Alex Hill 0-0 0-0 0, Teegan Evers 1-4 0-0 2, Nolan Wiegel 0-3 0-0 0, Sean Flanery 1-2 0-1 2, Dawson Diede 0-5 3-6 3, Blake Cruse 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 19-56 12-18 53.

Brookings 13  16  13  14  –  56

Huron   9  14  18  12  –  53

3-point goals – B 5-10 (Engen 2-3, Sell 2-4, Cole 1-2, Schafer 0-1), H 3-18 (Busch 2-8, Carr 1-3, McGirr 0-1, Tanner Evers 0-1, Flanery 0-1, Diede 0-1, Teegan Evers 0-3). Rebounds – B 31 (Woodall 5), H 34 (Tanner Evers 7). Assists – B 8 (Woodall 3), H 4. Steals – B 3 (Swedlund 2), H 11 (Tanner Evers, Carr, Teegan Evers, Wiegel 2). Blocks – B 1 (Cole 1), H 1 (Diede 1). Turnovers – B 15, H 9. Total fouls – B 14, H 21. Fouled out – Woodall, McGirr. Technical fouls – none.

Junior varsity

BROOKINGS 45, HURON 37

Points – Jay Wilber 16, Eternal Tooley 10, Eric Sell 8. Rebounds – Tooley 12, Parker Beers 6, Wilber 5, Sell 5. Assists – Trent Broksieck 4, Sell 2, Tooley 2. Steals – Beers 3.

Sophomore

HURON 51, BROOKINGS 49

Points – Parker Rykhus 11, Jonah Dobbs 9, Tanner Shepardson 8, Theo Burns 8, Sean Roiger 8. Rebounds – Shepardson 5, Jackson Krogman 5, Rykhus 5. Assists – Shepardson 4, Dobbs 3, Rykhus 2. Steals – Shepardson 2, Dobbs 1. Blocks – Burns 1, Roiger 1.