BROOKINGS – Relentless!

That described Harrisburg’s defensive pressure and its offensive strategy – both going to the hoop, and then, going to the boards after the shot – as the Tigers rallied from a three-point halftime deficit to top the Bobcats, 57-43, in a Thursday night Eastern South Dakota Conference matchup at Bob Jostad Gymnasium.

“We gave up 16 offensive rebounds – a lot in the first quarter and a lot in the third quarter – and that, to me, was a big difference in the game,” said Bobcat head coach Travis Engebretson. “Proud of the effort first half – defensively, we held probably one of the best scoring teams in the state to 22 points – they scored 83 on O’Gorman on Monday night – so I was very pleased about that at halftime.

“We talked at halftime that offensively we had to pick it up and do a better job of basket cutting – they were knocking down our cuts and we were just kind of continuing to fight through that – and then, the three points in the third quarter really hurt us.”

Despite giving up seven offensive rebounds in the first quarter, the ‘Cats led 16-10 after eight minutes.

Drew Cole’s 3-pointer gave Brookings a 12-9 lead with 2:53 to play before Hunter Headlee converted 1-of-2 free throws for the Tigers. Cole scored a second-chance basket to make it 14-10 after Trent Broksieck pulled down the Bobcats’ only offensive rebound of the frame, and then, Ryan McMacken scored in the lane for the six-point edge at the break.

Riley Schafer’s driving basket at the 6:26 mark of the second matched Brookings’ largest lead of the game, and Ryan McMacken found Cole open for another 3 with 3:06 left in the half as the ‘Cats still led by five, 21-16.

But Harrisburg scored five straight to tie the game at 21-21 before Trevor Woodall’s hoop stopped the run and gave the ‘Cats a 23-21 lead.

A Brady VanHolland free throw made it a one-point game, but Cole scored again with 25 seconds left to send Brookings into the intermission with a 25-22 lead.

And then, the wheels fell off for the Bobcats when they went 1-of-11 from the field and 1-of-2 from the foul line in the third quarter as Harrisburg put up 19 points to take a 41-28 lead into the final frame.

After shooting 28 percent from the floor in the first half, the Tigers connected on 7-of-14 in the third, in addition to pulling down five more offensive caroms.

Harrisburg’s lead swelled to 17 points – 45-28 – a minute into the fourth before the Bobcats slowly regained ground – getting within nine at 49-40 with 3:58 left after a Cole 3-pointer.

But the Tigers scored six straight points to go back up by 15 inside of 2 minutes to play to put to rest any idea of a Brookings comeback.

Chase Altenburg scored 12 points to lead Harrisburg, which improved to 12-2 and 9-2 in the ESD. Ace Zorr posted a double-double of 10 points and 13 rebounds as VanHolland contributed nine points and 11 boards.

Cole dropped a game-high 18 points, to go along with five rebounds and four blocked shots. Woodall chipped in with 13 points, seven boards, three steals and a pair of assists as Brookings dropped to 2-11 overall and 2-9 in conference play.

On Tuesday, the Bobcats travel to Mitchell to face the winless Kernels.

HARRISBURG 57, BROOKINGS 43

Harrisburg (12-2, 9-2 ESD)

Ace Zorr 5-9 0-1 10, Brady VanHolland 3-11 1-2 9, Nick Hoyt 0-4 4-4 4, Chase Altenburg 4-9 4-4 12, Blair Slaughter 1-2 0-0 2, Brooks Fuller 3-5 1-1 7, Michael Curry 3-8 0-0 6, Adam Erickson 0-0 0-0 0, Hunter Headlee 2-6 1-2 5, Nick Walter 1-4 0-0 2, Isaac Brower 0-2 0-0 0, Nick Feldman 0-0 0-0 0, Cale Murphy 0-0 0-0 0, Payton Marquardt 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-61 11-14 57.

Brookings (2-11, 2-9 ESD)

Seth Swedlund 1-3 0-0 2, Drew Cole 7-18 0-3 18, Riley Schafer 1-8 0-0 2, Trevor Woodall 4-12 4-6 13, Josh Sell 1-4 1-1 3, Jay Wilber 0-0 0-0 0, Trent Broksieck 0-2 0-0 0, Jacob Engen 1-1 0-0 3, Parker Beers 0-0 0-0 0, Eric Sell 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan McMacken 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 16-51 5-10 0.

Harrisburg 10  12  19  16  –  57

Brookings 16    9    3  15  –  43

3-point goals – H 2-14 (VanHolland 2-5, Hoyt 0-3, Altenburg 0-3, Fuller 0-1, Curry 0-1, Walter 0-1); B 6-20 (Cole 4-11, Schafer 0-3, Woodall 1-2, J. Sell 0-1, Broksieck 0-1, Engen 1-1, McMacken 0-1). Rebounds – H 50 (Zorr 13, VanHolland 11); B 28 (Woodall 7). Assists – H 9 (Slaughter 4); B 8 (Woodall 2). Steals – H 4 (Slaughter 2); B 5 (Woodall 3). Blocks – H 2 (Zorr, Curry); B 7 (Cole 4). Turnovers – H 11; B 9. Total fouls – H 11; B 12. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

Junior Varsity

Harrisburg 63, Brookings 50

Points – Trent Broksieck 22, Eric Sell 5

Rebounds – Sell 6, Carson Gullickson 4

Assists – Sell 2, Gullickson 2

Steals – Broksieck 1, Gullickson 1, Jay Wilber 1

Sophomore

Harrisburg 56, Brookings 55

Points – Parker Rykhus 21, Jonah Dobbs 9

Rebounds – Rykhyus 4, Theo Burns 4

Assists – Dobbs 2, Tanner Shepardson 2

Steals – Burns 2