BROOKINGS – Harrisburg doubled up the Bobcats, 12-6, in the third quarter en route to a 45-34 Eastern South Dakota Conference win on Tuesday at Bob Jostad Gymnasium.

Brookings trailed by a point at both the quarter break and halftime intermission – 13-12 and 22-21, respectively – before the Tigers took control in the third.

Harrisburg put the game away with an 11-7 advantage over the final 8 minutes.

“Our offense hasn’t been very good – we’re not putting players in good position to score; we missed some spots – and I don’t think we have a lot of girls that are playing with a lot of confidence, offensively,” said Bobcat head coach Mitch McLagan. “Defensive end – happy with it – but I could have done a better job of rotation; we got tired and they made a run during that time where we were pretty tired. Part of playing that zone is you’re going to give up some shots and they started hitting some shots in the second half.

“We knew Harrisburg was going to be a really good team – it’s a good measuring stick game for us to kind of figure out where we are. I think we’re pretty close, and I know it’s hard to see after tonight, but we get this offensive thing figured out – which that’s the one thing I wasn’t worried about at all; we have a bunch of good scorers on our team; we’ll just put them in better spots.”

The Tigers built a 13-6 lead through the first 6 minutes before Michaela Jewett sandwiched a pair of baskets around an Ava Burns’ bucket to make it 13-12 at the break.

Harrisburg went back up by 7 – 21-14 – midway through the second, before the ‘Cats closed on an 7-1 run as Jewett knocked down a 3-pointer, and then, drained two free throws before Burns scored in the lane to get within 22-21 at halftime.

But the first four minutes of the third spelled doom for Brookings when the Tigers put together a 10-2 run to go up 32-23. Burns scored in the lane before Carolyn Hieb converted a pair of free throws to pull the Bobcats within five, but two Jeniah Ugofsky free throws gave the visitors a 34-27 edge with a quarter left.

Harrisburg scored the first nine points of the final frame to go up by 16 – 43-27 – and the ‘Cats never got closer than 11 the rest of the way as they dropped to 1-1 overall and in the ESD.

Jewett posted a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Bobcats while Burns added 10 points.

Aby Phipps 15 points led Harrisburg, 2-0 and 1-0 in conference play.

Brookings travels to Sioux Falls on Saturday to face Roosevelt in a 7 p.m. nonconference matchup.

HARRISBURG 45, BROOKINGS 34

Harrisburg (2-0, 1-0 ESD)

Jeniah Ugofsky 4-12 3-5 11, Kiki Berndt 3-7 2-2 10, Brecli Honner 1-4 0-1 2, Faith Van Holland 0-5 0-0 0, Aby Phipps 6-14 3-3 15, Taylor Kippes 0-0 0-0 0, Emilee Boyer 0-1 1-2 1, Regan Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, McKenzie Beaner 0-2 0-0 0, Carolyn Haar 2-3 0-0 6. Totals 16-48 9-13 45.

Brookings (1-1, 1-1 ESD)

Michaela Jewett 4-8 5-6 14, Johanna Miller 3-8 0-1 6, Alli Gordon 0-3 0-0 0, Carolyn Hieb 0-6 2-3 2, Ava Burns 3-6 4-5 10, Regan Weisbeck 1-2 0-0 2, Kailee Bartels 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 11-34 11-15 34.

Harrisburg 13  9  12  11  –  45

Brookings 12  9    6    7  –  34

3-point goals – H 4-16 (Ugofsky 0-2, Berndt 2-5, Honner 0-2, Van Holland 0-2, Phipps 0-2, Beaner 0-1, Haar 2-2); B 1-6 (Jewett 1-2, Gordon 0-1, Hieb 0-2, Burns 0-1). Rebounds – H 25 (Ugofsky 12); B 34 (Jewett 12). Assists – H 10 (Ugofsky 4); B 4 (Weisbeck 2). Steals – H 12 (Ugofsky 4); B 2 (Miller, Hieb). Blocks – H 3 (Ugofsky 2); B 2 (Jewett 2). Turnovers – H 11; B 22. Total fouls – H 17; B 14. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

Junior Varsity – Harrisburg 47-18

Points – Meredith Kindvall 6, Regan Weisbeck 4

Steals – Weisbeck 3

Sophomore – Harrisburg 35-34

Points – Ainsley Shelsta 20, Haley Sampson 7, Olivia Jorgenson 6

Freshman – Brookings 54-18

Points – Kat Charging 8, Ashton Austreim 6, Bailey Waterman 6, Paige Mahlke 6