SMV falls to ELB at Hanson Classic

No. 6 Elkton-Lake Benton didn’t make a field goal in the fourth quarter Saturday until their were 12 seconds left, but the Elks’ defense helped preserve a 54-47 win over No. 9 Stickney/Mount Vernon in a girls’ basketball game at the Hanson Classic at the Corn Palace.

The Elks took a 45-39 lead into the fourth quarter, and despite not hitting another shot from the field until the closing seconds, they hit 7 of 11 free throws and came up with numerous big stops on the defensive end. Stickney/Mount Vernon was also held without a field goal until Kelsey Schmidt’s three from the right corner cut the deficit to 48-45 with 1:50 left, but the Knights didn’t score again until the final 20 seconds, after Elkton-Lake Benton had rebuilt a seven-point lead.

“That’s what’s been winning ball games for us all year,” Elkton-Lake Benton coach Steve Krause said of his team’s defense. “That’s something we practice all the time, that’s what we believe in and that’s what’s going to win it for us.”

Despite the fact Stickney/Mount Vernon didn’t hit its first field goal of the final quarter until the final two minutes, the Knights had plenty of chances to get back into the game at the foul line. The Knights were in the double bonus for the entire fourth quarter, but couldn’t take advantage.

After going into the fourth quarter trailing by only six points, the Knights held the Elks to only one point in the first four minutes. Meanwhile, Stickney/Mount Vernon attempted eight free throws during that stretch, but hit only three of them. The free throw shooting woes were also prevalent in the first half, when the Knights missed the front end of a 1-and-1 three times. Stickney/Mount Vernon was 11-for-22 from the foul line in the game.

“If you go up there and miss two free throws, it’s almost like a turnover,” Mount Vernon coach Eric Giblin said. “Any time you can get 15 feet from the hoop with nobody guarding you, you have to be able to knock some of those down.”

The first half was mostly a game of runs, with Elkton-Lake Benton taking a 6-0 lead, only to see Mount Vernon score the next eight points. A 6-0 run for the Elks then gave Elkton-Lake Benton a 12-8 lead after one quarter.

Lexie Christensen knocked down a couple of threes as part of a 7-0 Stickney/Mount Vernon run to open the second quarter, but Elkton-Lake Benton once again built a five-point lead. After a pair of free throws for the Knights’ Sarah Vermeulen cut the lead to 26-23, the Elks responded with one last run that might have been the biggest of the game.

Elkton-Lake Benton scored the last six points of the half in the final 1:23, capped by a basket with seven seconds left from Sarah Busselman right after a timeout that gave the Elks a nine-point cushion at halftime, their biggest lead of the game to that point.

“I am really not big on calling a timeout right before the half and wasting one,” Krause said. “But we did and we got a bucket out of it, and it was big.”

Elkton-Lake Benton held Stickney/Mount Vernon to 35 percent shooting, and also had a big 32-15 advantage in the boards. Many of those rebounds were on the offensive end, and led to easy layups and points in the paint for Elks. The Elks also forced 16 Stickney-Mount Vernon turnovers and turned the ball over only 10 times themselves.

“I thought we went out and played hard, but turnovers and offensive rebounds and free throws ended up costing us the game,” Giblin said.

Cassidy Gebhart led Elkton-Lake Benton with 16 points and Busselman added 11 points and eight rebounds. Rachel Krogman had nine rebounds for the Elks, who improved to 9-1.

Shelby Assmus had 10 points and six rebounds to lead Stickney/Mount Vernon, and Schmidt added 10 points for the Knights, who fell to 6-2. Stickney/Mount Vernon will play Tuesday at Wagner.

Woonsocket 46, Sully Buttes 45

Sully Buttes outscored Woonsocket 14-9 in the final quarter, but it wasn’t enough as the Redmen were able to pull out a 46-45 win Saturday in the first game of the Hanson Classic.

Emily Olson led Woonsocket with 12 points and Shelby Grassel added 11. The Redmen were 13-for-46 from the field, 14-for-32 from the line and had 19 rebounds.

Taylor Hackett led all scorers with 19 points for Sully Buttes and Jesse Eidsness added 10. The Chargers were 15-for-30 from the field, 11-for-22 from the line and had 24 rebounds.

Woonsocket is 7-2 and plays today at the 281 Conference Tournament in Huron. Sully Buttes is 4-6.

Woonsocket 11 24 37 46

SB 11 22 31 45

Colman-Egan 57, Colome 32

Kylie Westover scored a game-high 23 points to lead Colman-Egan to a 57-32 win Saturday at the Hanson Classic.

Westover also had eight rebounds for Colman-Egan, which was 24-for-52 from the field, 3-for-3 from the line and had 36 rebounds to Colome’s 21.

Morgan Hughes was the only player in double digits for the Cowgirls with 13 points. Alisyn Graesser had 10 rebounds. Colome was 14-for-53 from the field and 4-for-6 from the line.

Colman-Egan is now 5-5. Colome is 3-5 and plays today at Kadoka.

CE 9 20 35 57

Colome 9 16 22 32

Wagner 40, St. Thomas More 25

Wagner carried some of its momentum from Thursday’s two-point upset victory over Parkston to run past St. Thomas More 40-25 Saturday.

Jessa Doom scored 11 points and Devon Brecke added nine for Wagner, which held STM scoreless in the second quarter. Jilanne Doom pulled down eight rebounds.

The Red Raiders were 11-for-35 from the field and 15-for-27 from the line. They won the rebounding battle 21-18.

Tesse Pesicka scored 11 points to lead STM, which had 16 turnovers to Wagner’s six.

Wagner is now 9-1 and hosts Stickney/Mount Vernon Tuesday. STM is 6-5.

Wagner 12 17 29 40

STM 7 7 14 25

Pipestone, Minn. 49, Madison 36

Pipestone, Minn., held Madison to 11 first-half points Saturday on its way to a 49-36 victory.

Bailey Bouman led all scorers with 22 points for Pipestone and Brooke Woelber added 10. Pipestone (7-1) was 13-for-22 from the field.

Christa Paul had 10 points and 10 rebounds for Madison, which was 13-for-39 from the field, 13-for-23 from the line and had 28 rebounds.

Madison is 6-7 and hosts Flandreau Indian Tuesday.

Pipestone 9 17 36 49

Madison 8 11 24 36

Hanson 51, Summit 48

Ashley Robinson hit two free throws with 12 seconds left in the game to seal a 51-48 win over No. 8 Summit Saturday.

Summit put up two shots in the final seconds of the game, but couldn’t get them to fall.

Ashley Steilen led the Beavers with 17 points. Kendra Cheeseman added 13 points and five assists and Amanda Hart had 12 points. Hanson was 20-for-39 from the field, 8-for-11 from the line and had 26 rebounds.

Alex Kneeland scored a game-high 22 points for Summit. Logan O’Farrell and Wendy Bucklin each added 10. Summit, which is 8-3, was 6-for-13 from the line.

Hanson is now 8-2 and plays today in Howard.

Hanson 18 30 41 51

Summit 13 24 39 48

James Valley Christian 65, Freeman 48

Top-ranked Freeman suffered its second loss of the week — and the season — Saturday when it fell 65-48 to James Valley Christian.

Tia Nihart led three JVC players in double digits with 18 points. Hannah Kalb added 13 points and 10 rebounds and Samantha Kleinsasser added 11 points.

JVC was 22-for-46 from the field, 16-for-20 from the line and had 43 rebounds to Freeman’s 21.

Hillary Paulson scored 20 points to lead the Flyers and Carly Uecker pulled down seven rebounds. Freeman was 16-for-59 from the field and 12-for-17 from the line.

JVC is now 8-1. Freeman is 7-2 and plays today in Viborg.

JVC 22 40 49 65

Freeman 11 23 29 48

Tags: our towns, mount vernon, hanson classic, sports, basketball, stickney