Kernels end regular season with loss to Brandon Valley

BRANDON — The Mitchell High School boys’ basketball team ended its regular season with a 61-55 loss to Brandon Valley Thursday night in Brandon.

The loss drops the Kernels to .500 at 10-10 overall.

Mitchell, the No. 3 seed in District 3AA, starts district tournament play Tuesday when it travels to Aberdeen to take on the Eagles, who are the No. 2 seed.

As has been the case so many times this season, the Kernels were cold from the field and were forced to rely on their defense.

“(Brandon) shoots 60 percent from the field and 75 percent from the 3-point line and we shoot 38 percent from the field and about 20 percent from the 3-point line, and that’s basically the story,” MHS coach Gary Munsen said.

The score was tied after the first quarter and the Lynx led by seven at halftime.

Brandon Valley pushed the lead to double digits several times in the second half, but Mitchell got the deficit down to six with a minute to go. The Kernels had the ball and the chance to cut the gap to four, but couldn’t make the shot.

“They shot the ball well and we didn’t,” Munsen said. “That’s about it. It wasn’t a case of us not playing defense.”

Jake Schmidt and Brett Victor each scored 10 points to lead the Kernels and Tucker Volesky and Nick Young each added nine points. Austin Sumner and Nick Brown both scored 17 to lead the Lynx.

The Kernels, who have lost eight of their last 11 games, start their state tournament bid Tuesday in Aberdeen. Mitchell lost 66-50 to the Eagles Tuesday in a makeup game from earlier this season. The first time the two played in Mitchell, Aberdeen won 73-42.

“Obviously, the No. 1 thing (we have to do) is slow down (Jared) Hannigan and don’t let him score so many points on the inside,” Munsen said. “If we can stop Hannigan and (David) Westby, then we’ll have a chance to win.”

Tags: brandon valley, sports, kernels, basketball