Memphis Central downs O’Gorman

Memphis Central overcame Sioux Falls O’Gorman 61-58 at the Corn Palace during the second game of the Mike Miller Classic on Thursday.

For its next games, Memphis Central plays Mitchell at 6:30 p.m. today. Sioux Falls O’Gorman takes on La Lumiere (LaPorte, Ind.) at 5 p.m.

Central was led in scoring by Myron Johnson, who knocked down 19 points and grabbed six rebounds. Memphis had three other players score in double digits including Andre Applewhite II (13), Joshua Jones (10), and D’arrirus Sorrell (12).

O’Gorman was led in scoring by Sam Wallin, who had a game-high 26 points. Connor Schaefbauer had 15 points and Nick Mimmade scored 10 points.

Memphis won the rebounding battle 34-22.

Central trailed 19-27 with 3:35 left in the half but slowly chipped away at O’Gorman’s lead and came back to tie the game with a minute left until halftime.

Memphis head coach Andre Applewhite said he was proud of his team for coming up with the win against a well-coached ball club.

“During the second half, I thought my guys made good adjustments to what they were doing and we got better on defense,” Applewhite said.

During halftime, Applewhite said he told his team to tighten up on the defensive end and do a better job of eliminating second and third chances.

“(O’Gorman) did a really good job executing,” Applewhite said. “They work with details. They execute and they do a good job of sealing people on their weak side and they play the game the way the game is supposed to be played.”

Wallin made a last-minute basket with 3 seconds left in the game to bring the score within three, but it wasn’t enough for the win.

Sioux Falls Lincoln 62, DeLaSalle 60

Sioux Falls Lincoln held on to defeat DeLaSalle (Minn.) 62-60 at the first game of the Mike Miller Classic Thursday.

Lincoln was led in scoring by Matt Vander Woude, who had a game-high 23 points and grabbed six rebounds. Nick Goeman had 13 points.

DeLaSalle’s Travis Reid scored 19 points and grabbed 16 rebounds. Shawn Fitzgibbons knocked down 12 points.

DeLaSalle won the rebounding battle 32-31.

“I just told the kids if you play hard the whole time, you’re going to come up with the win,” Lincoln coach Jeff Halseth said.

Going into the second half, the Patriots trailed by 7. Halseth said his team made defensive changes during halftime to come back and regain the lead.

“We just had a few defensive breakdowns in the first half,” Halseth said. “After the first half, we kind of readjusted and focused on what we wanted to try and do defensively and it paid off.”

DeLaSalle’s Tyler Moore made a 3-point play with 2 minutes left in the game to take lead 60-58, but Lincoln answered with two more baskets to take the a 62-60 lead. Vander Woude drew a foul with 30 seconds left in the game but stepped over the free-throw line eliminating his two baskets. Lincoln held on and prevented DeLaSalle from scoring.

DeLaSalle plays again at 1 p.m. against Custer today.

Briarcrest 74,

Sioux Falls Washington 56

Briarcrest broke a tight game wide open in the second half, getting a game-high 20 points from Division I-recruit Austin Nichols in a 74-56 win over Sioux Falls Washington Thursday at the second annual Mike Miller Classic.

Nichols, who is getting recruited by at least a dozen Division I college basketball teams, had 10 points in both halves.

“This is one of the better teams we’ve played,” Briarcrest coach John Harrington said. “I think we tired them out a bit in the second half, and that’s what we try to do is play some up-tempo defense.”

Sioux Falls Washington trailed by eight points at halftime and got within six early in the second half. Washington was led by Joey Habtemariam’s 13 points.

Washington kept the game close in the first half with its 3-point shooting. The Warriors hit 6 of its 10 3-point shots. By game’s end, the Warriors were 9-of-25 from behind the 3-point line.

Chris Jones finished with 16 points for Briarcrest and Nichols had seven rebounds and four blocks. Tyler Shetterly had 11 points for Washington and Cody Havermann had 10 points and seven rebounds.

Tags: mike miller classic, sports, updates, basketball