Mitchell girls finish ESD Conference season unbeaten

At the beginning of the season, Mitchell girls’ basketball coach Wes Morgan knew of the high expectations for his team.

Through 20 regular-season games, Morgan said he couldn’t have scripted this season any better.

Mitchell (19-1) capped an undefeated Eastern South Dakota Conference schedule with a 67-40 win over Aberdeen Central Tuesday at the Corn Palace.

The Kernels picked up their 14th ESD win over the same team they’ll likely face in next week’s District 3AA championship game.

“They’ve had a great season,” Aberdeen coach Dawn Seiler said. “They play hard. They play together, and it’s a well-deserved (ESD) championship for them.”

The Kernels shot 57 percent from the field in the second half and led by as many as 29 points in the fourth quarter. Mitchell junior Kerri Young had a game-high 23 points, Macy Miller added 14 points and Dana Misiaszek had 11.

Misiaszek was honored as Mitchell’s lone senior player on senior night. The 5-foot-7 forward said she’s more proud of her team’s perfect ESD record than its overall record.

“To win all of our ESD games is really hard to do,” Misiaszek said.

Aberdeen didn’t have a scorer in double figures, getting a team-high eight points from Kayla Schaunaman. Megan Jordre, Sami Knecht and Brynn Flakus each had seven.

The Eagles never held the lead in the game. They had the game tied at 10 and 12 in the first quarter, but the Kernels got a 12-point halftime lead and expanded it in the third and fourth quarters.

“The second half, things just started to come to us,” Mitchell coach Wes Morgan said. “We didn’t change our game plan. We continued to get the open jump shots and layups.”

Miller’s three-point play with about one minute to go in the third quarter gave the Kernels a 46-30 lead. Young had a 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter, and Miller hit another 3-pointer with 3:43 left in the game to build Mitchell’s lead to 29.

The combination of Miller and Young has spearheaded Mitchell’s ESD dominance this season.

“Sure it was a goal to win ESD,” said Morgan, whose team is undefeated at home this season. “You’re talking about 14 games and being on the hunt 14 games in a row. These kids were ready to play.”

Aberdeen Central, which finished 9-5 in ESD play, shot 31 percent from the field and had 23 turnovers in the game. Seiler’s team plays Pierre at 7 p.m. on Monday in the first round of the District 3AA tournament. Aberdeen is the No. 2 seed in District 3AA.

Mitchell, the 3AA top seed, hosts Huron at 5:45 p.m. Monday at the Corn Palace in its first-round district game. The two teams that win their first-round district games will face on Mar. 1.

NOTES: Mitchell’s Megan Farnham had six points, five assists and five steals. … Miller and Kristin Sabers each had a team-high five rebounds for the Kernels, who beat Aberdeen 45-42 in their first matchup on Jan. 13. Kneht had a team-high eight rebounds for Aberdeen, which was outrebounded 35-32.

MITCHELL 67,

ABERDEEN 40

MHS (19-1, 14-0 ESD)

Dana Misiaszek 5-9 1-3 11, Megan Farnham 2-5 2-4 6, Macy Miller 3-9 7-9 14, Kerri Young 9-12 2-2 23, Kristin Sabers 3-7 1-4 7, Berkley Rietveld 0-0 0-0 0, Tori Houwman 0-1 0-0 0, Kendra Morgan 0-0 0-0 0, Torrie Michels 0-0 2-2 2, Krista Huber 0-1 0-0 0, Courtney Moore 2-4 0-0 4, Ashley Larson 0-0 0-0 0, Jamie Iburg 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-48 15-26 67.

ACHS (13-6, 9-5 ESD)

Megan Jordre 3-7 0-0 7, Kelsey Hannigan 1-4 1-4 3, Sami Knecht 3-4 1-2 7, Brynn Flakus 3-8 1-1 7, Kayla Shaunaman 3-9 1-2 8, Tiff Lundberg 0-3 0-0 0, Kayla Krueger 0-1 0-0 0, Kaley Schaunaman 2-12 2-3 6, Rachel Unrich 0-0 0-0 0, Leah Beringer 0-1 0-0 0, Lauren McCafferty 0-1 0-1 0, Sara Niederbaumer 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 16-52 6-13 40.

MHS 14 32 48 67

ACHS 12 20 32 40

3-Point Goals: MHS 4-7 (Young 3, Miller 1), ACHS 2-9 (Jorde, Schaunaman). Rebounds: MHS 35 (Miller 5, Sabers 5), ACHS 32 (Knecht 8). Turnovers: MHS 14, ACHS 23. Total Fouls: MHS 16, ACHS 19. Technical fouls: None. Fouled out: None.

JV: Mitchell won 46-35; Mitchell’s Torrie Michels had 11 points. The JV finished its season 10-9.

Sophomores: Mitchell won 53-29; Mitchell’s Shelly Iburg had 22 points. The sophomore team finished its season 10-6.

Freshmen: Aberdeen 34-20; Mitchell’s Hallie Misiaszek had 12 points and Alex Weber had 10. The freshmen finished their season 7-11.

Tags: sports, updates, kernels, basketball