Pierre beats Mitchell 70-56 Saturday

PIERRE — Dominance from Zach Hanson and a milestone bucket by Lane Severyn highlighted the conclusion of a perfect season-opening weekend for the Pierre Governors on Saturday.

Hanson paced the Govs with 22 points and 14 rebounds and Severyn scored his 1,000th career point as a Governor as the Govs topped the new-look Mitchell Kernels 70-56 at Riggs High School in Pierre.

The Governors scored their first points from three-point land courtesy of Cody Honeywell but it was Hanson’s effort that keyed Pierre’s victory. The future Creighton Bluejay bounced back from a frustrating opening half in Friday’s contest against Huron with yet another double-double under his belt.

The 26-point increase from game one to game two wasn’t simply Hanson’s doing. The Governors had nine different players score as part of a balanced attack Saturday.

“I thought we had a better flow offensively than we did Friday. I think being in our own gym made us more comfortable shooting. There were some loose spots in their zone that we took advantage of. A lot of different players gave us contributions and that was a positive thing,” Governors coach Terry Becker said.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the highly-regarded Govs though, as Mitchell’s perimeter oriented offense kept the Kernels afloat for much of the contest.

Mitchell was led by the scoring trio of Cole Morgan, Jared Schmidt and Seth Cavanaugh in the contest, who scored 15, 12 and 14 respectively.

Mitchell head coach Tom Young said he was pleased with how his seniors played, especially Kass Ischen and Josh Schmidt.

“I thought we played much harder Saturday night,” Mitchell coach Tom Young said. “Kass and Josh did a pretty good job on Hanson.”

Mitchell shot 10-for-23 from three-point land with one of those trifectas coming courtesy of Even Mastel to close the first quarter. Mastel’s three put the Kernels down just four after a quarter of play, despite Severyn’s seven first-quarter points.

The Governors increased their lead to eight at the half in a quarter that featured a few highlights for the state’s top team.

Hanson had two dunks in the second quarter while Severyn closed the half with a buzzer beater to give the Governors a 32-24 halftime lead.

Hanson’s second dunk was in response to a 3-pointer by Beau Brown to cut Pierre’s lead to just two. The dunk may have been a momentum shifter though as it started a 6-0 run to close the half.

The Governors began the second half with an element of surprise as Brevin Kaiser started the half. Becker’s decision to go to the freshman paid dividends as Kaiser found Hanson for a score to push the lead to double digits to start the third quarter.

The Kernels wouldn’t go away easily though as Jared Schmidt hit one of his four 3-pointers to bridge the gap to eight and the deficit was later decreased at nine after a steal and score by Cole Morgan.

Hanson ensured that there would be no Kernels third-quarter comeback when he scored three the old-fashioned way and added a pair of free throws as time expired in the third quarter to round out another great performance by the reigning Gatorade South Dakota Player of the Year.

Despite the Kernels’ best efforts, the Govs cruised in the fourth quarter and led by as many as 15 in the final quarter of play.

“I’ve been pleased with some things but we need to work on execution,” Young said. “I think as the year progresses and we keep working hard, the results will come.”

The Kernels will look to bounce back from a 0-2 start Tuesday when they host Brookings.

PIERRE 70

MITCHELL 56

Mitchell (0-1)

Cole Morgan 5-6 3-4 15; Jared Schmidt 4-9 0-0 12; Seth Cavanaugh 5-16 2-2 14; Beau Brown 2-10 1-3 6; Zach Moen 0-1 0-0 0; Ryler Kreutzfeldt 1-1 2-2 4; Even Mastel 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 18-48 10-12 56

Pierre (2-0)

Garrett Pochop 4-5 0-0 10; Austin Christopherson 2-5 2-2 7; Carson Eisenbeisz 2-2 0-0 4; Lane Severyn 6-18 1-3 14; Zach Hanson 9-19 4-5 22; Erin Severyn 0-1 2-2 2; Cody Honeywell 1-3 0-0 3; Nathan Ellenbecker 1-1 0-0 2; Brevin Kaiser 2-3 2-4 6. Totals 27-57 11-16 70.

3-point goals — M 10-24 (Morgan 2-2, Schmidt 4-8, Cavanaugh 2-8, Brown 1-2, Moen 0-1, Mastel 1-1, Schmidt 0-1 ) P 5-19 (Pochop 2-3, Severyn 1-9, Christopherson 1-4, Honeywell 1-3) Rebounds—M 22 (Brown 6), P 43 (Hanson 14), Total Fouls – M 17, P 12. Steals – M 6 (Cavanaugh 3), P 5 (Pochop, Christopherson, Eisenbeisz, Severyn, 1). Blocks – M 0, P 2 (Hanson, 2). Turnovers – M 13, P 15. Fouled out – None

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