No. 3 Kernels upset No. 1 Aberdeen

The defending champion Kernels aren’t going undefeated this season. They made sure no other team would either.

Behind a dominant defense and in front of a large crowd, the No. 3-ranked Mitchell girls’ basketball team defeated No. 1 and previously undefeated Aberdeen 57-35 Friday night at the Corn Palace.

With the win, the Kernels knocked off the final unbeaten Class AA girls’ team and avenged a loss from earlier this season.

Mitchell coach Wes Morgan said this was a game his team really wanted, and Kernels junior guard Macy Miller agreed.

“We’re not at our peak yet,” said Miller, who had 20 points. “We have to get tougher on defense.”

Mitchell (14-2, 10-1 ESD) forced 23 turnovers and held the Golden Eagles (15-1, 11-1 ESD) to a season-low in scoring. Aberdeen’s previous low was 46 points in a victory over Sioux Falls O’Gorman in mid-December.

The Kernels, who lost to Aberdeen 63-55 on Jan. 3, executed their game plan to near perfection, slowing down Brynn Flakus to six points and Sami Knecht to 12.

“We turned the ball over too much, and we kind of hung our heads when we turned the ball over,” said Aberdeen coach Dawn Seiler, whose team was 13-of-36 from the field. “We missed some baskets, missed some shots in transition and then we missed some right under the rim.

“We didn’t execute very well. Defensively, we didn’t play very well there either. It’s hard to take a positive away from the game.”

Kerri Young had a game-high 24 points for the Kernels, who were 19-of-48 from the field but hit 16 of their 19 free-throw attempts. Young had 11 points in the first quarter and 15 by halftime.

Mitchell fed off an estimated crowd of 1,100 early, going on a 14-3 run in the final 4:27 of the first quarter for an 18-9 lead. Miller took over in the second, scoring 11 points to help the Kernels to a 20-point halftime lead at 37-17.

“I think we fed off the crowd a lot,” Morgan said. “They got into it, but when we got up by 20 it was a little dead.”

The Golden Eagles outscored Mitchell 10-8 in the third quarter, but the Kernels’ defense continued to frustrate the state’s top-ranked Class AA girls’ team. With a 55-33 lead, Morgan pulled most of his starters and the crowd gave its team a nice round of applause.

“There was a lot of energy and I really enjoyed it,” Miller said.

Mitchell finished with only 10 turnovers and is now on a nine-game win streak. It plays at Watertown today in another ESD Conference game. Aberdeen, which had a 17-game win streak snapped, plays at No. 4 Sioux Falls Roosevelt in its next game.

“As soon as I walked into the locker room (after the game), the kids were talking about what we need to do and what we need to turn around,” Seiler said. “This is an opportunity to take a look at ourselves, see what we need to do differently and get back to fundamental basketball. This is a good wakeup call.”

MITCHELL 57, ABERDEEN 35

MHS (14-2, 10-1 ESD)

Megan Farnham 1-4 0-0 2, Macy Miller 5-14 10-11 20, Courtney Moore 1-3 1-2 3, Kerri Young 9-20 4-4 24, Kristin Sabers 2-3 0-0 5, Berkley Rietveld 0-0 0-0 0, Torrie Michels 0-1 1-2 1, Emma Schmidt 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor Volesky 1-2 0-0 2, Shelly Iburg 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 19-48 16-19 57.

AHS (15-1, 11-1 ESD)

Kelsey Hanningan 0-3 1-2 1, Sami Knecht 4-9 4-6 12, Brynn Flakus 2-9 2-2 6, Leah Beringer 0-2 0-0 0, Sara Niederbaumer 2-5 0-0 4, Jamie Larson 1-1 0-2 2, Kayla Kreuger 0-0 0-0 0, Allie Steckler 0-1 0-0 0, Maddie Goetz 0-1 0-0 0, Brianna Kusler 4-5 2-2 10. Totals: 13-36 9-14 35.

MHS 18 37 45 57

AHS 9 17 27 35

3-point goals: MHS 3-6 (Young 2, Sabers), AHS 0-3. Rebounds: MHS 28 (Young 5), AHS (Hanningan 5, Knecht 5). Assists: MHS 8 (Farnham 2, Miller , Moore 2). Aberdeen 6 (Hannigan 4). Turnovers: MHS 10, AHS 23. Total fouls: MHS 16, AHS 14. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: None.

JV: Mitchell 51-39; Shelly Iburg had 12 points and Emma Schmidt had 10.

Sophomores: Aberdeen 33-30; Julie Knight had 13 points for Mitchell.

Freshmen: Aberdeen 46-13; Mitchell’s Sydney Swindler had seven points.

Tags: updates, mitchell, basketball