Kernels open postseason with loss to Huron

HURON — With youth comes nerves.

Mitchell High School boys’ basketball coach Tom Young pointed to his team’s postseason inexperience after a first-round District 3AA playoff loss to Huron Tuesday. Many of Mitchell’s players were playing in their first district game.

“The kids were pretty tight,” Young said. “I was hoping the kids would come out loose and play without fear, but midway through the first quarter I could just tell we were struggling.”

The third-seeded Kernels were defeated by the second-seeded Huron Tigers 63-53 in the semifinals of the District 3AA tournament at Huron Arena.

Mitchell senior Seth Cavanaugh, who had the most postseason experience with the Kernels last year, said it was a challenging atmosphere to play in.

“Their crowd was really into it and were really up in our grill, and we couldn’t get into our offense,” said Cavanaugh, who scored 14 points and grabbed a team-best five rebounds.

Along with nerves, the Kernels (5-16) struggled offensively, shooting 27 percent in the first half, and couldn’t contain Huron’s Justin Decker in the first half. The 6-foot-6 junior scored 18 of his team-high 20 points in the first half to give Huron (15-6) a comfortable lead heading into the locker room.

After trailing by 19 at halftime, Mitchell began to relax a bit more in the second half. The Kernels opened the third by scoring seven straight points on baskets from Cavanaugh and sophomore Beau Brown, who scored a game-high 24 points.

“I was proud of the kids in the second half,” Young said. “I challenged them to play hard and we did, and if we would’ve played like that in the first half, we would’ve been in the game at the very end.”

Four minutes into the quarter, the Tigers put up their first point of the half on a free throw by Adam Zwanziger, who had 11 points and eight rebounds, to bring the lead to 33-20. Huron went on a 9-0 run, which ended the third and stretched into the fourth, to go ahead by 19 for the second time.

The Kernels, who shot 47 percent from the floor in the game, scored 30 points in the fourth quarter — highlighted by six 3-pointers. Mitchell came within nine after a three-point basket by senior Jared Schmidt with 1:25 left on the clock. But the early deficit was too much to overcome.

Now, Huron plays Pierre for a state tournament berth in the District 3AA championship game Friday in Pierre. Mitchell hosts fourth-seeded Aberdeen Central, which lost to Pierre Tuesday night, at 8 p.m. Friday at the Corn Palace in Mitchell.

“The biggest thing is that we’re at home, so that will make it a lot easier to play in,” Cavanaugh said. “We know we can play with Aberdeen, but we know they’re going to get after it just like Huron did. We have to really prepare well, because it’s a do-or-die situation.”

HURON 63

MITCHELL 53

Mitchell (5-16)

Cole Morgan 3-7 0-0 8, Zach Moen 0-0 0-0 0, Seth Cavanaugh 6-14 0-0 14, Beau Brown 10-17 0-1 24, Josh Schmidt 2-2 0-0 4, Jared Schmidt 1-4 0-0 3, Ethan Jones 0-1 0-0 0, Jon Jamison 0 0-0 0, Evan Mastel 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-45 0-1 53.

Huron (15-6 )

JP Noonan 0-4 4-4 4, Will Carr 1-5 0-0 3, Lucas Morrison 1-2 2-3 4, Adam Zwanzinger 4-7 3-4 11, Justin Decker 8-11 4-4 20, Houstyn Heinz 0-2 0-0 0, Alex Kopfmann 0-0 0-0 0, James White 0-0 2-2 2, Caleb Carr 4-6 0-0 8, Hayden Busch 3-4 0-0 9, Tre Henderson 0-0 2-2 2, Tate Sporrer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-41 17-19 63.

MHS 9 13 23 53

H 16 32 40 63

3-point goals: M 9-19 (Brown 4, Cavanaugh 2, Morgan 2, Ja. Schmidt), H 4-8 (Busch 3, Carr). Rebounds: M 14 (Cavanaugh 4), H 31 (Zwanzinger 9), Assists: M 9 (Moen 4), H 10 (White 2, Decker 2, Morrison 2). Steals: M 2 (Brown, Jo. Schmidt), H 6 (Decker 3). Turnovers: M 11, H 10. Total fouls: M 18, H 6. Technical fouls: none.

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