Kernel boys lose, miss 1st state tourney since 2002

The fourth-seeded Aberdeen Golden Eagles made a strong defensive showing to defeat third-seeded Mitchell to win the District 3AA elimination game 59-37 Friday night at the Corn Palace in Mitchell.

The Kernels end their season with a 5-17 record, ending a 10-year streak of Class AA state high school boys’ basketball tournament appearances.

“They may go down as one of the worst teams in Kernel history, but I didn’t have any eligibility issues, training violations, technical (fouls) or problems with them on the floor this season,” Mitchell coach Tom Young said. “I’m proud of this team.”

The Golden Eagles (6-15) advance to play Rapid City Stevens in a state play-in game Tuesday. Aberdeen coach Brent Norberg said his team is peaking at the right time.

“We had to play defensively a lot better than we did last time, and we did a lot better on their shooters this time,” said Norberg, whose team lost to Mitchell in its last meeting Feb. 8 in Aberdeen. I don’t think there’s any question that we’re playing our best basketball right now. I really think this is the most focused, together and committed we’ve been as a team all year.

“We have one more game to get where we want to go and we have to play even better to do that.”

Aberdeen shot 21-of-44 for 48 percent from the field in the game and was the aggressor on the floor from start to finish.

Mitchell opened up the game with a jumper by senior Josh Schmidt — the Kernels’ only lead of the game. The Kernels struggled containing the Aberdeen offense, which went on a 6-0 run after Mitchell’s opening basket. The Golden Eagles continued to pressure the Kernels on both ends of the floor, building an 18-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.

“Things went their way early, they had a lot of momentum and they hit their shots,” Young said. “We were just out of sync all night.”

Mitchell, which shot 12-of-39 for 31 percent from the floor, lessened the Aberdeen lead to five early in the second quarter after four straight points by senior Cole Morgan, who scored a team-high 13 points. But Aberdeen sophomore Jacob Goehring answered with five straight points, giving his team the 23-13 lead with 4:03 left in the first half.

Aberdeen built its largest lead of the first half at 31-18 on a three-point play by senior Braden LeGrand 40 seconds before the half. Sophomore Beau Brown hit a 3-pointer to bring Mitchell back within 10 at 31-21 at halftime.

In the third quarter, Aberdeen maintained its ground, outscoring the Kernels 17-5 in the quarter. The Golden Eagles, who edged Mitchell in the rebounding battle 27-26, continued to pressure the Kernels through the fourth quarter, building a large enough lead as both teams took starters out of the game with minutes left to play in the game.

Aberdeen was led by senior Carter Paulson with a game-high 20 points and seven rebounds and senior Brady Mohr scored 14 points in the win.

Mitchell’s only player in double-figures was Morgan with senior Seth Cavanaugh and Brown following with seven points apiece.

ABERDEEN 59

MITCHELL 37

Aberdeen (6-15)

Josh Hilgemann 1-4 2-2 5; Carter Paulson 9-11 1-2 20; Braden LeGrand 3-5 1-1 7; Brady Mohr 4-12 4-6 14; Jacob Goehring 2-7 2-2 7; Trey Vilhauer 0-0 0-0 0; Isaac Jones 1-1 0-0 3; Logan LeGrand 0-1 0-0 0; Jordan Leidolt 0-1 0-0 0; Tevin Johnson 0-0 0-0 0; Jesse Babcock 0-0 1-2 1; Chase Severson 0-0 0-0 0; Jacob Carrels 0-1 0-0 0; Brock DeGroot 1-1 0-0 2; Totals 21-44 11-15 59.

Mitchell (5-17)

Cole Morgan 3-9 6-6 2-13; Zach Moen 1-2 1-2 3; Seth Cavanaugh 3-10 0-0 2-7; Beau Brown 3-9 0-0 7; Josh Schmidt 1-1 1-2 3; Parth Patel 0-1 1-2 1; Jared Schmidt 0-1 0-0 0; Ryker Kruezfelt 0-0 0-0 0; Ethan Jones 0-2 0-1 0; Derek Miller 1-1 0-0 3; Neil Schlimgen 0-0 0-2 0; Trenton Lisakowski 0-0 0-0 0; Jon Jamison 0-0 0-0 0; Evan Mastel 0-2 0-0 0; Jaron Weich 0-0 0-0 0; Totals 12-39 9-15 37.

AC 18 31 48 59

M 9 21 26 37

3-point goals: AC 6-14 (Hilgemann 1, Paulson 1, Mohr 2, Jones 1), M 4-16 (Morgan, Cavanaugh, Brown, Miller); Rebounds: AC 27 (Paulston 7), M 26 (Brown 6); Assists: AC 8 (Goehring 4), M 7 (Brown 2); Steals: AC 13 (Goehring 3), M 9 (Moen 2); Turnovers: AC 11, M 13; Personal fouls: AC 15, M 16; Technical fouls: None.

Tags: sports, updates, mitchell, basketball