South Central falls to Dupree, takes fourth

ABERDEEN — South Central’s second-half turnovers led to a 64-51 loss to Dupree in the third-place game of the Class B state boys’ basketball tournament at the Barnett Center on the Northern State University Campus in Aberdeen.

“That’s what really caused the difference in the ballgame,” said South Central head coach Clayton Steele, whose team finished the season 22-4 overall. “We were pretty much controlling the game until we started turning the ball over, and we can’t afford to do that. We’re not the type of team that’s so strong that we can throw the ball around.”

The fifth-seeded Cougars committed just five turnovers in the first half but turned the ball over 13 times in the second.

South Central, which was 20-of-42 for 48 percent from the field and 9-of-14 for 64 percent from the free-throw line, had a three-point lead at halftime. But the Dupree’s defense came out strong in the third, giving the Cougars trouble.

“With us not executing our offense and not getting the ball inside where we can score, we were allowing them to catch up and go ahead of us,” Steele said.

And the Tigers, who committed 12 turnovers in the game, did just that on a big 3-pointer by Nate Widow with two minutes to play in the third, giving the Tigers their first lead of the game. From that point, Dupree never trailed.

“When you’re struggling to get back into the game, then hit a big one like that to put us ahead, that was a big lift,” Dupree head coach Jim Hood said. “To me, something like that in a close game is like a dunk. It gets everybody fired up and energizes the whole team.”

The Tigers continued to hold the momentum as they built a 40-36 lead at the end of the third.

South Central senior forward Tyler Frank scored the next four points to bring the Cougars within one, but that was as close as they would come. With South Central senior guard Dakota Votaw fouling out early in the fourth and third-seeded Dupree outscoring the Cougars 24-15 in the final quarter, South Central was unable to regain control, allowing the Tigers to earn third place.

Frank led the Cougars in scoring with 20 points and eight rebounds. Junior center Sam Hazen scored 16 points and had a team-best nine rebounds. South Central won the battle on the boards 27-21.

Dupree, which was 20-of-39 for 51 percent from the field and 18-of-22 for 82 percent from the foul line, was led by Widow with 20 points and seven rebounds. Kash Deal scored 12 points in the win.

DUPREE 64, SOUTH CENTRAL 51

DUPREE (24-2): Pretty Weasel 1-2 2-2 5, Longbrake 1-4 2-2 4, N.Widow 5-15 9-11 20, T.Widow 3-3 0-0 7, LeBeau 2-2 2-2 7, Deal 5-8 1-2 12, Shaving 3-5 0-1 7, Spiel 0-0 2-2 2. Totals: 20-39 18-22 64.

SOUTH CENTRAL (22-4): Bruns 0-1 4-6 4-6 4, Sebern 1-3 0-1 2, Tuttle 2-7 0-0 4, Votaw 2-4 0-0 5, Frank 8-13 3-5 20, Hazen 7-14 2-2 16. Totals: 20-42 9-14 51.

Dupree 10 20 40 64

South Central 15 23 36 51

3-pointers: Dupree 6-14 (Pretty Weasel 1-2, Longbrake 0-1, M.Widow 1-4, T.Widow 1-1, Lebeau 1-1, Deal 1-2, Shaving 1-3), Soyth Central 2-7 (Bruns 0-1, Sebern 0-2, Tuttle 0-1, Votaw 1-2). Rebounds: Dupree 21 (N.Widow 7), South Central 27 (Hazen 9). Assists: Dupree 11 (LeBeau 3), South Central 11 (Tuttle 4). Total fouls: Dupree 16, South Central 20. Fouled out: Votaw.

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