MINNEAPOLIS -- Almost lost in all the hoopla surrounding Friday afternoon's high school basketball game at the Target Center in Minneapolis was the fact that the game between Mitchell and Brandon Valley was still a regular season conference basketball game.
As far as the experience was concerned, it was a day that probably will be remembered for a lifetime for most of the kids. But from a basketball standpoint, Mitchell's 51-38 loss to Brandon Valley was a loss the Kernels would probably like to forget as soon as possible.
"It's disappointing because that's our sixth ball game of the year, and it's by far the worst game we played," Mitchell head coach Gary Munsen said. "We just looked like we were scared out there."
Nerves might have had something to do with the Kernels flat performance in a game that was played in the 23,500 seat NBA arena in front of about 1,200 fans. However, the environment didn't seem to faze Bandon Valley center Chase Douglas, who poured in 35 points, including his team's first 12 points of the afternoon.
"We didn't have an answer for Douglas, but you can't really point the finger at anybody," Munsen said. "We had Brett Victor, Turner Volesky and Jake Schmidt, but we never had any help. Then you'd try to play a little zone, and they'd still get a rebound and put it back up."
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Douglas gave his team an early 6-0 lead with three straight buckets to open the game, and three more baskets had his team up 12-5 with 3:24 to play in the first quarter. No other Brandon Valley player scored until there was 1:04 left in the first quarter, when Brandon Eiseland scored on a layup. Still, Brandon Valley led 14-9 after one quarter.
The Kernels kept their deficit at about five for most of the second quarter, and two Sam Fosness free throws had the Kernels down, 21-16, with 4:21 left in the half. But again, the Kernels had no answer for the 6-foot-4 Douglas, who outscored Mitchell by himself, 22-18, in the first half.
"We took some bad shots, I thought, in the first half," Munsen said of his team, which shot only 30 percent before halftime and 34 percent for the game. "The second half was better, but we weren't focused enough."
Brandon Valley extended its lead to as many as 15 points in the second half at 40-25. Brett Young hit a 3-pointer at that point to slow the momentum, and he and Schmidt hit back-to-back threes with about six minutes left to play in the fourth quarter that cut the lead down to 40-34.
"To me, the only kid who was mentally ready was Brett Young, and he should be," Munsen said. "But there's no excuse for the other kids."
With the lead cut down to six, however, Brandon Valley recreated some separation in a hurry. Douglas scored two straight baskets, one of which turned into a traditional 3-point play, and suddenly the Lynx lead was right back to 45-34.
"We got it to 40-34 and then boom, they got two layups and suddenly, it's a 10-point game," Munsen said.
Young led the Kernels with 15 points and six rebounds. Jake Schmidt chipped in with 12 points and Fosness had five rebounds. Brandon Valley, which turned the ball over only five times and won the rebounding battle, 36-25, got eight points from Eiesland to go with Douglas' monster performance.
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Brandon Valley improved to 3-2 with the win, while Mitchell fell to 3-3. The Kernels will return to action Thursday at Yankton.
