BROOKINGS -- On Friday night at the Corn Palace, it was the Mitchell High School boys basketball team that came out red-hot at the start, but on Saturday night in Brookings, the Bobcats gave the Kernels a taste of their own medicine.
Brookings jumped out to a 9-2 lead and hit seven of its first eight shots, but it wasn't enough to prevent the Kernels from winning their second game in as many nights, this time winning 60-49 over Brookings.
The Kernels are now 2-0 overall, and 2-0 in the Eastern South Dakota Conference as well.
Mitchell head coach Gary Munsen said he was pleased his team was able stay focused after falling into an early hole, and was able to rally quickly and take a 30-22 lead by the time halftime rolled around.
"(Brookings was) on fire, and our defense was pretty good too," Munsen said of the start to the game. "The thing we're pleased with is how we came out. Sometimes when you have a game like our opening game, and everything is so easy, and everything is going in, sometimes you have an emotional letdown the next night."
ADVERTISEMENT
It seemed early on like that could be the case Saturday, but the Kernels responded in a hurry. Mitchell closed the half on a 19-2 run to take an eightpoint halftime lead, though the team once again ran into some trouble at the start of the second half.
Brookings was able to tie the game at 33-33, when Munsen called a timeout to set up a few plays, and he said his team was "outstanding from that point on."
"The last 12 or 13 minutes of the game, we really played well," he said. "We made some mistakes. I looked at video, and after looking at it, I see we have a lot of things to work on its. But its early, and the goal is always to get better as you go along."
The slow start to the game for the Kernels Saturday could have reflected a brief adjustment for Mitchell to a smaller court in Brookings then the regulation college court the Kernels played on Friday at the Corn Palace. In that game, Mitchell was able to run the fast break to perfection and hit some long passes over the top of the defense, something that was more difficult on the smaller high school floor.
"Brookings is not an easy place to play, because it's a small gym," Munsen said. "It's probably about 10 feet shorter, so it's harder to run the break.
"We like to push the ball. When you have a kid like Jordan Miller, we like to throw it over top of defense and have a chance to go to the hoop with it. It's just different."
Jordan Long led the Kernels with 22 points and eight rebounds Saturday. Brett Young had 14 points and Jordan Miller added 11 points and seven rebounds. It was the second straight night Mitchell had at least three players in double figures. On Friday against Pierre, four different players scored at least 10 points as well.
"Three kids in double figures is great," Munsen said. "When you have three or four in double figures, you have a great chance to win the ball game. (Long) just played great on both ends of the floor."
ADVERTISEMENT
After controlling the boards on Friday, Mitchell was outrebounded 40-34 by a bigger Brookings team Saturday. However, the Kernels made up for the deficit by turning the ball over just eight times.
With two conference wins already at hand, Mitchell will now prepare to face Watertown at the Corn Palace Friday night. Though its still early in the season, the game could end up being crucial later in the season. Watertown was ranked No. 5 in the state in the preseason Newspaper Association poll, and along with Mitchell and Aberdeen Central, will be a strong contender for the conference crown.
However, Munsen isn't looking at this game any differently than any other game.
"They're all big," he said. "The rankings don't mean a lot to me, and I try to stress that to the kids. It's how you're playing at the end of the year."
