Two giants, Roosevelt drop Mitchell

SIOUX FALLS -- It's been four years since Sioux Falls Roosevelt's opponents had to deal with Wisconsin recruit Joe Krabbnehoft.

Now, Roosevelt has another Big Ten recruit for opponents to contend with, and as a height-challenged Mitchell team found out Saturday night, he's the real deal.

Iowa-bound Cody Larson, still only a junior, scored 20 points and pulled down 11 rebounds Saturday as Sioux Falls Roosevelt beat Mitchell 53-43 in a boys' high school basketball game in the Roosevelt High School gymnasium. Larson, who stands 6-foot-8, shot 9-for-13 from the field, a stat aided by three monstrous dunks, including one rim-rocking alley-oop in the second half.

"He was a force tonight," Mitchell coach Gary Munsen said. "The way he played tonight, he looks like a Division I basketball player to me."

Larson wasn't the only giant Mitchell had to deal with. Roosevelt junior Jared Bartling, also 6-foot-8, pulled down a game high 12 rebounds and also added eight points. Despite the height differential, Mitchell led the rebounding battle 18-16 at halftime, when the Kernels had a 27-25 lead, but the Kernels were outrebounded 21-6 in the second half as the Rough Riders took control.

"That stems from us defending well, because then we were in position, and then it's one and done," Roosevelt coach Bob Wilber said. "In the first half, we were flying all over the place defensively, and (Mitchell) shot the gaps and got rebound after rebound."

The height difference seemed to affect Mitchell most offensively. Second chance points were almost non-existent, especially in the second half, and Roosevelt's twin towers made it almost impossible for the Kernels' guards to score anything near the basket on penetration.

"I think sometimes when we penetrated in there, our guards started looking at their big guys," Munsen said. "We challenged them pretty good, but you have to give them credit for blocking shots. Larson blocked a couple big shots when it looked like we were going to get a layup."

Brett Young had a big first half for the Kernels, shooting 5-for-12 from the field and scoring 14 points in helping Mitchell to a two-point halftime lead. But he shot only 1-for-3 and scored only two points in the second half as Roosevelt pulled away, taking a lead as big as 16 points after a 7-0 run to start the third quarter and a 9-0 run to open the fourth.

"I thought we played much better defensively," Wilber said of the second half. "We did a much better job on Young. We switched guys on him, and disrupted his rhythm, because he had a real nice flow going in the first half."

Roosevelt led through much of the first half, but never by more than four points. After a Larson bucket gave the Riders a 19-15 lead, Jake Schmidt scored two straight baskets for Mitchell to key a 12-6 run that gave Mitchell the halftime lead. Schmidt finished with 10 points.

But over the first 11 minutes of the second half, Roosevelt outscored Mitchell 26-8, and suddenly led 51-35 with 5 minutes to play.

"The effort was there for 32 minutes," Munsen said. "The only thing that was disappointing was the way that we rebounded."

Brett Victor came through with nine points and rebounds for Mitchell, but couldn't stop the Kernels from falling to 4-5.

For Roosevelt, Grant Wynia added 12 points as the Riders moved to 5-3 after winning their unusually-late home-opener.

Mitchell will return to action Tuesday at Aberdeen in a critical District 3AA game.

SIOUX FALLS ROOSEVELT 53

MITCHELL 43

Mitchell (4-5)

Turner Volesky 0-2 0-0 0; Jake Schmidt 5-7 0-0 10; Brett Young 6-15 2-2 16; Sam Fosness 1-7 0-0 2; Tyler Volesky 3-9 0-0 6; Brett Victor 4-9 1-3 9; Totals 19-49 3-5 43

Roosevelt (5-3)

Marcus Watson 4-8 0-0 8; Nick Thune 0-1 0-0 0; Grant Wynia 4-10 0-0 12; Cody Larson 9-13 2-2 20; Jared Bartling 4-12 0-2 8; David Tucker 2-7 0-0 5; Totals 23-51 2-4 53

Mitchell 11 27 35 43

Roosevelt 12 25 42 53

3-Point Field Goals: M 2-10 (Young 2); R 5-17 (Wynia 4, Tucker); Rebounds: R 37 (Bartling 12, Larson 11); M 24 (Victor 9); Assists: M 11 (Tyler Volesky 4); R 3; Turnovers: M 8; R 11; Steals: M 7; R 1; Fouled Out: None; Tech Fouls; None