Turnovers plagued the Mitchell High School girls basketball team on Wednesday.
The Kernels turned it over 22 times at the Corn Palace, including twice in the final 9.4 seconds during a 49-48 loss to Thunder Basin (Wyo.). It snapped Mitchell’s (3-2) three-game winning streak.
“We played poor team offense in the second half and that’s what cost us the game,” Mitchell coach Cole Knippling said. “We didn’t execute. We didn’t help each other get better. We were careless with our passes. … Everything that leads to a loss, we did consecutively in the second half.”
Mitchell’s turnovers and missed free-throws piled up down the stretch, leading to the Bolts (5-1) erasing a 29-23 halftime deficit. Still, after Avia Haley knocked down a 3-pointer and Lizzie Tyler stole an overthrown inbounds pass, the Kernels had a chance to win the game with 9.4 seconds to play.
Instead, the Kernels turned it over twice. Thunder Basin added its seventh steal of the game on the inbounds play, and then after the Bolts missed both free-throws, Sawyer Stoebner traveled after grabbing her 10th rebound of the game.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Sawyer was cutting on the back side. She had her girl beat,” Knippling said about Mitchell’s final play. “If Macy (Kempf) completes the pass to Sawyer, she completes the layup and we’re up one.”
It was one of many missed opportunities on the offensive end in the second half. Mitchell finished 16-for-25 at the free-throw line and missed layups. After scoring 23 points in the first quarter, the Kernels were held to 25 points the rest of the game, as they shot 31.3 percent from the field in the second half.
Meanwhile, Thunder Basin started to attack Mitchell’s zone defense by overloading the right side of the court. Led by Gabby Drube and Joelie Spelts scoring 15 and 14 points, respectively, it found open looks at the rim and on second chances with its 12 offensive rebounds.
“Defensively, we were playing pretty well as a team and helping in certain situations we needed to help in,” said Haley, who scored 13 points and made a trio of 3-pointers after missing Tuesday’s game. “I think, as we went on, we got a little tired. Those stoppages we were getting, we weren’t getting anymore.”
Tired legs also impacted Mitchell on offense, which led to errant passes against Thunder Basin’s heavy ball pressure. Brady Deimling and Kate Hladky both recorded three steals for the Bolts. Meanwhile, Haley, Stoebner, Macy Kempf and Camryn Krogman all had three steals.
Krogman scored a team-high 21 points, while Kempf added eight points and Stoebner scored six points.
“I think what happened was we were tired, they pressured us and we didn’t fight for it,” Knippling said. “We’re going to go back and look at film, and we’re going to see a lot of lazy cuts, lazy action. We got frustrated and we didn’t play as a team.”
Mitchell travels to Brandon Valley on Saturday.
ADVERTISEMENT
Thunder Basin 49, Mitchell 48
Thunder Basin (4-1): Brady Deimling 0-1 0-0 0, Kinsley Larson 1-4 0-2 2, Kate Hladky 2-3 2-5 6, Gabby Drube 7-16 1-5 15, Sydney Solem 1-8 2-2 4, Breckyn Hamlin 1-2 0-0 3, Kinley Solem 0-0 0-0 0, Brooke Conklin 1-3 0-0 3, Risa Pilon 1-1 0-0 2, Joelie Spelts 5-5 4-6 14. Team totals: 19-43 9-20 49.
Mitchell (3-2): Adaya Plastow 0-4 0-2 0, Avia Haley 3-6 4-6 13, Camryn Krogman 6-14 8-10 21, Sawyer Stoebner 3-7 0-0 6, Macy Kempf 2-4 4-6 8, Lizzie Tyler 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor Giblin 0-0 0-0 0, Sarah Sebert -2 0-0 0, Mariyah Turner 0-0 0-1 0. Team totals: 14-37 16-25 48.
TB 18 23 34 49
MHS 23 29 36 48
3-pointers: TB 2-11 (Hamlin 1-2, Conklin 1-1, Deimling 0-1, Larson 0-1, Hladky 0-1, Drube 0-4, S. Solem 0-1); MHS 4-13 (Haley 3-6 Krogman 1-6, Sebert 0-1). Rebounds: TB 33 (S. Solem 6); MHS 25 (Stoebner 10). Assists: TB 5; MHS 7 (Kempf 3). Steals: TB 7 (Deimling 3, Drube 3); MHS 15 (Haley 3, Krogman 3, Stoebner 3, Kempf 3). Turnovers: TB 22; MHS 22. Total fouls: TB 21; MHS 18.
ADVERTISEMENT
