It appeared that the Mitchell High School boy's basketball team was about to suffer its first defeat of the season. That is, until Beau Brown took over.
Down by two with 22 seconds remaining in regulation, Brown stole a pass from Rapid City Stevens and was immediately fouled. Brown made both free throws to tie the game at 69, then took over in overtime to ensure the Kernels a 81-73 win over the Raiders on Saturday at the Corn Palace.
"Getting the steal was the first priority because we only had five fouls, we needed two more to get into the bonus," Brown said. "The (Raiders) had a sophomore point guard who had a heck of a game, but he just made an immature mistake. The toughness it takes to come back being down two with 22 seconds is humbling as a teammate and I'm proud of my team that we were able to come back."
Tied at 73 in overtime, Brown gave the Kernels a go-ahead basket off a pull-up mid-range jumper to help seal the victory for Mitchell (4-0, 2-0 ESD).
"This was a game where we had to grind it out possession by possession in that second half and in overtime," Kernels assistant coach Craig Mock said. "When you shoot 30 out of 34 from the free throw line, that's going to help you win a lot of ball games."
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Mitchell shot 38 percent from the floor, converting 21-of-54 shots. Rapid City Stevens (0-4) shot 46 percent on 27 of 58 shots.
The Kernels outrebounded the Raiders 36-32, but Rapid City Stevens had 16 assists to Mitchell's 10.
"We had our opportunities. We had some critical turnovers, and missed some rebounds we should have had," Rapid City Stevens head coach Ron Riherd said. "But anytime it goes into overtime, it could go one way or the other. The Kernels are a very good team, and they believe in themselves. We have to get to the point where we believe in ourselves a little more."
Brown finished with 34 points (including going 18-of-18 from the free throw line) and five assists, while Carter Brewster tallied 15 points and Jaron Weich added 12 and seven rebounds.
Mason Archambault led the Raiders with 27 points, while Sam McCloud had 14.
Mitchell looks to keep its undefeated streak alive, as it plays DeLaSalle at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 27 in Mitchell. The way the Kernels have been playing, Mock said that focus won't be an issue.
"There's no replacement for confidence," Mock said. "You can tell that just the by the way this varsity program walks, they're confident right now."
Rapid City Stevens 73
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Brad Drake 2-5 2-2 6; Mason Archambault 10-17 2-2 27; JJ Cunningham 3-7 0-0 8; Sam McCloud 5-14 3-3 14; Wyatt Osthus 2-4 1-2 5; KJ Watson 2-8 0-4 5; Drew Martain 3-3 0-1 8
Mitchell 81
Tyler Houwman 2-4 1-2 6; Jaron Weich 4-12 2-4 12; Carter Brewster 4-9 7-8 15; Beau Brown 7-14 18-18 34; Keegan Soukup 1-6 0-0 3; Jed Schmidt 0-0 2-2 2; Connor Morgan 1-3 0-0 3; Ben Miller 2-6 0-0 6; Elijah Pommer 0-0 0-0 0; Alex Hartman 0-0 0-0 0
RCS 21 42 56 69 73
Mitchell 26 43 54 69 81
3-point field goals -- RCS 11-25 (Drake 0-2, Archambault 5-11, Cunningham 2-3, McCloud 1-6, Watson 1-1, Martain 2-2), Mitchell 9-23 (Houwman 1-3, Weich 2-7, Brown 2-4, Soukup 1-1, Morgan 1-2, Miller 2-6); Rebounds -- RCS 32 (McCloud 7), Mitchell 36 (Weich 7); Assists -- RCS 16 (Drake 5), Mitchell 10 (Brown 5); Steals -- RCS 8, Mitchell 15; Turnovers -- RCS 22, Mitchell 13; Personal fouls -- RCS 24, Mitchell 14; Technical fouls -- none
Subvarsity scores
JV: RCS won 58-42. Jed Schmidt had eight points and three assists.
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Sophomores: RCS won 67-46. Sam Michels had 11 points.
Freshmen A: RCS won 55-27.
Freshmen B: RCS won 55-19.
