After his team earned its first win of the 2014-15 season, Mitchell High School girls basketball coach Wes Morgan said the rebounding was the difference.
The Kernels beat Harrisburg 56-48 in an Eastern South Dakota Conference game on Tuesday at the Corn Palace.
"Rebounding at the end was key," Morgan said. "They got a little hot at the end of the game, but we rebounded well enough to not give them second chances. I thought we did a good job getting to the basket and drawing a foul or making a shot."
Mitchell (1-1, 1-1 ESD) used a strong team effort to win the rebounding battle 32-26 over the Tigers (0-2, 0-2 ESD), while senior guard Taylor Volesky recorded a double-double with 26 points and 11 rebounds for the Kernels.
"I think we spotted them too many points in the first half," Harrisburg head coach Nick Mayer said after the game. "Volesky did a great job and we needed to have a better first half."
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Volesky scored Mitchell's first eight points of the game and finished the first half with 22 points. The Kernels led 32-24 at the half.
"She had some big shots," Morgan said. "Our offense is going to run through her. We have to get her the ball. She's a great passer, and makes good decisions."
Mitchell went 17-of-37 shooting from the floor for 46 percent, while Harrisburg shot 17-of-55 for 31 percent on field goals.
The Kernels committed six turnovers and made 19-of-27 free throws in the win.
"I thought Erin (Farnham) did a great job handling pressure and not turning the ball over," Morgan said. "We're starting to learn who we are, and every game that we go out is another chance for us to learn something. I thought we learned how to be tough at the end of a game."
Senior Julie Knight added 11 points, including going 3-for-6 from behind the arc, while senior Hallie Misiaszek added eight rebounds and six points.
"We talked to each other on defense really well tonight," Knight said. "We knew if we could rebound the ball better than them, we could pull out a win."
Harrisburg trailed by as many as 13 in the third quarter, but the Tigers were able to cut Mitchell's lead down to two with just under four minutes left to play in the game.
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Harrisburg wasn't able to tie the game, and a missed Tiger 3-pointer at 52-48 with under a minute remaining sealed the Eastern South Dakota Conference Victory for the Kernels.
Danni Honner led the Tigers with 15 points, while Haley Bruggeman added 10.
"We have to get better every time we step on the court," Morgan said. "We need to take it one game at a time and keep working hard."
Mitchell travels to take on Rapid City Central on Friday and Rapid City Stevens on Saturday.
Subvarsity scores: JV -- Harrisburg won 50-21
Sophomore -- Harrisburg won 63-20
Freshmen -- Mitchell won 41-31
H 12 24 39 48
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M 14 32 45 56
Harrisburg (0-2)
Jordan Beiswanger 0-5 1-2 2; Danni Honner 6-21 2-3 15; Brooke Severy 0-3 0-0 0; Haley Bruggeman 4-9 2-5 10; Sam Slaughter 3-7 2-4 8; Autumn Steffen 0-1 0-0 0; Sydney Fikse 0-1 1-3 1; Karli O'Conner 3-3 0-0 7; Tessa Tecklenburg 1-4 2-2 5; Totals 17-55 11-22 48.
Mitchell (1-1)
Hallie Misiaszek 2-4 2-2 6; Ally Goldammer 3-4 0-4 6; Erin Farnham 0-1 5-6 5; Julie Knight 4-8 0-0 11; Taylor Volesky 7-19 12-15 26; Bailey Kahler 1-1 0-0 2; Kaelyn Kaul 0-0 0-0 0; Brenna Morgan 0-0 0-0 0; Jenna Weich 0-0 0-0 0; Totals 17-37 19-27 56.
3-point goals -- H 3-19 (Honner 1), M 3-6 (Knight 3); Rebounds -- H 26 (Beiswanger 5), M 32 (Volesky 11); Assists -- H 1 (Steffen), M 2 (Farnham 1); Turnovers -- H 7, M 6; Fouls -- H 22 (Slaughter 5), M 19 (Knight 4).
