RAPID CITY -- The seniors paved the way for the Mitchell High School girls basketball team.
A turnover-heavy night quickly turned around on Friday, as Mitchell erased a double-digit lead for a 48-41 win at Rapid City Central for its first victory of the season.
“Not only that it was a win, but the way we won was pretty special,” Mitchell coach Cole Knippling said. “We had a really bad third quarter, but we didn’t fold. We buckled down and we really played some great defense.”
In the third quarter, Rapid City Central (1-1) pulled away from a 16-16 halftime tie to take a 33-23 lead in the final minutes. Camryn Krogman nailed a 3-pointer to cut it to 33-26 heading into the fourth quarter, which foreshadowed Mitchell’s game-winning run.
Mitchell (1-1) didn’t make a field goal for the first three minutes of the second quarter and five minutes of the third quarter. In the final quarter, Mitchell scored the first 16 points to turn a double-digit deficit into a 42-33 lead.
Avia Haley drilled a pair of 3-pointers, Macy Kempf continued to connect at the free-throw line and Krogman got to the rim for easy buckets. It was a 19-0 run, which saw Rapid City Central held without a point until 1:46 remained in the game. The Cobblers didn’t make a field goal until 20 seconds remained.
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“Our defense was phenomenal,” Knippling said. “They really tightened up and didn’t give them anything.”
All of Mitchell’s 22 fourth-quarter points were scored by seniors. Kempf and Krogman both scored eight points and Haley added six points. Defensively, Adaya Plastow shut down Jordan Heckert, who scored 16 points for the Cobblers.
“That’s exactly what you hope for,” Knippling said. “You hope your seniors can step up and make those winning plays when they need to. … The thing that was kind of neat was last year we maybe would’ve had big eyes and struggled in those minutes. They were really calm and really focused in those moments, and played some really good team basketball.”
Kempf finished with 18 points and nine rebounds, as she made 14 of 15 at the line. Krogman added 15 points, while Haley added nine points in the win.
Mitchell overcame 24 turnovers, which kept it from gaining momentum before the final quarter. Knippling felt his team didn’t have as much patience when Rapid City switched to a zone defense in the second quarter.
It led to both teams trading turnovers in the first half, as Rapid City also turned it over 27 times. The Cobblers’ third-quarter run was sparked by getting in transition a couple of times, but in the half-court, the Kernels didn’t allow many looks at the rim.
“I think one thing we did was we really made them play to their weaknesses,” Knippling said. “A lot of these girls are really good if you let them play with their strong hand. We made shooters drive. We made right-handers go left, and left-handers go right. I thought we really played a smart game.”
Mitchell plays at Rapid City Stevens on Saturday.
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Mitchell 48, Rapid City Central 41
Mitchell (1-1): Adaya Plastow 1-6 0-0 2, Avia Haley 3-10 0-0 9, Camryn Krogman 5-10 4-4 15, Macy Kempf 2-12 4-15 18, Sawyer Stoebner 2-5 0-2 4, Mariyah Turner 0-2 0-0 0, Lizzie Tyler 0-1 0-0 0, Taylor Giblin 0-2 0-0 0, Aliyah Howard 0-0 0-0 0, Sarah Sebert 0-1 0-0 0, Kaitlyn Christensen 0-0 0-0 0, Gabby Sonne 0-0 0-0 0. Team totals: 13-49 18-21 48.
Rapid City Central (1-1): Ramsey Deming 0-0 0-0 0, Josie Hill 3-8 3-4 11, Morgan Sullivan 2-10 2-2 6, Jordan Heckert 6-11 2-2 16, Julie Valandra 1-1 0-0 2, Amarea Rinto 0-1 0-1 0-0, Kylea Becker 0-0 1-2 1, Brittany White Hat 0-0 0-0 0, Nevaya Cuny 1-1 0-0 2, Mckadyn Chasing Hawk 1-3 2-2 5, Denna Smith 0-0 0-0 0.
MHS 9 16 26 48
RCC 5 16 33 41
3-pointers: MHS 4-17 (Haley 3-9, Krogman 1-4, Tyler 0-1, Giblin 0-1, Stoebner 0-2); RCC 3-8 (Heckert 2-3, Chasing Hawk 1-1, Rinto 0-1). Rebounds: MHS 34 (Kempf 9, Plastow 5); RCC 28 (Hill 7). Assists: MHS 3 (Plastow 2); RCC 2. Blocked shots: MHS 1, RCC 3. Steals: MHS 10 (Kempf 3, Krogman 2); RCC 9 (Deming 2, Sullivan 2, Heckert 2). Turnovers: MHS 24; RCC 27. Total fouls: MHS 17; RCC 20.
