Corsica-Stickney started slow but finished fast against Bridgewater-Emery on Saturday.
Spurred by Clayton Menning's 26 points, the short-handed Jaguars rallied past the Huskies in the fourth quarter and held on for a 45-43 win in the second game of the Dakota Wesleyan University Culver's Classic at the Corn Palace.
Trailing Bridgewater-Emery 41-35 with six minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Jaguars closed the game on a 10-2 run and watched the Huskies' game-tying shot miss as the buzzer sounded.
"Defensively, we just got more aggressive and then we executed on offense," Corsica-Stickney head coach Mike Tuschen said. "We didn't rush things down the stretch, we just picked away. It was all about executing as a team."
The Huskies (12-5) jumped out to an early 7-0 lead and led throughout the contest until a Menning jumper put Corsica-Stickney in front 44-43 with under two minutes remaining.
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"We didn't get many of those 50-50 chances and they were beating us to the ball," said Bridgewater-Emery head coach Scott Schultz, who added the 35-second shot clock (not required for Class B games) did not affect his team down the stretch. "We got into a rut and didn't get very good looks and then they made a couple of shots. That was the difference. We played hard enough, but we needed to secure the ball a little better and get some better looks at the end."
The Jaguars (13-3), who were missing regular starters Eli Van Roekel and Landon Bruinsma because of injury, went 17-of-43 from the field for 39 percent shooting in the win. Josh Moser had eight points, while Reed Baan Hofman chipped in six points for Corsica-Stickney.
"We knew with Van Roekel not playing that someone was going to pick up the slack," Schultz said about Menning's performance. "He played a great game and he just had a nice flow going, no matter which guy we put on him."
Cole Gassman led the Huskies with 14 points, while Sam Arend added 12 points. Bridgewater-Emery went 15-of-52 from the field for 28 percent shooting in the loss.
Tuschen said Bruinsma will miss the rest of the season with a broken leg but expects Van Roekel to return to the court soon.
"They are a huge part of our program but we've seen some maturity and some players have stepped up," Tuschen said. "Hopefully, when we get Eli back we'll reach another level."
Corsica-Stickney (13-3) plays Tripp-Delmont/Armour on Tuesday in Armour, while Bridgewater-Emery (12-5) plays Centerville on Monday in Bridgewater.
CS 5 22 33 45
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BE 11 23 35 43
Corsica-Stickney (13-3)
Scoring: Josh Moser 8 Clayton Menning 26 Cordel Menning 4 Reed Baan Hofman 6 Blake Moke 1
Bridgewater-Emery (12-5)
Cole Gassman 14 Sawyer Schultz 4 Sam Arend 12 Jamin Arend 3 Colton Plagmann 6 Cade Schmitt 4
