After one game, the Mitchell boys basketball team has already matched its win total from a year ago.
The Kernels upset No. 5 Pierre 90-83 in an Eastern South Dakota Conference game at the Corn Palace on Friday, and the Mitchell locker room couldn't have been more relieved.
"When you win one game in a entire season, it's kind of frustrating," Mitchell senior guard Beau Brown said. "(Pierre) was ranked number five in the state in the preseason, so it feels pretty good, especially at home. It was a whole team effort, it was 12 guys. I was proud of them."
Brown led Mitchell with 20 points, including shooting 5-of-13 from the floor.
With 3 minutes remaining, the Kernels had to contain the momentum of the Governors, who trimmed an 80-70 Kernel lead into a four-point deficit in about a 30-second span. Despite Pierre going on a small run in crunch time, Brown told his team this was its game to win.
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"We had mental toughness tonight," Brown said. "I had a really bad turnover there at the end with three minutes left to cut it down to four. In that time out, I looked to our guys and said, 'It's time to grow up right here. We're all seniors, let's get this done.' "
The Kernels were able to close out the Governors using several transition baskets that broke the full-court-press and converted free throws, hanging on to seal the victory.
"We had contributions from everybody," Mitchell head coach Erik Skoglund said. "We talk about team play, and we finally got a victory. It's been a long time since Kernel nation was able to celebrate a victory, so I'm happy for our players and happy for our fans. Hopefully, this excitement will carry over into practice and can get things rolling for us this season."
Mitchell started scoring early and often, racing out to a 7-0 lead and ended the first quarter leading 22-17.
"I thought they played with more energy than we did," Pierre head coach Terry Becker said. "I think that was evident from the beginning. When you come into somebody else's building, you have to match that intensity because they're going to rally behind their home crowd. We didn't do that enough tonight."
The Governors recovered from a slow start in the second quarter and led the Kernels 46-44 at halftime.
"The main thing was we got back (on defense)," Becker said. "We gave up a couple easy ones in the first quarter, but I thought we did a better job of eliminating the easy baskets in transition. I think we should have stayed out here for halftime because we relaxed a little bit in the third quarter. Next thing you know, our lead evaporated and we were playing uphill the rest of the way."
The Kernels were able to shoot a healthy percentage from beyond the arc, as Mitchell converted 12 of 27 shots from long range. Pierre shot 7-of-17 from downtown.
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Senior guard Nick Rabern led the Governors offensively with 22 points, while Brevin Kaiser tallied 16 points and Max Seward contributed 11 points.
Meanwhile, Jaron Weich chipped in 16 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Kernels and Kanin Nelson recorded 10 to round out the scoring.
While this was just the first game of the season, Weich said the win was a huge confidence booster for the Kernels.
"It's huge," he said. "Not just because they're number five, but our team needed it. It gives us a ton of confidence, and everybody is feeling a ton of energy."
Mitchell is back on the court at 7 p.m. on Tuesday when it takes on Harrisburg on the road.
Notes: Starters for the Kernels were Tyler Houwman, Jaron Weich, Carter Brewster, Beau Brown and Kanin Nelson. Weich, Brown and Nelson also started last season for Mitchell. ... Last season, the Kernels' lone victory came against Harrisburg in the home opener.
Mitchell 90, Pierre 83
Pierre (0-1, 0-1 ESD)
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Nick Rabern 8-10 5-7 22, Erin Severyn 3-11 0-0 8, Ethan Leif 2-3 3-3 8, Max Seward 5-8 1-5 11, Brevin 6-13 4-8 16, Charlie Anderson 2-4 0-0 6, Brad Dean 0-1 0-0 0, Trey Livermont 1-2 2-2 5, Daly Beck 2-3 1-3 5, Matt Booth 0-0 0-0 0, Clay Bush 1-1 0-0 2
Mitchell (1-0, 1-0 ESD)
Tyler Houwman 0-2 2-2 2, Jaron Weich 6-8 1-3 16, Carter Brewster 2-5 1-2 6, Beau Brown 5-13 9-13 20, Kanin Nelson 4-4 1-1 10, Jed Schmidt 1-2 0-0 2, Connor Morgan 3-6 0-1 9, Ben Miller 1-2 0-0 3, Elijah Pommer 0-1 0-0 0, Gray Determan 3-5 1-2 9, Kyle Jamison 0-0 0-0 0, Keegan Soukup 5-7 1-2 11, Alex Hartman 1-1 0-0 2
Pierre. ....17 46 61 83
Mitchell. ..22 44 69 90
3-point field goals -- Pierre 7-17 (Rabern 1-2, Severyn 2-5, Leif 1-2, Kaiser 0-3, Anderson 2-3, Dean 0-1, Livermont 1-1), Mitchell 12-27 (Houwman 0-2, Weich 3-5, Brewster 1-3, Brown 1-3, Nelson 1-1, Schmidt 0-1, Morgan 3-6, Miller 1-2, Pommer 0-1, Determan 2-3). Rebounds -- Pierre 33 (Kaiser 11), Mitchell 31 (Weich 6). Assists -- Pierre 6 (Rabern 3), Mitchell 18 (Brewster 5). Total fouls -- Pierre 26, Mitchell 25. Fouled out -- Pierre none, Mitchell (Brewster). Technical fouls -- Pierre none, Mitchell none.
Subvarsity scores
JV: Mitchell won 68-55. Gray Determan scored 13.
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Sophomore: Pierre won 56-37. Cody Reichelt and Sam Michels scored nine points apiece.
Freshmen A: Mitchell won 55-24. Jordon Johnson scored 15.
Freshmen B: Pierre won 41-30. Craig Huff had 11.
