MITCHELL — Aberdeen Central’s height kept Mitchell’s hands full all night.
And in the fourth quarter, the Golden Eagles used that height, as well as free-throw shooting, to go on a 13-0 run and pick up a 53-48 win over the Kernel girls Tuesday at the Corn Palace.
Mitchell built up a 44-40 lead in the final frame before Aberdeen Central started its charge back, eventually taking a 53-44 lead with just over a minute left in regulation.
“Maybe we were getting worn down a little bit, banging and pushing against those big bodies,” head coach Dave Brooks said of the Kernels’ late struggles. “Then we had to foul and they made the free throws.”
The Golden Eagles established themselves down low, doing the bulk of their damage in the paint, hitting just one 3-pointer on the night. Six-footer Taryn Hermansen led the way with 15 points, including eight in the fourth quarter. Taryn Hettich added 11 and 6-foot-1 eighth-grader Lauryn Burckhard chipped in 10.
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“This is probably the biggest team we’ve played with those three 6-footers, and so it really became important that we needed to be able to shoot better tonight,” Brooks said. “They kind of had us a little out of rhythm between their man and zone (defenses). We never really got comfortable and had some good, easy looks.”
Mitchell shot 28% (14 of 50) from the floor and 5-for-21 (23.8%) from 3-point range in the loss, but knocked down 15 of 20 free-throw tries.
Sawyer Stoebner and Lauren Van Overschelde each poured in 16 points, though Stoebner — who picked up a double-double with 11 rebounds — fouled out with 2:09 remaining. Both her and Addie Siemsen — the Kernels two leading scorers on the season — had three fouls in the first half and had to sit.
Despite the foul trouble from the duo, the Kernels held a 22-21 edge at the break and a 37-36 advantage heading into the fourth.
“I told the kids before the game, ‘Everybody’s got to be ready to step in tonight,’” Brooks said. “We were kind of worried that we might get into foul trouble with the big kids (on Aberdeen Central). … Defensively, effort is there with (the bench unit).”
Allison Meyerink led the bench scoring with six points and was Mitchell’s third-leading scorer in the game. On top of Meyerink, Brooks mentioned Makenzie Peterson as a spark plug off the bench.
“Any ball that’s on the floor, she thinks it’s hers,” Brooks said of Peterson. “That’s the kind of energy you need, and then it kind of picks up the other kids.”
Mitchell (8-7) is back in action Thursday at home against Watertown.
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“It’s a tough loss,” Brooks said. “The nice thing is we got another shot here on Thursday, so we got to get right back at it and put this one down.”
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