RAPID CITY — Little came easy for the Mitchell High School boys basketball team on Friday night, but a late final push was just enough.
Mitchell never trailed, but Rapid City Stevens never lost contact, either. After watching the Raiders pull level for the first time all night with 2:23 to play, the Kernels scored the final six points to secure a 54-48 win at Carold Heier Gymnasium.
Though the Kernels held an advantage throughout, the game’s pace and low-scoring nature tilted in favor of Stevens, Class AA’s top defense allowing just 48.4 points per game.
But early on, Mitchell looked the part of the state’s best on the defensive end.
As the Kernels held the Raiders without a point for just shy of five minutes to start the game and without a made field goal for more than 10 minutes, Mitchell pulled out to an 11-4 edge after the first quarter and a 22-12 lead at halftime.
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Both offenses broke loose in the third quarter, with Mitchell creating the largest lead of the game at 40-28. But Stevens came back and outpaced the Kernels, 23-18, in the period powered by 13 points from sophomore guard Dayler Segrist.
Later, with time beginning to dwindle in the fourth quarter, Segrist did his best to vault the Raiders into the lead, hitting his fourth 3-pointer of the game followed by a traditional three-point play that tied the game at 48-all.
But the combination of Steele Morgan and Charlie McCardle gave Mitchell the final edge. On the possession after Stevens tied the game, Morgan assisted McCardle on a wide-open layup. Moments later, McCardle made one free throw and was off the second, but Morgan was in position to clean up the miss with a putback layup that gave the Kernels a five-point cushion with 66 seconds remaining.
McCardle finished tied for the team lead with 13 points to go with four rebounds. Dylan Soulek matched the 13 points and four rebounds and had two assists, while Morgan posted 12 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Markus Talley chipped in nine points, all on third-quarter 3-pointers.
Rapid City Stevens (3-8) was led by Segrist’s 21 points, as no other Raider scored more than six points. Madinko Hawley had four points and a team-high six rebounds, while Caden Dowling had four points and five assists.
Mitchell (8-2) turns around to play Rapid City Central at 1:30 p.m. Central on Saturday.
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