BROOKINGS The Brookings Bobcats smothered Aberdeen Central on defense and used a series of clutch plays in the second half to defeat the Golden Eagles 48-38 at Bob Jostad Gymnasium on Friday night.
While the win helped the Bobcats improve to 6-12 on the season, Brookings head coach Mitch McLagan saw more encouraging signs from his young team in a game that they had to grind out to earn the victory.
Im extremely proud of our group and a team thats young and learning how to win, McLagan said. If we played this game back in December, Im not sure we win but weve been preaching next play so often and I loved to see what we did on defense.
Aberdeen Central came out of the gates strong as they used an 11-2 run to take an 11-8 lead at the end of the first quarter. But Brookings regrouped in the second quarter, holding the Golden Eagles to five points to go into halftime tied at 16-16.
While the Bobcats werent in the lead, there were several reasons to be optimistic. Brookings didnt shoot well from the free throw line in the first half, going 3-for-9 from the charity stripe, and they only shot 35 percent in the first half, missing some opportunities to pull away.
The Bobcats had trouble getting going as the Golden Eagles took a 25-20 lead on Lauryn Burckhards layup with 3:22 left in the third quarter but the Bobcats responded with a 9-1 run that was capped by Macy Evens 3-pointer that gave Brookings a 29-26 lead.
The Golden Eagles were able to cut the deficit down to 29-28 on a pair of free throws by Caydi Withers at the end of the third quarter and tied the game at 33-33 on a 3-pointer by Withers with 6:31 to play. But Even scored four straight points to give the Bobcats the lead and Logan Smidt hit a 3-pointer that put Brookings up 40-33 with 5:02 to go.
The plays sparked an 11-2 run and helped Brookings create enough of a cushion to come away with the win. After the game, McLagan commended the efforts of both players as Smidt scored 12 of her game-high 17 points in the second half to go with nine rebounds and three assists and Even finished with 12 points, four rebounds, two blocks, two assists and two steals.
We needed Logan and Macy to step up tonight, McLagan said. We knew that was coming for Logan and she kind of put us on her back in the third quarter to get the lead and Macy is just so versatile. Shes tough to guard and had a really good second half.
The duo was also a key part of the Bobcats’ defense which held the Golden Eagles to 27 percent shooting in the game including 7-for-26 (26.9%) on 3-pointers and also held standout post Lauryn Burkhard to six points, nine rebounds, four blocks and a steal.
Shes a really nice player, so we really wanted to help down low, McLagan said of the defensive plan. Give Aberdeen some credit because their kids hit some shots in the first half and we had to make adjustmentsbut I thought Tess Burns and Brinleigh Mack did a great job on her in the second half because we werent bringing as much help in the second half.
While Mack did a great job defensively, she was also part of two seniors who were honored as part of the Bobcats Senior Night. Mack got the start and scored four points, two rebounds and an assist and McLagan commended her ability to play even as shes battled injuries during her senior season.
Not a lot of people know how bad shes struggling with those injuries, McLagan said. Some of her minutes have been cut down but what she means to us on a team thats so young its what makes those seniors really important.
Fellow senior Brooklyn Benthin also drew the start in Fridays game and drew praise from McLagan for her hard work in practice and ability to help some of the younger players come along as they adapt to varsity basketball.
Thats a kid that would love to play more minutes but she doesnt play many minutes, McLagan said. She still shows up every single day and she works her butt off in practice to help make our kids better. Shes a big part of our team and not many people can do what she does with the character and heart that kid has.
Burns finished with six points, four rebounds and a steal for the Bobcats who shot 41 percent in the game including 4-for-12 (33.3%) on 3-pointers. Brookings finished the game going 12-for-23 (60.9%) on free throws and made 11-of-14 attempts in the second half.
The Golden Eagles went 5-of-9 (55.6%) on their free throws and out-rebounded the Bobcats 32-28 while committing 19 turnovers.
Withers led Aberdeen Central with 12 points, two rebounds, an assist, a block and a steal while Madison Miller had 11 points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists.
The win helped the Bobcats get one step closer to a spot in the SoDak 16 as they sit more than a seeding point over Sturgis with two games to play. With a game against the Scoopers coming on Friday night, McLagan still has a simple goal for his team to get better every day.
We cant sit and hold on to this when its moving on to the next one, McLagan said. Were trying to get ourselves in the best spot we can for the SoDak 16 but part of that is just getting better every single day and I thought we got better tonight.
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