BROOKINGS The Brookings girls basketball team split their final two games of the regular season over the weekend.
The Bobcats took care of business against Douglas on Friday night with a 58-30 win over Patriots and then lost a tight one in overtime to Spearfish on Saturday afternoon, 56-55.
Brookings will compete in the SoDak 16 next. The Bobcats will be the No. 11 seed in Class AA and will play at Mitchell on this upcoming Friday night.
Friday
Brookings 58, Douglas 30
The Bobcats raced out to a 19-8 lead in the first quarter. They then extended the lead to 33-10 by halftime as they outscored the Patriots 14-2 in the second frame. Brookings pushed the lead to 49-24 by the end of the third and then outscored Douglas 9-6 in the final quarter.
Brookings head coach Mitch McLagan said his defense turned things around after the first quarter and he was pleased with the way the Bobcats played throughout the game.
I wasnt really happy in the first quarter. We had a couple close outs that werent very good. But then our kids committed and made some adjustments,” he said. “They committed and closed out hard, and we rebounded well and didnt give them second or third choices very often.”
Brookings shot 40.7% from the field and was 8-of-18 from three. Macy Even led the Bobcats with 23 points.
Its one of those things where weve noticed that we need to get [Even] going early. We set up a couple set plays to get her going early in the game, but once she sees one of those [shots] fall, she starts feeling it pretty good and starts playing with a ton of confidence. Getting her going early was important, McLagan said.
Logan Smidt had 14 points and six rebounds for the Bobcats.
Douglas shot 20% from the field and was 5-of-20 from three. The Patriots had three players score seven points in Emma Blaisure, Olivia Harris and Ryli LaJoie.
Brookings had a 35-27 advantage in rebounds. Each team had 17 turnovers. Brookings was 4-of-6 at the free throw line and Douglas was 9-of-15.
Saturday
Spearfish 56, Brookings 55 (F/OT)
Even split a pair of free throws with 9.2 seconds left to put the Bobcats up two with 9.2 seconds play. On the other end Mya Kochuten hit a three as the buzzer went off and gave the Spartans the one-point victory.
Brookings led 14-8 at the end of the first quarter. The Bobcats then extended their lead to 25-15 by halftime. The Spartans then outscored the Bobcats 18-5 in the third and led 33-30 heading into the fourth. Brookings returned the favor in the fourth, outscoring Spearfish 17-14 and forcing overtime.
The Bobcats shot 45.7% from the field and were 5-of-23 from three. Brookings was led by Smidt and Even who each had 14 points. Tess Burns had 13 points and nine rebounds.
Smidt and Burns are two of the three seniors for the Bobcats, with Kymber Buys being the other. McLagan had high praise for the seniors.
Those three seniors have changed our entire program with what they have done. They are truly special. Deep down as a coach, inside of us, we really hope to play well for those three kids. We wanted to send them out in a good way. Theyve just done so much inside and outside of the program. Were going to miss them a lot, McLagan said.
Spearfish shot 35.1% from the field and was 10-of-28 from three. Jozie Dana led the Spartans with 19 points and five rebounds. Kochuten had 16 points and Kate Scharf had 11 points.
Brookings had 14 turnovers and Spearfish had 15. The Bobcats were 8-of-18 at the free throw line and the Spartans were 6-of-10. Spearfish won the rebound battle 38-33.
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