RAPID CITY – Brookings dropped a tough one to Sioux Falls Washington in the Class AA State Girls’ Basketball Tournament seventh-place game Saturday morning at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center Ice Arena.
Samiya Jami got loose for a layup with 4 seconds remaining to lift the Warriors over the Bobcats 45-43.
Brookings was on the verge of taking control midway through the fourth quarter as Johanna Miller scored in the lane and Michaela Jewett followed with back-to-back buckets to make it 41-35 with 4:50 remaining.
Washington’s Brielle Biteler connected from 3-point range with 3:34 left. Brynn Heinert (2:05) and Lily Bartling (1:43) both went 2-of-2 at the foul line as the Warriors moved ahead 42-41.
Libby Nachtigal added a free throw with 44 seconds to go.
Miller scored in the paint to stop the 8-0 run and knot things up at 43-all with 28 seconds showing on the clock.
Peyton Rymerson penetrated on the final possession and found an open Jami under the hoop for the game-winner.
“It’s not always easy, especially for a bunch of seniors who aren’t necessarily playing for something, but I was really happy with the way they came out and competed for us,” said BHS coach Mitch McLagan. “There was a lot of back and forth and, you know, in the new SoDak 16, you have two really good teams playing in the seventh-/eighth-place game. It was competitive.
“I thought there was a stretch late in the fourth quarter – we had about 3 minutes where we didn’t get very good looks. Sometimes when you have seniors taking those shots and what they’ve done for our program, you can live with those shots.
“We just missed too many shots this weekend.
“But what this group has done for our program, for the culture of our program is going to hold up for a lot of years. And I don’t know if our kids will be able to benefit from that. Our seniors probably won’t be able to benefit from that, but our program will. The excitement that the youth and the community of Brookings has had for our basketball program this year has been really fun and it’s going to move our program to the next level.”
Samiya led a balanced Warrior offense with 10 points.
Jewett scored 16 points, corralled five rebounds, came up with three steals and dished out a pair of assists for the Bobcats.
She was named to the all-tournament team, averaging 14.67 points, 4.67 rebounds, 1.67 steals, one assist and 0.67 blocks in the event.
Miller added 13 points and seven boards.
Alli Gordon hit a trio of treys for nine points and also contributed six rebounds and three steals.
Carolyn Hieb totaled three points and four dimes. Regan Weisback added a bucket.
Sixth-seeded Washington (14-9) led 12-7 after a quarter and by as many as nine points in the second.
It was 21-21 at halftime and fifth-seeded Brookings was up 35-34 at the end of three.
It marked the final game in a Bobcat uniform for Kailee Bartels, Ava Burns, Celia Dobrenski, Gordon, Hieb and Jewett.
Brookings finished the campaign with a 15-7 record, as the Bobcats made their first state tourney appearance since 2008.
SIOUX FALLS WASHINGTON 45, BROOKINGS 43
Sioux Falls Washington (14-9)
Lily Bartling 0-1 2-2 2, Libby Nachtigal 0-3 3-6 3, Samiya Jami 4-10 2-3 10, Brynn Heinert 2-7 4-4 9, Peyton Rymerson 2-12 0-0 5, Eden Hullinger 2-4 1-1 5, Rylyn Fink 0-0 0-0 0, Brielle Biteler 2-3 0-2 5, Jacee Johannsen 0-0 0-0 0, Sydni Schetnan 1-8 4-6 6. Totals 13-48 16-24 45.
Brookings (15-7)
Michaela Jewett 7-23 0-2 16, Johanna Miller 5-10 3-4 13, Alli Gordon 3-4 0-0 9, Carolyn Hieb 1-2 0-0 3, Ava Burns 0-5 0-0 0, Regan Weisbeck 1-5 0-0 2, Kailee Bartels 0-0 0-1 0, Emily Rystrom 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-49 3-7 43.
Sioux Falls Washington 12 9 13 11 – 45
Brookings 7 14 14 8 – 43
3-point goals – SFW 3-12 (Heinert 1-2, Biteler 1-2, Rymerson 1-7, Hullinger 0-1), B 6-25 (Gordon 3-4, Jewett 2-13, Hieb 1-1, Weisbeck 0-3, Burns 0-4). Rebounds – SFW 40 (Jami 9), B 32 (Miller 7). Assists – SFW 6 (Nachtigal 3), B 10 (Hieb 4). Steals – SFW 13 (Rymerson 4), B 10 (Jewett, Gordon 3). Blocks – SFW 2 (Nachtigal, Schetnan 1), B 5 (Miller 3). Turnovers – SFW 20, B 19. Total fouls – SFW 16, B 19. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.
• Brandon Valley 60, Sioux Falls Lincoln 40
The fourth-seeded Lynx shot 43.5 percent en route to the 20-point victory over the third-seeded Patriots.
Brandon Valley led 15-11 after a quarter, 33-19 at halftime and 48-28 at the end of three.
Trinity Law scored 17 points and grabbed three rebounds.
Ashley Wells added 14 points and Lauren Wells 10. Danica Kocer and Hannah Behrens both scored four points while combining for 13 rebounds.
Lincoln’s Emma Osmundson had 13 points and Morgan Hansen added 12. Sydnaya Dunn came down with 13 boards.
Brandon Valley finished the season with a 20-4 record, while Lincoln ended up 16-7.
• Harrisburg 49, Mitchell 44
The Tigers outscored the Kernels 18-11 in the fourth quarter to pull out the five-point win.
Harrisburg was up 14-12 after a quarter; however, Mitchell led 28-18 at halftime and 33-31 at the end of three.
Brecli Honner hit a trey to begin the fourth and the Tigers never trailed again. They opened the stanza on an 8-0 run.
Honner finished with 21 points and Jeniah Ugofsky added 10 to go with eight boards.
The Kernels’ Tess Limberg scored 15 points and Mackenzie Miller 10.
No. 2 Harrisburg finished the year 19-4 and No. 8 Mitchell ended up 14-10.
• Rapid City Stevens 44, Sioux Falls O’Gorman 41
The seventh-seeded Raiders (17-7) raced out to a 16-3 lead after a quarter and then held off the No. 1 Lady Knights (19-5).
Stevens was up 24-18 at halftime and the score was 32-all through three.
Grace Martin made a pair of free throws with 1:37 left to make it 43-41. Jayda McNabb added a freebie with 15 seconds to go to provide for the final margin.
Kyah Watson had 11 points, Cameron Karley nine and Laura Petrik seven.
OG’s Emma Ronsiek dropped in 21 markers.
