RAPID CITY – The Bobcats got going in the second half but dug themselves into too big of a hole in the first during a 61-41 loss to top-seeded Sioux Falls O’Gorman in a Class AA State Girls’ Basketball Tournament consolation semifinal Friday morning at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center’s Ice Arena.

Emma Ronsiek scored 15 of her game-high 24 points in the first half as the Lady Knights built a 33-11 advantage at halftime. The junior and Creighton commit added eight rebounds and five assists.

Brookings made just three of its 18 shots attempts in the opening 16 minutes.

OG’s lead peaked at 24 points and it was on top 47-29 at the end of three.

The Bobcats continued to grind in the fourth and saw more shots fall.

Johanna Miller scored in the paint, Ava Burns buried a 3-pointer and Michaela Jewett turned a steal into a transition layup to cut the deficit to 49-39 with 4:19 remaining.

The Lady Knights regained momentum with a 6-0 spurt – Courtney Baruth converted a layup, Ronsiek went 2-of-2 at the foul line and Isabelle Moore added a hoop – and moved ahead 55-39 with 2:46 remaining.

“It comes down to making shots, and we didn’t do that in the first half,” said BHS coach Mitch McLagan. “Emma Ronsiek is a special player and she hit a bunch of shots. We tried throwing a bunch of things at her defensively and a special player makes special plays.

“We went into halftime and … we have a group of girls who do not want to go out this way. I was very happy with how we played in the second half. I thought we played with the most emotion that we’ve seen this week. The intensity picked up and we started making some shots; the girls were playing together; I thought our ball movement was better. Too often in this tournament we’ve been playing side-to-side, just moving the ball east and west, and I thought we did a better job getting the ball north and south and started being the aggressors.

“If we can make some shots in the first half, I think we have this down to a possession or two in the fourth quarter and we have a shot.”

Baruth scored 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting off the bench for O’Gorman, which moved to 19-4. Rylee Benson added nine points.

The Lady Knights shot 46.7 percent (21-of-45) from the field.

Jewett paced the Bobcats with 21 points and six boards.

Burns scored nine points, Miller eight and Regan Weisbeck three.

Fifth-seeded Brookings (15-6) takes on sixth-seeded Sioux Falls Washington (13-9) in the seventh-place game today at 11 a.m. CT in the Ice Arena.

“We talked about it in the locker room – this has been a special group and with the way the South Dakota state tournament is set up, there are four teams that get to end their year with a win,” McLagan added. “It would mean a lot for this program, for how much this team has done for our school, to end on a high note and try to get a win (Saturday.)”

SIOUX FALLS O’GORMAN 61, BROOKINGS 41

Brookings (15-6)

Alli Gordon 0-2 0-0 0, Regan Weisbeck 1-4 0-0 3, Carolyn Hieb 0-2 0-0 0, Kailee Bartels 0-1 0-0 0, Ava Burns 4-6 0-0 9, Kennedy Schafer 0-0 0-0 0, Emily Rystrom 0-0 0-0 0, Michaela Jewett 7-22 4-8 21, Jaidyn Bauman 0-0 0-0 0, Johanna Miller 4-14 0-0 8. Totals 16-51 4-8 41.

Sioux Falls O’Gorman (19-4)

Abigale Muller 2-2 0-0 4, Rylee Benson 3-5 2-2 9, Carly Kunkel 1-4 0-1 2, Isabelle Moore 1-5 0-0 2, Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda 0-0 4-4 4, Allison Crouch 0-0 0-0 0, Awoti Akoi 1-4 0-0 2, Raegen Reilly 0-1 0-0 0, Elena Yellow Bird 0-0 0-0 0, Hannah Ronsiek 1-2 0-0 3, Emma Ronsiek 7-16 7-8 24, Grace Bengford 0-0 0-0 0, Courtney Baruth 5-6 1-1 11. Totals 21-45 14-16 61.

Brookings                    3    8  18  12  –  41

Sioux Falls O’Gorman  13  20  14  14  –  61

3-point goals – B 5-16 (Jewett 3-10, Weisbeck 1-1, Burns 1-2, Hieb 0-1, Gordon 0-2); SFO 5-15 (E. Ronsiek 3-8, H. Ronsiek 1-1, Benson 1-3, Kunkel 0-1, Moore 0-1, Reilly 0-1). Rebounds – B 25 (Jewett 6); SFO 40 (E. Ronsiek 8). Assists – B 7 (Hieb 2, Burns 2); SFO 9 (E. Ronsiek 5). Steals – B 3 (Hieb 2); SFO 4 (Kunkel, E. Ronsiek, Mwenentanda, H. Ronsiek). Blocks – B 3 (Miller 2); SFO 1 (Akoi). Turnovers – B 8; SFO 11. Total fouls – B 13; SFO 8. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.

Semifinals

Brandon Valley beat Mitchell 52-38 and Sioux Falls Lincoln held off Harrisburg for a 42-39 win.

The third-seeded Patriots (16-6) and fourth-seeded Lynx (19-4) meet for the title tonight at 6 p.m. CT.

The second-seeded Tigers (18-5) and eighth-seeded Kernels (14-9) play for third at 2:30 p.m.

• Brandon Valley 52, Mitchell 38

The Kernels held the Lynx scoreless for nearly 6 minutes while building a 9-0 lead; however, Brandon Valley recovered and later pulled away for the 14-point win.

Mitchell led 13-8 after the first quarter.

Brandon Valley moved ahead 26-23 at halftime and was up 44-30 through three. Its lead peaked at 18 in the fourth.

Ashley Wells scored 17 points, Ashley Wells 14 and Lauren Wells seven.

Mitchell’s Tess Limberg had 16 points.

• Sioux Falls Lincoln 42, Harrisburg 39

The Patriots led 14-8 after a quarter and 24-13 at halftime, before the Tigers made things interesting.

Harrisburg opened the third period on a 12-1 run and trailed 31-29 entering the fourth.

Aby Phipps’ three-point play 14 seconds into the final stanza gave the Tigers their first lead since the opening seconds.

Lincoln’s Mya Wilson countered with a 3, before Phipps scored down low, leaving the score at 34-34 with 4:49 left.

Brooke Brown buried a triple with 4:29 showing on the clock to put the Patriots on top 37-34. Lincoln never trailed again.

Out of timeouts, Harrisburg’s Brecli Honner elected for a 2-pointer with less than 5 seconds remaining, cutting the deficit to 40-39.

Lincoln surprisingly inbounded the ball instead of letting the clock run to zero, but it worked out. Brown was fouled and made both free throws with 1.1 seconds to go to provide for the final margin.

For Lincoln, Morgan Hansen had 13 points and nine boards. Brown and Emma Osmundson added 11 points apiece.

Phipps totaled 12 markers and seven boards for the Tigers.

Consolation Semifinal

• Rapid City Stevens 62, Sioux Falls Washington 38

The Raiders dominated the middle quarters in the win.

Stevens trailed by as many as nine points and was down 13-5 after a quarter. The Raiders turned the tables in the second, grabbing a 30-19 advantage at halftime. They were up 48-27 at the end of three and saw they lead peak at 29 points in the fourth.

Reserve Cameron Karley scored 14 points, and Grace Martin and Jayda McNabb both added 10. Elizabeth Schaefer had nine points and Kyah Watson eight to go with 10 rebounds.

Eleven different Warriors found the scoring column, with Lily Bartling and Eden Hullinger each tallying five points.