Lund's 3s lead Watertown girls past Aberdeen and other Monday hoops
Watertown High School's quest to qualify for the state Class AA girls basketball tournament for the first time since 2009 received a big boost from junior guard Jade Lund on Monday night in the Watertown Civic Arena.
Lund came off the bench to drain eight of nine field-goal attempts, including 7-of-8 from 3-point range, and scored 23 points to lift the Arrows (11-8) to a 55-43 victory over Aberdeen Central (7-9).
The win kept Watertown as the No. 8 seed in the Class AA SoDak 16 standings, a spot that would mean the Arrows would qualify to host the No. 9 seed in a SoDak 16 state-qualifying game on Friday, March 3.
Here's some takeaways from Monday's second meeting of the season between the Arrows and Golden Eagles. Watertown also won 50-36 at Aberdeen in January.
Countering size with 3-point shooting
That's exactly what the 3-point shoot was implemented for, to help smaller teams offset a size disadvantage. It really works when you don't miss from beyond the arc.
Watertown, mainly led by Lund, drained nine of 14 3-point attempts in the game for 64 percent. They were 17 of 39 overall for 44 percent.
Lund tied her career high for points, matching the 23 she scored on Feb. 10 in a win over Sioux Falls Roosevelt. Jaida Young added 15 points, four assists and three steals; Maddy Rohde 10 points and Kendall Paulson six rebounds for the Arrows.
After Aberdeen Central opened by scoring the game's first seven points. Lund hit two 3's and Young another to help Watertown pulled within 13-9 after one quarter. Lund hit two more 3's in the second period, but Aberdeen Central still led 26-21.
Two young twin towers for Aberdeen Central
Coach Mikayla Arechigo's Golden Eagles may be under .500 and may have lost two regular season games to the Arrows, but the future appears bright. The team's top player this season has been 6-0 freshman center Taryn Hermansen. Lauryn Burckhard, a 6-1 eighth-grader, also is a key player off the bench. She is the younger sister of South Dakota State senior standout Paiton Burckhard.
Hermansen scored the game's first seven points and did finish with a double-double (15 points and 12 rebounds). Burckhard added eight points. Ayrlie Waldo added nine points and Anna Malchow eight.
Aberdeen Central shot 41 percent (16 of 39) from the field and made 5-of-10 3-pointers.
Two key second-half spurts lift Watertown
Coach Chad Rohde's Arrows took advantage of a pair of second-half runs to pull out victory. The first came when Watertown erased Aberdeen Central's halftime lead by scoring the first eight points of the second half. The surge included five points from Lund.
Watertown outscored the Golden Eagles 12-4 in the period to take a 33-30 lead into the final period, but Aberdeen Central didn't go away. Two 3-pointers by by Malchow in the opening minute helped the Golden Eagles pull ahead 36-35. After a conventional three-point play by Rohde put Watertown back ahead, a field goal by Burckhard knotted the game at 38 with 6:29 remaining.
The Arrows countered with a decisive 10-0 run that get this, including two more 3's by Lund.
Watertown's defense deserves credit. The undersized Arrows definitely did a better job in their zone defense against Hermansen, who scored only four points in the second half.
How big is a home SoDak 16 playoff game?
Ok, Monday's win improved the Arrows to 5-3 at home (6-5 on the road) with one home game remaining. So Watertown has played a little better at home.
Here's the deal. Since the SoDak 16 system was implemented during the 2017-18 season (replacing districts and regions), the Arrows have lost four road games and missed the SoDak 16 once.
One might think the home-court advantage couldn't hurt especially for an Arrow team that is 0-6 with one game left (Thursday hosting Harrisburg) against the seven Class AA teams seeded above them, 10-1 against the AA teams seeded below them and 1-1 against Class A teams.
Want something interesting to chew on. The only AA team seeded lower than Watertown that has beaten the Arrows this year is Sioux Falls Lincoln, which is currently the No. 9 seed (again No. 8 hosts No. 9). Still, there's a few games on the agenda this week (weather permitting). Maybe the Arrows move up if they beat Harrisburg. Other teams could change spots so you can't rule out a potential rematch with Aberdeen Central. The Golden Eagles are currently No. 10 in the seeding.
Girls Basketball
Iroquois-Lake Preston 62, Flandreau Indian School 30: The eighth-seeded Sharks (7-14) won the opening game of the Region 2B tournament over ninth-seeded FIS (2-17) by getting 27 points, nine rebounds and four steals from Adison Moore. Hadlee Holt contributed 13 points and eight rebounds, Faith Steffensen seven points and Ava Malone six points and four steals. Angie Bell had 11 points and Mashyla Main nine for FIS.
ILP is scheduled to visit No. 1 Wolsey-Wessington on Tuesday, weather permitting.
Estelline-Hendricks 44, Deuel 41: The eighth-seeded Redhawks (9-11) slipped past No. 9 Deuel (4-17) in the opening game of the Region 2A tournament. Estelline-Hendricks is scheduled to visit No. 1 Hamlin (19-0) on Tuesday, weather permitting.
Region 6B: No. 8 Ipswich (6-15) opened the tourney with a 43-29 win over No. 9 Sunshine Bible Academy (1-18). No. 2 Potter County (14-7) downed No. 7 Highmore-Harrold (6-15) 61-45 and No. 3 Lyman (13-7) topped No. 6 Faulkton Area (8-13) in games that were pushed up from Tuesday to Monday.
Katie Bierman tallied 15 points, Gabby Wald 11 and Brianna Geditz seven to lead Ipswich. Baylee Kulesa added five rebounds, Bierman five assists and Karlie Gohl four assists. Rylee Nelson's nine points and Abby Hinman's seven rebounds topped SBA.
Skyler Volmer's 18 points, 13 rebounds, six steals and four steals sparked Lyman, which also got 13 points from Mak Scott, and nine from McKenzie Laverdure. Addison Melius had a double-double (13 points and 14 rebounds) for Faulkton Area. Carley Cotton contributed 14 points, Paislee Martinmaas eight points and six rebounds and Kelli Stoecker eight points and seven rebounds.
Ashlee Kaup produced 15 points, four assists and four steals; Tyler Simon 15 points; Peyton Stevens 14 points; Olivia Mikkelsen 11 points and Emma Schlachter 12 rebounds for Potter county. Brooke Palmer finished with 20 points and eight rebounds and Reghan Westcott nine points for Highmore-Harrold.
Region 1B: The opening game of the Region 1B tournament between No. 9 Waverly-South Shore (0-20) and No. 8 Langford Area (3-16) has been moved to Thursday at 7 p.m. Tuesday's scheduled games have been pushed back to Saturday and Thursday's semifinals to Monday.
Region 1A: The tourney, originally scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday, has been pushed back to Saturdaqy and Monday. Games on Friday include No. 4 Aberdeen Roncalli vs. No. 5 Redfield and No. 8 Tiospa Zina vs. No. 1 Sisseton at Sisseton; and No. 7 Webster Area vs. No. 2 Milbank and No. 6 Waubay-Summit vs. No. 3 Groton Area at Milbank.
Lac qui Parle Valley 54, Minneota 41: The Eagles (23-3) won the Camden Conference Championship by getting 22 points from Isabel Gerdes; 15 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four steals from Taylor Shelstad; 10 points, six rebounds and five steals from Ayanna Gipson; and eight points and four blocked shots from Camryn Lee. Faith Myhre and Kenadi Arndt each scored 11 points for Minneota.
Scores: Kidder County 48, Oakes 31 (N.D. Region 3B Tourney); and Dawson-Boyd 61, Ortonville 52 (Minn.). More details were not reported. The Tri-State at Kindred (N.D.) game in North Dakota's Region 1B tourney was postponed to Tuesday, weather permitting.
Boys Basketball
Waubay-Summit 63, Leola-Frederick Area 34: The Mustangs improved to 16-3 with 20 points and seven rebounds from Jonathan Johnston; 18 points, six rebounds and six steals from Damon Opdahl; and nine points from Jackson Wohlleber. Noah Kippley's 15 points paced LFA (11-8).
Madison 57, Milbank 45: Chuck Callahan tallied 17 points, Aiden Jensen 14 points and 11 rebounds, Eli Barger 10 points and Ben Brooks eight points and seven rebounds for Madison (11-8). Garrett Mertens scored 19 points and Joe Schulte 10 for Milbank (12-7), which had its seven-game winning streak snapped. Mertens and Justus Osborn each snared five rebounds.
Flandreau 60, Deubrook Area 44: Flandreau closed out an 8-12 regular season with 14 points from Alfie Henderson, 12 from Paul Parsley, 11 from Luke Sheppard and 10 from Micah Otto. Gavin Landmark scored 11 and Jake Jorenby nine for Deubrook Area (7-12).
Miller 56, Faulkton Area 51: Miller (10-9) used 16 points from Alex Schumacher, 14 from Spencer Fernholz, 10 from Dylan Hess and nine from Isaak Hunter to grab the win. Hunter also hauled in 10 rebounds and Schumacher, Fernholz and Trevor Werdel eight each. Layne Cotton had 21 points and 10 rebounds, Roman Dimaria 10 points and Spencer Melius 10 rebounds for Faulkton Area (9-11).
Scores: Timber Lake 52, Mobridge-Pollock 48; Tri-State 63, Wilmot 51; Lennox 67, Deuel 49; Canby 69, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 55 (Minn.); Dawson-Boyd 89, Lac qui Parle Valley 50 (Minn.); Renville County West 74, Ortonville 49 (Minn.). No other details were reported.
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on Twitter @PO_Sports.
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Region tournament play open for some area Class A, B girls teams.
