Tuesday hoops: Watertown sweeps and Aberdeen Central's Barr pours in 51

If Watertown High School's girls basketball team ends up qualifying for the state Class AA tournament for the first time since 2009 this winter, Tuesday's 36-34 comeback win over Huron could prove to be a key factor.

The Arrows (6-5) used a 15-5 scoring surge in the final eight minutes to again notch a close victory over Huron. The Tigers led 13-3 after one quarter, 21-7 at one point in the second quarter, 24-16 at halftime and 29-21 after three quarters.

Watertown trailed for all but 86 seconds in the game, grabbing their only lead on sophomore Emery Thury's go-ahead field goal with 1:26 left. Neither team scored the rest of the way.

Here's some takeaways from Tuesday's game:

Watertown has Huron's number

Tuesday marked the third time in two seasons that the Arrows have pulled out close wins over the Tigers (5-5). Watertown beat Huron 51-49 at home and 47-43 on the road last winter and somehow did it again on Tuesday.

"I tell the girls a lot that it takes a good team to get a lead, but an even better one to keep it," said first-year Watertown head coach Chad Rohde. "These are games that really build character. Every once in a while you need to win an ugly one.

"We just beat Rapid City Central by scoring 77 points and tonight we blister the nets for 36. The thing is you have to be able to win some of those games in order to reach the goals you've set for yourselves."

Maddy Rohde scored 11 points to lead the Arrows, who also received seven points from Grace Corey and six from Thury. Jaida Young, who battled foul trouble, snared five rebounds.

Huron's Isabelle Ellwein led all scorers with 20 points. Hamtyn Heinz added 10.

How did the comeback happen?

The defenses were pretty solid all night for each team and Watertown certainly did its part in the second half by doing a better job on Ellwein, who had 13 first-half points.

The shooting percentages told a big story. Huron shot 57 percent (eight of 14) from the field in the first half and only 23 percent (three of 13 in the second half). Watertown made seven of 19 shots (37 percent) in the first half and eight of 16 (50 percent) in the second half. After connecting on only one of its first nine 3-point attempts, the Arrows went 4-for-10 id half.

"Hat's off to Huron, they had a game plan to slow us down and take us out of our game, which they did," said Rohde. "But I don't want to be a team that lives and dies by the 3-pointer. If we're going to win the games we need to win and even some we're not expected to win, we're can't be one-dimensional."

Thury actually kicked off Watertown's final surge with back-to-back field goals that trimmed Huron's lead to 31-28 with 4:20 left. Maddy Rohde got the Arrows even with a 3-pointer with three minutes left, and after Ellwein answered her own 3 to put Huron back ahead, Rohde drained another trey with 2:21 left to even the score again.

Thury then closed out the win with her basket.

Fighting for home-court advantage in the SoDak 16

The top six teams in the Class AA seed standings (Sioux Falls Washington, Sioux Falls Jefferson, Harrisburg, Pierre, Rapid City Stevens and Sioux Falls O'Gorman) are a combined 53-11 this season. Only one of the losses (Brandon Valley's win over Pierre) came to one of the other 13 AA teams.

That certainly indicates there's some separation at the top, but it also means there's going to be a battle for the final spots in the state-tourney field and a home-court SoDak 16 game could pay dividends. Huron arrived Tuesday with the No. 7 seed and Watertown the No. 10 seed. The Arrows jumped up to No. 7 with the win and Huron fell to No. 9.

"We didn't really talk about it, but we always try to make sure the girls are aware of where things stand," said Rohde, whose team opened a daunting stretch of 10 games in 31 days on Tuesday. "I think it's our biggest win of the season for sure."

Getting ready for the stretch run

Watertown will close out January with home games against Douglas (1-10) on Friday at 6:30 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the boys' game at 8 p.m. and against Sioux Falls Lincoln (4-8) on Tuesday before visiting No. 1 Sioux Falls Washington and No. 3 Sioux Falls Jefferson to open the final month of the regular season.

It's that final month that will go a long ways in determining the fate of the Arrows.

"We had a pretty tough schedule early with Pierre and Brandon Valley on the road and O'Gorman at home in the first four games," said Rohde. "We faced some adversity early and we're starting to turn the corner. Of course, we'd like to have a better record but the bottom line is we're learning as we go. We just have to make sure we're playing our best basketball by the end of the February."

Other Tuesday Girls Basketball

Pierre 63, Aberdeen Central 54: The fifth-rated Governors (9-2) won the Eastern South Dakota Conference game with 23 points from Remington Price, 17 points and eight rebounds from Reese Terwilliger and 13 points from Ryann Barry.

Taryn Hermansen scored 22 points, Anna Malchow 18 on six 3-pointers and Lauryn Burckhard had eight points and 12 rebounds for Aberdeen Central (3-6), which visit Yankton on Tuesday.

Hamlin 64, Aberdeen Roncalli 21: Kami Wadsworth poured in 27 points and Addie Neuendorf and Marissa Bawdon 11 each for the top-rated Class A Chargers (12-0) in the Northeast Conference game. Ava Hanson led Roncalli with 11 points.

Warner 49, Langford Area 30: The fifth-rated Class B Monarchs improved to 10-2 with 14 points from Kendyl Anderson, 10 from Lauren Marcuson and six apiece from Kamryn Anderson, Ava Nilsson and Kiah Koch. Montana Marlow finished with seven and Tawnee Nelson six for the Lions.

Florence-Henry 61, Arlington 54: The Falcons (10-1) won with 20 points, 12 rebounds and six steals from Caylin Kelly, 11 points and eight rebounds from Trinity Watson, 10 points from Taylor Watson and eight points and six rebounds from Katelyn Klitzke. Arlington (9-4) was led by Addie Steffensen's 17 points, Jo Steffensen's 13 and Jaelyn Huntimer's 12.

Great Plains Lutheran 45, Wilmot 34: The Panthers took the Eastern Coteau Conference game by getting 14 points from Olivia Holmen, 10 from Abby Kjenstad and nine from Esta Cameron. Holmen added nine rebounds, Cameron seven rebounds, Halle Bauer five steals and Kjenstad five assists.

Castlewood 36, Colman-Egan 24: In the Dakota Valley Conference game, the Warriors won with 12 points from Maddie Horn, 10 from Mackenzie Everson and nine from Lyndsey Archer. Lanie Mousel scored 11 for Colman-Egan.

Hitchcock-Tulare 42, Redfield 39: Cambree Hoekman's 15 points and Kaelyn Schroeder's 12 lifted Hitchcock-Tulare. Ellie Evans tallied 12 and Camryn Rohlfs 10 for Redfield.

Northwestern 54, Faulkton Area 45: Adrianna Ratigan had 14 points, Ella Boekleheide 11, Ella Haven 10, Ashley Haven eight and Josie Sparling seven to lead Northwestern to the Lake Region Conference win. Ella Haven added six rebounds and six steals and Ashley Haven six rebounds and four assists. Addison Melius' 21-point, 21-rebound performance led Faulkton Ara, which got 12 points and six steals from Paislee Martinmaas.

Wolsey-Wessington 73, Sunshine Bible Academy 14: Mya Boomsma tallied 21 points, Leah Williams 17, Payton Kemnitz 12 and Shae Uttecht 10 for No. 2 Class B Wolsey-Wessington (10-2). Williams, who scored her 1,000th career point, added seven assists, six rebounds and five steals. Boomsma also had eight rebounds. Sadie Konechne paced SBA with eight points.

Leola-Frederick Area 41, Britton-Hecla 35: Sofia Losure's 13-point, nine-rebound effort led LFA, which also got 11 points from Laura Sumption. Tiyanna Scott and Alyssa James had eight points apiece for the Braves.

Canby 54, Yellow Medicine East 47 (Minn.): The Lancers won with 19 points from Brynn Kockelman, 16 points and 13 rebounds from Kortney Leppke and 10 points and four assists from Braelyn Merritt. Lacie DeVos pulled down 15 rebounds and Ashlee AnnFrazeur 10.

Lac qui Parle Valley 52, Renville County West 33: Camryn Lee (20 points and eight rebounds), Taylor Shelstad (15 points, eight assists and six steals), Isabel Gerdes (12 points, four assists and four steals), Rylee Lund (nine points and four assists) and Ayanna Gipson (six steals, five rebounds and four assists) sparked LqPV to victory.

Scores: Sisseton (11-0) 70, Deuel 33; Elkton-Lake Benton 55, Dell Rapids 39; Sioux Valley 73, De Smet 48; Tri-State 59, Richland (N.D.) 52; Sargent County (N.D.) 59, Tiospa Zina 20; Oakes 64, Lisbon 31 (N.D.) and Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 58, Dawson-Boyd 20 (Minn.). No other details were reported.

Tuesday Boys Basketball

Watertown 67, Huron 52: The Arrows (4-7) pushed their winning streak to three games with a 25-9 scoring surge in the fourth quarter. Watertown led 33-27 at the half before Huron (3-6) rallied to take a 43-42 lead into the final period.

Kohen Kranz scored 19 points, Dylon Rawdon 11, Jack Heesch and Caden Beauchamp eight each, Jake Olson seven and Brody Torgerson and Marcus Rabine each six. Rawdon added six rebounds, four assists and three steals; Beauchamp six rebounds, three assists and three steals; Kranz six assists and Olson three assists and three steals.

The Arrows shot 52 percent (22 of 42) from the field and also made 16 of 21 free throws.

Reilyn Zavesky paced Huron with 27 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Dylan Lichty pitched in with eight points and four assists and Dawsyn Rogers seven points.

Aberdeen Central 84, Pierre 82: Spencer Barr's 51-point outburst lifted the Golden Eagles (3-6) to the Eastern South Dakota Conference win over the fourth-ranked Governors (7-4). Barr canned seven of Aberdeen Central's 16 3-pointers. He went 17-for-27 (7-13 from 3) from the field and 10-for-13 from the free-throw line.

Jett Carlson canned five 3's and scored 16 points for the Golden Eagles, who host Yankton on Tuesday. Carter Dingman contributed 10.

Pierre received 33 points and seven rebounds from Lincoln Kienholz, 18 and 10 from Benjamin Heisler and 14 and nine from Jackson Edman. Cade Kaiser added eight points.

Aberdeen Christian 70, Herreid-Selby Area 45: Jackson Isakson recorded 15 points, Malek Wieker 14 points and Joey Johnson 12 points and seven rebounds for the top-rated Class B Knights (12-0). Brenden Begeman had 19 points for HSA.

Hamlin 72, Aberdeen Roncalli 38: The Chargers (8-2) cruised to the Northeast Conference win with 18 points from Easton Neuendorf, 15 from Tyson Stevenson, 12 from Brennan Keszler and 11 from Zac VanMeeteren. The Cavs were led by Maddox Miller and Darwin Gambler with nine points each and Zane Backous with seven.

Castlewood 81, Colman-Egan 29: Lane Tvedt notched 22 points, Joe Decker 15, Jackson Schofield 10, Jamison Keszler nine and Bennett Johnson eight for the 10-3 Warriors in the Dakota Valley Conference game. Jase Mousel scored 12 for Colman-Egan.

Florence-Henry 57, Arlington 18: Florence-Henry cruised behind Ty Bergh's 14 points, Peyton Roe's 12 and Mehki Keller's 10. Teagan Sumner grabbed 10 rebounds. Blake Madsen finished with seven points and eight rebounds for Arlington.

Redfield 65, Hitchcock-Tulare 42: Jerron Haider tossed in 26 points to set the pace for Redfield, which also got 11 points from Mitchell Mack and nine from Nolan Gall. Justin Ratigan and Gall each snared 11 rebounds. Erik Salmen's seven points and 12 rebounds and Riley Fliehe's seven points topped Hitchcock-Tulare.

Leola-Frederick Area 64, Britton-Hecla 28: Noah Kippley and Brayden Sumption led LFA with 24 and 12 points, respectively. Daniel Person had 12 and Ashton Mills seven for the Braves.

Faith 66, Potter County 48: The Longhorns won with 28 points from Jackson Schauer and 12 each from Caden Selby and Rylan Palmer. Matthew Gray collected 13 rebounds. Alex Tanner's 25 points and 11 rebounds topped Potter County, which received eight points from Ryder Falkenhagen and six points and seven rebounds from Landon Larson.

Wolsey-Wessington 54, Sunshine Bible Academy 22: Moshe Richmond notched 14 points, Ricky Maurovic 13 points and Tate French 12 points and nine rebounds for Wolsey-Wessington. Nolan Triebwasser scored seven points and Daniel Gerbracht six for SBA.

Northwestern 75, Faulkton Area 60: The Wildcats won by getting 21 points from Nathan Melius, 16 points and 10 rebounds from Chase Neiber and 13 points apiece from Relly Schmitt and Quintin Fischbach. Layne Cotton's 24 points and nine rebounds and Spencer Melius' 11 points topped Faulkton Area.

Wyndmere-Lidgerwood (N.D.) 60, Wilmot 57: Wilmot received 25 points and six rebounds from Keitrick Genia; 22 points, nine rebounds and four steals from Dennis Creadon; and eight points from Jaxen Dockter in the loss.

Waverly-South Shore 51, Webster Area 43: Landon Maag's 22 points propelled Waverly-South Shore, which also got 12 points from Dan Dalton, nine from Owen Gilmour and seven from Troy Kneeland. Jaiden McCreary had 10 points and Tate Mammenga eight for the Bearcats.

Scores: Sargent County (N.D.) 71, Tiospa Zina 50; Dell Rapids 81, Elkton-Lake Benton 36; Dell Rapids St. Mary 71, Deubrook Area 57; and Dawson-Boyd 86, Ortonville 26 (Minn.). No other details were reported.

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Aberdeen Central boys outlast No. 4 Pierre in double overtime.