A familiar theme arose again for the Pierre Governors over the weekend, as they showed they can compete with the best teams in the state. But when the Govs have struggled against the top teams in Class AA, there seems to be one quarter of play where things just don’t fall their way. That was the case again Saturday afternoon at Sioux Falls Lincoln, as the Patriots earned a 74-51 win over Pierre. The Patriots started hot as they opened up a 21-8 lead in the first period, but a 9-0 run by the Governors pulled them to within four at the end of the quarter. That four point margin remained at halftime with the Pats up 37-33. A Sawyer Sonnenschein 3-pointer got the Govs off to a good start in the second half, but the offense went cold after that, while Lincoln fired on all cylinders through the third quarter. A 26-7 run put Lincoln well out in front to stay as they improved to 16-1 on the season, one night after beating Brandon Valley, the top ranked team in the state, 69-58, in Brandon. Sam DeGroot led four Patriot double-digit scorers with 18 points, many of which came on second chance putbacks following offensive rebounds. Dawson Getz put 14 down and Luke Olson added 12 to pace Pierre. While Lincoln will be expected to regain the #1 ranking in Class AA in the week ahead, the 5-10 Governors will look to get back on track as they host winless Brookings Tuesday night at the Riggs High Gym. Coverage on RIVER 92-7 will begin at 6:30, with the live video stream available at https://drgnews.com/river.