It was an emotional day inside the Mobridge-Pollock gymnasium on Saturday. Not only was it senior day for the Tigers, but they welcomed in one of their biggest rivals in Groton Area for a basketball doubleheader. They would split it, Mobridge-Pollock boys fell 64-49, while the Lady Tigers slugged out a 46-34 win. The boys game began the festivities, with Groton coming in with three straight wins over the Tigers by an average of 29 points. It was back-and-forth all through the first half, by the end Mobridge-Pollock led by a basket 28-26. It was a physical start to the game and both offenses moved at a slow pace.
Things turned at the start of the second half, with Groton firing off a 6-0 scoring run less than two minutes into the third quarter. Mobridge-Pollock called a timeout to try and slow things down, but it was too late. Groton won the third quarter 22-8, which put them ahead by 12 going into the final period. The fourth quarter was much of the same, as Groton was the quicker and more aggressive team in the second half. Senior Shane Henderson led all players in scoring, he dropped 15. Sophomore Easton Eisemann added 10 more with a fast start. For Groton Area, junior Keegan Tracy paced them with 14 points. He was at times the quickest player on the floor, and created one-man fast breaks off of steals.
With the defeat, Mobridge-Pollock drops to 11-5 and have now lost two of their last three games. The road will not get any easier, with their remaining four games against teams with winning records. Of those, three have won at least 12 games. Groton Area rises to 12-5, and now leads the all-time series against Mobridge-Pollock at 14-13 thanks to four straight head-to-head wins.
The Lady Tigers would avenge that loss, as they stymied their rival for nearly an entire game. Groton Area did not score until 2:54 left in the first quarter, and thanks to a three-point effort in the second quarter, they were down at halftime 23-11. They would not stay down forever, outscoring Mobridge-Pollock in the third quarter and shaving their lead down to four at one point in the fourth. But, timely free throws, and a deep three from junior Blake Thompson put the win on ice.
Thompson scored a game-high 16 points, junior Tegan Konold had 11. On the Groton Area side, it was senior Kennedy Hansen leading the way with 13 points. The Lady Tigers are now 15-2, on pace for their best regular season in recent memory. Their remaining schedule consists of 3-15 Todd County, 2-16 Stanley County, and 9-9 Winner. They now lead the all-time series with Groton Area 23-19, with wins in each of the last four meetings. Groton Area remains in great shape, albeit dropping to 13-6.
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