The Pierre Governor boys basketball team kept pace with highly touted Huron Tuesday night, but the Tigers used a late surge to seal a 54-39 win in ESD Conference play. The Govs struggled from the field, hitting only three 3-pointers on the night against a number of long-armed Tiger defenders, but their defense kept them within reach. A 26-19 halftime lead was trimmed to 38-34 at the end of the third quarter, but the Tigers scored 12 straight points early in the fourth quarter and went on cruise control from there. Huron played without Blake Ellwein, their standout 6’10” SDSU commit, but Davis Chase more than made up for Ellwein’s absence with a 27-point, 12-rebound masterpiece. Carter Porisch added 12 for the home team, while Lincoln Dilges paced the Governors with 11. Pierre dropped to 4-11 with the loss and will head to Brookings next Tuesday.
Back in Pierre, the Governor girls fell behind early by a deficit of 15-5 but settled in throughout the first half to whittle the deficit down slowly slowly but surely. A first half free throw disparity of 17 Tiger attempts to 0 Governor attempts helped Huron stretch back out their lead. However, the Govs continued to battle, got themselves to the line in the second half, and at one point cut the deficit down to just six. Huron’s outside shooters found a groove in the fourth quarter and were able to put away Pierre by a final score of 58-36. The Tigers were led by Hylton Heinz who finished with 21 points and was awarded Player of the Game honors.
Now, the 3-11 Governor girls turn down a crucial final stretch of the regular season where essential must-wins lay ahead of them. Their next opponent will come in six days when they host 2-11 Brookings.
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