SIOUX FALLS – Sioux Falls is assured of having a team in Saturday’s championship game of the SDHSAA State AA Girls Basketball Tournament at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls. Washington and O’Gorman are set to meet Friday in a semifinal after Thursday first-round wins. Brandon Valley and Rapid City Stevens used strong defense to pull off upsets.
Sioux Falls Washington 53, Rapid City Central 27
Top-seed Washington dominated from late in the first quarter on, as the Warriors held the Cobblers to 23 percent shooting from the field. Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda scored 11 for Washington (18-2). Brielle Biteler had 10. Sydni Schetnan scored eight with nine rebounds.
Josie Hill led Rapid City Central (11-10) with nine points.
O’Gorman 69, Mitchell 42
O’Gorman led the entire game, but Mitchell kept the game tight until midway through the third quarter. With the Kernels down only five, the Knights then put together an 18-1 run in the last 3:37 of the period.
Mahli Abdouch led O’Gorman (16-6) with 18 points. Avia Haley scored 12 for Mitchell (15-7).
Brandon Valley 33, Aberdeen Central 30
Hilary Behrens hit a go-ahead free throw with 59 seconds left to give the Lynx the lead, then hit two more with 13 seconds left to finish the upset. Behrens scored 12 for Brandon Valley (17-5) with seven rebounds and five steals.
Abby Kopecky led Aberdeen Central (18-4) with 10 points, but missed a potential tying three-pointer in the last seconds for the second-seeded Golden Eagles.
Rapid City Stevens 39, Harrisburg 27
Stevens’ smothering defense held Harrisburg to 26 percent shooting and forced 17 Tiger turnovers. Bailee Sobczak scored nine points with 10 rebounds for Stevens (16-5). Emilee Boyer had 13 points and nine rebounds for Harrisburg (19-3).
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