Lady Lynx light it up for 74 points in ESD win

Playing on the road and down two starters didn’t seem to faze the Lady Lynx Friday, as they coasted to a well-deserved 74-33 victory over the host Mitchell Kernels.

Starters Hannah Behrens and India Bradfield were out due to injury and illness, respectively, along with two of its reserves, Despite dressing 10 players instead of 14, Brandon Valley coach Mike Zerr was tickled pink with how well his team performed.

“I’m extremely proud of our effort against Mitchell,” Zerr said. “Our kids really stepped up and played well together.”

Minus Behrens and Bradfield, Olivia Klumper and Kylie Foss stepped into the starting lineup – a role both are unfamiliar with – and according to Zerr, they performed at the top of their game.

“That’s not an easy thing to do,” the coach adds. 

The Kernels had the momentum to stat, rolling to a 5-0 lead before BV’s Sydney Thue, who came off the bench and finished the game with 18 points, snagged a pair of free throws. BV’s next points also came at the charity stripe, this time from the lone senior, Mara Schaap, and that brought the Lynx within one, 4-5, at the midway point of the quarter.

BV gained the lead for good when Schaap canned a 3-pointer and Jarovski followed with a lay-up to make it an 8-5 game with 3:21 to play. Mitchell closed out the quarter with a bucket by Haley Hohn and a free throw by Camryn Krogman, while the Lynx cashed in on a free throw by Thue and the second of Jarovski’s four 3-pointers on the night. After a quarter of play, BV led 12-8.

The Lynx defense kept Mitchell off-balance by deflecting entry passes and stealing the ball for easy transition layups. 

Hoping to ease the pain the Lynx were dishing out, the Kernels switched to a zone defense in the second quarter, but changed back after a few minutes, as the Lynx shot 5-for13 from 3-point range to neutralize it, while carving through Mitchell’s press.

Offensively, the second quarter belonged to Hilary Behrens and Jarovski, as both dropped in eight points, and at the half, the Lady Lynx upped the spread, 35-12.

“Hilary and Emma really led us in our spurt in the second quarter,” Zerr said. “Both are playing really well defensively to get themselves in a rhythm and create some easy opportunities to knock in some shots for us. Defensively as a team, we did a great job limiting Mitchell’s easy baskets, contesting everything they shot, and finishing possessions with a rebound that created offense for us. We were able to ramp up the pressure a little bit and create some turnovers, which was good to see our girls be able to play at that tempo and adjust.” 

Hohn opened the second half with a quick bucket, which was answered by a Schaap 3-pointer and a 2-point bucket by Behrens. Krogman plugged Mitchell’s first 3-pointer at the 5:06 mark of the third quarter to make it a 40-17 game. But Behrens con tinued to play stellar defense, snagging the ball away from Mitchell on their next two possessions and cashing them in for three points. After gaining contributions from Thue, Grace Gerken and Kennedy Safar, the Lynx had built a 55-24 lead over their hosts. With just a few ticks on the second-quarter clock, an on-the-run Adaya Plastow cashed in a 3-pointer at the top of the key to make it a 55-27 game at the end of the third.

Zerr was more than complimentary for the effort he got from his reserves: Thue, Gerken, Kennedy Neubel, Safar and Aneesha Scott.

Thue continued to dominate in the fourth quarter, delivering nine points in the stanza. Scott popped in a 3-pointer at the start of the quarter and dropped in a bucket midway through the quarter. The Lynx also got help from Schaap and Klumper, both aiding with timely baskets to give BV the 74-33 Eastern South Dakota Conference win.

“We got great efforts off the bench from Sidney in the scoring department, Grace and Kennedy Nuebel defensively, and from Kennedy Safar and Aneesha, two kids who show up every single day and work their tails off doing the right things,” Zerr said. “It showed in their ability to step on the floor and perform well for our team in that game.”

BV worked the glass for 26 rebounds, with Thue and Jarovski each clamping onto six. Klumper aided with five. Grace Gerken (five) and Behrens (three) accounted for eight of the team’s 16 total assists, while Behrens was a beast in the steals department. The freshman picked off eight of BV’s 17 total; Jarovski had three to her credit and the team’s lone blocked shot.

For Mitchell, Hohn scored a team-high eight points.

The Lynx were charged with 17 fouls and 10 turnovers. Mitchell had 14 turnovers in the loss.

Again, Zerr had high praise for his short-handed team.

“I thought we were really together as a team and showed enthusiasm and energy throughout the game. Those are a few of the little things we preach each and every day to all levels in our program to help accomplish big things and respond to adversity to let it be a growing opportunity and a positive for our team,” he said.

The Lady Lynx return to action Friday when they host Brookings and Sioux Falls Roosevelt pays a visit on Tuesday, Jan. 14. Both games tip off at 7 p.m.

 

Brandon Valley                           12 35 55 74 

Mitchell                                          8 12 27 33

 

Brandon Valley (2PFG, 3PFG, FT, TP): Kennedy Nuebel 0-1 0-2 0-0 0; Kennedy Safar 2-2 0-1 0-2 4; Mara Schaap 2-2 1-5 2-2 9; Kylie Foss 0-2 0-0 0-0 0; Emma Jarovski 2-6 4-4 0-0 16; Hilary Behrens 7-10 0-1 5-8 19; Grace Gerken 1-4 0-1 0-0 2; Olivia Klumper 1-5 0-0 0-0 2; Sidney Thue 7-7 0-0 4-6 18; Aneesha Scott 1-1 0-0 0-0 2. Totals: 23-42 5-16 11-17 74.