Both the Tri-Valley Mustang girls and boys basketball teams won very close games against the Elk Point-Jefferson Huskies on Thursday, January 27th at home. The girls survived a Huskies comeback for a 41-39 win, and the boys got a 45-42 upset victory.
Tri-Valley 41, Elk Point-Jefferson 39 – Girls
The Mustangs seemed to be headed to an easy victory against the Huskies. Even though the Mustangs only led 9-7 at the end of the first quarter, they extended their lead to 10 points by halftime, 20-10. Tri-Valley scored first in the third quarter and led 22-10, but the Huskies made one of their second half runs. Elk Point-Jefferson pulled within three points, 22-19, with 3:30 to go in the quarter. Tri-Valley responded with an 8-0 run to lead 30-19 with 1:50 to go. The third quarter ended with Tri-Valley leading 30-22.
The Huskies made another run to start the fourth quarter. Elk Point-Jefferson made the score 30-28 with 6:30 to go in the game. The two teams battled back and forth, and the Mustangs held a 38-37 lead with 3:15 in the game. Tri-Valley made it a four-point lead, 41-37, with 2:00 to go. Twenty seconds later, the Huskies scored and trailed 41-39. The score remained that way until the end of the game. Ava Pearson saved the win for the Mustangs with two blocked shots in the final seconds of the game.
Tri-Valley shot 28% (13-47) in the game, 21% (4-19) from three-point area, and 52% (11-21) from the free-throw line. Elk Point-Jefferson finished 22% (12-55) from the field, 25% (5-20) on three pointers, and 45% (10-22) from the free-throw line. The two teams combined for a total of 77 rebounds.
Paige Jewett finished with 15 points and five rebounds. Lauren Grinde had eight points, seven rebounds, and three assists. Madelyn Wenzel had seven points, seven rebounds, three blocked shots, and two steals. Stephanie Buchmann finished with six points, four rebounds, and three steals. Pearson had two points, but eight rebounds and four blocked shots.
Tri-Valley 45, Elk Point-Jefferson 42 – Boys
Tri-Valley got out to a quick start in the boys game. The Mustangs led 10-4 at the end of the first quarter and then extended the lead to 10 points, 14-4, with 5:45 to play in the second quarter. Tri-Valley only scored three more points the rest of the second quarter, and the Huskies cut the lead to 17-16 at halftime.
Elk Point-Jefferson started the third quarter on an 8-0 run and led 24-17 with 4:00 to play in the third quarter. The Mustangs finished the quarter on a 10-3 run, and the game was tied 27-27 heading into the final quarter. The Huskies went on an 8-2 run in the first minute of the fourth quarter for a 37-29 lead. Tri-Valley got the game tied 37-37 with 5:30 to play. Elk Point-Jefferson responded with a 5-0 run and led 42-37 with 2:40 to go. Tri-Valley shut the Huskies down the rest of the game and outscored them 8-0 for the win.
The Mustangs shot 31% (17-55) in the game, 19% (3-16) from three-point area, and 73% (8-11) from the free-throw line. The Huskies were 22% (12-55) shooting, 10% (2-20) on three-pointers, and 67% (16-24) from the free-throw line.
Cory McDonald had 13 points and seven rebounds. Lance DeWitt finished with 11 points, five rebounds, four steals, and three assists. Connor Christensen had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. He also had five blocked shots and two assists.
