Jacoby Mehrman helps lifts Harrisburg boys basketball over Watertown in state quarterfinal
With nine seconds to play in the third quarter, Harrisburg senior Jacoby Mehrman picked off a Watertown pass and sprinted up the floor. He ran to the left elbow area; pump faked and then made a well-defended fading midrange jumper right as time expired.
The steal and midrange jumper capped a personal 6-0 run for Mehrman that extended the Tigers lead from three to nine and put the game out of reach. Harrisburg went on to beat Watertown in the quarterfinal 71-56.
“I always feel like (when) we need a bucket I’m the guy to go do that,” Mehrman said postgame. “But I think it was just the opportunities came to me and I made the plays.”
“He's made play after play for us for four years,” Harrisburg boys basketball coach Scott Langerock said. "We wouldn't expect anything different … we know something good is going to happen in a big moment and to kind of answer their run … we just knew he was going to make a play.”
Mehrman finished the game with a game-high 27 points. He was one of three Tigers to end the game in double-figures including Camden Phipps who scored 20, and Maddox Plack who had 16 points and 13 rebounds.
Plack had a perfect start to the game, shooting 4-for-4 from the field and scoring 11 points in the first quarter.
That shooting was contagious in an up-and-down, entertaining first quarter. Harrisburg led by three, 20-17, heading into the second quarter, but both teams shot over 63% in the first and over 54% in the first half.
“These guys have been shooting it really well all year,” Langerock said of his team. “So I didn't expect anything different.”
The Tigers kept the defensive pressure on Watertown which led to easy points in transition. Harrisburg was plus-five in the turnover margin and outscored the Arrows in points off turnovers by 22-9.
The Tigers were also plus-five in offensive rebounding, which has been a focus for them all season long. They frequently send three or four players to attack the offensive glass and on Thursday night Harrisburg outscored Watertown 22-8 in second-chance points.
Plack and Phipps combined for all nine of the team's offensive rebounds.
Up next, Harrisburg will face Brandon Valley in the semifinal on Friday at 7:45 p.m.
Jonathan Fernandez covers high school and college sports for the Argus Leader. Contact him at jfernandez1@argusleader.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JFERN31
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Harrisburg boys basketball takes down Watertown in state quarterfinal
