Johnson, Huntimer earn all-tournament honors for Class B runner-up Arlington
RAPID CITY — Arlington's hopes for a first state girls basketball championship got wiped away from Centerville's Tornadoes.
Third-seeded Centerville (24-2) took control with a 10-0 run in the first quarter and didn't let up on the way to a 62-44 win in the title game of the Class B state tournament.
The Tornadoes captured their first state title, taking control after Lillie Eide and Althea Gust snapped a 4-4 tie with back-to-back 3-pointers in the first quarter.
Centerville led 16-5 after the first quarter, 30-9 in the second quarter and 44-21 in the third quarter.
Four players scored in double figures for the Tornadoes, who got 15 points from Makayla Heesch, 14 from Emma Marshall, 13 from Gust and 12 from Eide. Heesch and Eide also garnered seven rebounds, leading Centerville to a 46-30 advantage on the glass.
Addie and Jolyssa Steffensen, two of three sisters who start, paced Arlington with 15 and 10 points, respectively. Harley Johnson, the team's lone senior, added nine points and eight rebounds. Jaelyn Huntimer contributed seven points and seven rebounds.
Arlington is coached by former Watertown High School standout Tara (Heiser) King.
Centerville shot 49 percent (22 of 45) from the field compared to Arlington's 27 percent (16 of 60).
Ethan 67, Lyman 42
Fourth-seeded Ethan (22-3) rolled past seventh-seeded Lyman (21-4) in the third-place game. The Rustlers raced out to a 39-20 hafltime lead.
Marissa Storm scored 22 points and Ava Lingemann 16 along with nine assists. Lingemann also made a trio of 3-pointers to finish the season with a state-record 108 3-pointers.
Mak Scott had 15 points, Brooke Palmer nine and Skyler Volmer eight for Lyman. Volmer also hauled in eight rebounds.
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Wall 60, Harding County 51
Fifth-seeded Wall raced to a 38-23 halftime lead on the way to winning the consolation championship.
Paige Kjerstad's 20-point, 15-rebound performance led the Eagles (21-5). Nora Dinger contributed 14 points and Rhea Tucker 11.
Macey Wendt notched 10 points and Kaylen Padden and Bailey Verhulst eight apiece for Harding County (23-2). Jaelyn Wendt snared 11 rebounds.
James Valley Christian 56, Warner 50
Alex Goertz scored 25 points and Kaylie Robinson 14 to lead No. 8 seed James Valley Christian to the win in the seventh-place game. The Vikings closed out a 17-8 season.
Kyra Marcuson had 14 points and six rebounds, Lauren Marcuson 11 points and Ava Nilsson 14 rebounds for the sixth-seeded Monarchs (21-5).
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All-Tourney and Other Awards
Lingemann received the Spirit of Su Award and Lyman's cheerleaders the Spirit of Six Award. Members of the South Dakota Basketball Coaches Association's all-tourney team included Huntimer and Johnson of Arlington, Gust and Marshall of Centerville, Klock and Liingemann of Ethan, Volmer of Lyman, Dinger and Kjerstad of Wall, Verhulst of Harding County and Robinson of James Valley Christian.
Friday's Games
Arlington 44, Ethan 41
Playing in only their third state tournament and first since 2011, the Cardinals used a 24-point performance by Huntimer to win Friday night's first semifinal game.
Huntimer, a 5-foot-8 sophomore, scored 16 points in the first half and drained five 3-pointers. One of those came with 1:14 remaining and gave the Cardinals a 40-34 lead. She also made three free throws in the final 26.4 seconds to seal the win.
Arlington and Ethan battled back and forth all game. Ethan led 15-9 after one quarter before Arlington rallied to build a 27-25 lead at halftime. The two teams were tied for 34 after three quarters.
The Cardinals took the lead for good on Addie Steffensen's 3-pointer at the 6:12 mark of the fourth quarter. Neither team scored again until Huntimer hit her 3.
Jo Steffensen added seven points, Addie Steffensen 10 rebounds and Johnson seven rebounds for Arlington, which shot 40 percent (15 of 38) from the field and won the rebounding battle 43-28. Arlingtona avenged a 51-41 regular-season loss to Ethan.
Madeline Bartscher wcored 15 points and Klock and Lingemann eight each for Ethan. Klock also grabbed 12 rebounds. Lingemann averages 20 points per game.
Ethan shot only 25 percent (14 of 57) from the field including 6-for-30 in 3-pointers.
Centerville 52, Lyman 45
Third-seeded Centerville used a 7-0 spurt in the final 83 seconds to escape with a semifinal win over seventh-seeded Lyman in a semifinal game.
The two teams were tied for 45 before Centerville's Gust made a field goal with 1:23 left. The Tornadoes made five of eight free throws down the stretch.
Gust and Marshall each tallied 14 points and Eide and Keira Austin eight apiece for Centerville, which was the state B runner-up in 2006 but has never won the title.
Jordyn Scott's 13 points, Volmer's nine and Mak Scott's eight points and eight rebounds topped Lyman.
Wall 62, James Valley Christian 59
Wall pulled out the close win in the consolation semifinals by getting 20 points and seven rebounds from Kjerstad, 11 points and six rebounds from Tucker and 12 points from Alexis Stephan.
Kaylie Robinson's 17 points and seven rebounds led JVC. Goertz added 13 points and seven rebounds, Addi Bartholow 11 points and Rhayonna Hood 10 points.
Harding County 62, Warner 57
A good start didn't hold up for Warner, which led 16-8 after the first quarter and 31-19 at halftime in the consolation semifinal game. The Monarchs still led 50-48 with just over three minutes remaining before Harding County closed with a 14-7 run.
Bailey Verhulst produced 17 points, Claire Verhulst 16, Padden 14 and Wendt nine to go with eight rebounds for the Ranchers, who recovered from their first loss of the season by making 22 of 33 free throws.
Kyra Marcuson notched 17 points and Nilsson and Sophie Hoeft 12 each for the Monarchs. Kyleigh Schopp added seven points and nine rebounds.
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Final two days of the South Dakota Class B girls basketball tournament
