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Men's basketball: Jackets better archrivals, even conference record
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FarkSPEARFISH — The Black Hills State men’s basketball team began the Dakota Athletic Conference season by dropping four of its first five league games. In the regular season finale on Wednesday, the Yellow Jackets continued a recent resurgence, recording an 81-70 win over archrival South Dakota Mines at the Young Center.
The win avenged a 70-57 loss to the Hardrockers in December. BHSU finished DAC play at 7-7, winning six of its last nine contests. The Jackets tied Mayville State, N.D., for fourth place in the league standings. The Comets won the tie-breaker with their win over conference champion Jamestown College. BHSU lost both of its games with Jamestown College this season.
BHSU will travel to Mayville State for the first round of the DAC tournament on Sunday at 3 p.m. MST. The two teams split their two regular season meetings.
Four players netted double-figure point production for BHSU on Wednesday. Parker Emerson tallied 21 points, followed by Luke Enos with 14, Clay Potorff with 12 and Cain Atkinson, 11.
Michael Ross netted a game-high 27 points for Mines. Robbie Fedor chipped in 10 points. Mines finished DAC play at 4-10 and tied Dickinson State for sixth place.
The Blue Hawks swept both games from Mines in the regular season. The Rockers lost the tie-breaker to Dickinson and wound up as the seventh seed. Mines will visit Minot State at 3 p.m. MST on Sunday in the opening round of the conference tourney.
Atkinson and Spencer Childress each sank three-point baskets, handing the Jackets an early 9-2 edge. “I told the team the first five minutes of each half are important,” said Mines coach Jason Henry. “They (Jackets) got off to a good start.
The visitors cut the deficit to 13-10 on a two-pointer by Ross. However, a three-point play by Faith freshman Enos upped the difference to eight points (20-12). BHSU connected on 60 percent (15-of-25) of its first half field goal attempts, building a 42-30 advantage. Mines scored the final five points of the half, closing the BHSU lead to 42-35 at halftime.
BHSU coach Paul Sather was asked the difference from the teams’ earlier matchup. “Number one, we made shots,” he said. BHSU made 19-of-65 shot attempts in the first contest.
“Sam Kim, playing on a broken leg, was our best player in that game. We got a lot better since that game.
“We benefitted from knocking down shots. We guarded their three-point shooters well.”
BHSU started five freshmen in its home finale. “It was great to see us get off to a good start with our young team.”
“We finished the half and cut it to seven points with not playing a good first half,” Henry said. “We had confidence going into halftime.”
Back-to-back 3-pointers and a slam dunk by Emerson gave the hosts a 51-38 lead with 17:55 left in the game.
“It’s going to be a game of runs,” said Henry. “Black Hills is capable of going on a 20-0 run, especially playing at home. Our defensive effort wasn’t there.”
A.J. Trennepohl played the game, in spite of having problems with the flu. Coach Henry said the play of Tom and Jordan Schmitz were positives for Mines. “They did a very good job,” he said.
“Enos, Emerson and (Will John) Johnson were tough for us off the glass,” Sather said. Johnson snared 10 rebounds, Enos had seven and Emerson, six.
South Dakota School of Mines' Robbie Fedor, left, looks for an open man as Black Hills State's Forrest Dorr defends during the first half of a basketball game at the Young Center on Wednesday night. (Ryan Soderlin/Journal staff)
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