RAPID CITY - The Sturgis Scoopers finally got some shots to fall at the Class AA boys basketball tournament. Unfortunately for them, it wasn't until the final 16 minutes of the tourney and it made very little difference in the outcome as the Pierre Governors knocked off Sturgis, 60-43, to win the seventh-place game Saturday at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center.

The win at the state tournament was a great way to close the season for Pierre, a team that began the year at 0-5.

"It feels good considering the way we started," Pierre senior Michael Gardner said. "We started 0-5 and weren't really playing that well, but we picked it up at the end of the year and played much better. I think we earned a little respect in this tournament, playing the two (Watertown) and the three seed (Sioux Falls Roosevelt) really hard and winning this one pretty good."

The Govs' head coach was more direct.

"It's always nice to end (the season) with a win," Pierre head coach Terry Becker said of his team, which saw 11 of its 15 players score.

The Scoopers shooting woes continued in the first half of the contest as they managed to hit just 5-of-25 shots. Sturgis failed to crack 30 percent shooting from the field in each of its first two games of the tournament - losses to Sioux Falls Lincoln and Yankton - and it didn't look as though the Scoopers were going to break that streak after the first half Saturday.

But the Scoopers warmed up in the final 16 minutes of the game, shooting 10-for-19 from the field to push their overall shooting percentage for the game to 34 percent (15-for-44).

Tyler Hinker and Chase Williamson led the Scoopers with 13 and 10 points, respectively. Dillon Morris and Thomas Nettleton each added eight points. Morris also had a game-high eight rebounds.

"I thought they did a great job of getting us here, first and foremost," Sturgis head coach Ethan Dschaak said of his seniors - Morris, Hinker, Williamson, Nettleton, Tyler Jensen, Kasidy Huffman, Trevor Potts and Brit Porterfield.

"Whenever you're in a tournament with seven other teams you feel like at the beginning you've got a shot. The first step is getting here, and we did that. We didn't do as well as we hoped, but we did do some good things. We're happy, but not satisfied.

"But I am proud of this team."

While Sturgis struggled from the field in the first half, Pierre nailed 52.4 percent of its shots to build a

29-15 lead heading into the locker room for the half. Pierre didn't stretch the lead out very much in the second half, but there was little doubt about the outcome for most of the final 16 minutes.

Pierre ended its season at 11-15 overall. The Scoopers finished out the 2007-08 campaign with an 8-17 record.