By Rodney Haas 

605 Sports 

SIOUX FALLS — It’s been a long time coming, but banner No. 17 is finally coming to the rafters of the Corn Palace. 

The Kernels made sure of that Saturday with a 46-45 win over Brandon Valley, securing their 17th state championship

“It doesn’t feel real. It doesn’t feel real,” Mitchell coach Ryker Kreutzfeldt said. “I’m just so happy for these kids.”

Kreutzfeldt joins the likes of Joe Quintal, Bob Brooks and Gary Munsen as coaches with state titles. 

“I’m not up there with those guys,” Kreutzfeldt said, referring to his predecessors. “I have a lot of good players and these guys kind of coached themselves.”

Mitchell led 23-18 at halftime and held a 35-34 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Brandon Valley led 45-44 with 46 seconds left before Gavin Hinker hit a shot with 30 seconds to give Mitchell its first title since 2005. 

“It was tough and our guys had to battle through adversity,” Kreutzfeldt said. “Brandon Valley is a great program and we have a lot of respect for them.”

Gavin Soukup led the Kernels with 16 points while Colton Smith had seven points.

“Looking up at the banners there’s all kinds of stories but there’s that one spot in the corner that’s wide open and we recognized it last year,” Soukup said. “It just felt personal to get back to the championship game and win it.”

Josh Olthoff and Hayden Anderson led Brandon Valley with 13 points while Brayden Miller added 11 points. 

For the Lynx it’s been a difficult tournament that just came up short. On Wednesday former Brandon Valley coach Brent Deckert passed away after a battle with cancer and on Thursday coaches wore shirts with the quote “The game honors toughness.” 

“This helps our guys to focus on something enjoyable and fun,” Brandon Valley coach Craig Nelson said.  “When they are all there, all that other stuff is off their mind. It gives us something else to do and dwell on.

“We talked to coach Deckert over the last two months about how much we love him. How much we appreciate him.” 

As for the Kernels, this marks the 17th title for Mitchell dating back to 1930 when the Kernels took three titles when the state played one class and then picked up six more Class A titles from 1940-1985. In 1986, when the state moved to the current three-class system Mitchell kept its winning ways with titles in the 1990s but none for nearly 20 years. 

“That feels great!” said Soukup of banner No. 17. “It feels great to carry on the legacy that (coach Gary) Munsen left us. It feels amazing.”