By  Richard Anderson

605 Sports

RAPID CITY – The Brandon Valley Lynx might not talk about last year’s one-point state title-game loss to Mitchell much, but they look to make better memories when they face the Kernels in a rematch Saturday night in the Class AA state boys’ basketball tournament championship.

The Lynx put the hammer down on rival Harrisburg in Friday night’s second semifinal game at The Summit, rolling to a 46-31 victory.

The state title championship begins Saturday night at 7:45 p.m. Mitchell held off No. 1 Sioux Falls Lincoln to earn its third straight title-game appearance.

Against Harrisburg, the Lynx turned to their defense as they held the Tigers 21 points below their total the first time they faced each other, a 52-39 Brandon Valley loss on Feb. 20. Harrisburg didn’t score in the 30s Friday night until the final minute of play.

“We just didn’t have very good energy the first time we played them. We had no offense either,” Brandon Valley head coach Craig Nelson said. “It is just a different game. The regular-season games are so different where teams don’t particular shoot it as well; they are a little more clunky in the state tournament.”

The Tigers, 19-4, failed to score in double figures in all four quarters against the Bandon Valley defense, including just five points in the third when the Lynx built a double-digit lead.

“We were just solid. It was the guys buying into certain coverages and how we guarded, where you forced the ball,” said Nelson. “Those are little intricate details that you probably don’t notice if you are watching as a fan. They just buy into every detail of those coverages and they executed it well tonight.”

The Lynx held the Tigers to 33 percent shooting on the night (13-of-39) and just 1-of-10 from beyond the 3-point line. Only five Harrisburg players scored, with Stellen Larson scoring 18 of the team’s 31 points.

“We just forced them into early tough shots and controlled the glass pretty well,” Nelson said.

Brandon Valley senior Landon Dulaney was also pleased with how their defense performed.

“Our defense was really great,” he said. “We had energy; we had every guy up in the grill. That is what you need to beat a team like Harrisburg. I’m really proud of our charges, our effort, our blocks and our hustle on defense.”

The Tigers led just twice early, 2-0 and 4-3, with the rest of the first quarter belonging to Brandon Valley as the Lynx were up 14-8 after the first eight minutes.

Both teams scored just nine points in the second, with the Lynx leading 27-17 at halftime. Larson had 10 points by the first half to pace Brandon Valley.

The Lynx, 20-3, broke away in the third, outscoring Harrisburg 15-5 and taking a 42-22 advantage into the fourth. Harrisburg never threated and the Lynx celebrated their return to the title game.

Dulaney, a track and football star who will play on the gridiron at South Dakota State next year, led the Lynx with 14 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field (2-of-5 3-pointers) and hitting 4-of-6 free throws. He also grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out five assists.

“He is a lot of the same player that he was last year, which is the best competitor that I have ever coached,” Nelson said of Dulaney. “We just needed him to score a little bit more than last year, but it is the same Landon Delaney. What makes him great is just the consistency; he plays that hard all of the time. He is not selfish in being one of the best players in the state in three sports. He is really humble and really unselfish.”

Dulaney said he had to step up this season as a team leader and it showed when he talked about his team rather than himself.

Brandon Valley's Landon Dulaney (5) drives to the basket as Harrisburg's Isaiah Tap (5) defends during a game in the semifinals of the Class AA state tournament on Friday at Summit Arena at The Monument in Rapid City. (Matt Gade/605 Sports)

“We’re just doing our best out there, moving the offense and spacing it real well,” he said. “It’s not going to be one player, but all five … all six, seven and eight off the bench. We just have to keep playing as a team, that’s what it is going to take to win a game.”

The Lynx beat Mitchell earlier in the season 42-36, but it is the one-point loss to the Kernels in last year’s title game that they are thinking about, even if maybe they don’t say it out loud.

“I don’t actually hear them talk about it and I don’t bring it up,” said Nelson. “It is a brand new team and you are just trying to get to the state tournament – trying to win one game at a time. It just happens that we have the same opponent. We both have a lot of guys back from that game, so we know a lot about each other.”

Dulaney said that loss last year was motivation for the Lynx and himself in particular, to do extra work in the gym.

“It’s been everything in the offseason … get in the gym, being under the gun,” he said. “Every shot, every free throw always reminds me of that championship game and all that work to get back to (Saturday) night.”

While both teams have some players that can score, the odds are better than it will be a low scoring affair.

“It will be a defense and a rebounding type of game,” Nelson said. “You have to take care of the ball and get back on defense. You can’t let teams get runs.”

Dulaney said it is going to be a low-scoring game.

“It’s going to be a dogfight,” he said.