By  Richard Anderson

605 Sports

RAPID CITY – The Friday night semifinals of the State AA boys’ basketball tournament started with a bang and the Mitchell Kernels will play in their third straight title game and shoot for their second consecutive win.

The Kernels outlasted No. 1 Sioux Falls Lincoln 55-51 at The Summit in a game that saw stars on both squads shine. It was an exceptionally outstanding game for Mitchell senior Markus Talley in the first half as he sparked his team to the lead behind 17 points on five 3-pointers.

Mitchell will face Bandon Valley in the championship game Saturday at 7:45 p.m. Saturday. The Lynx downed Harrisburg in the other semifinal game

Lincoln still had a shot to win with the game tied with a minute to play, but Gavin Hinker and Colton Smith both hit a pair of free throws down the stretch and the Mitchell defense did the rest.

“It was just a slugfest between two very good teams,” said Mitchell head coach Ryker Kreutzfeldt. “You talk about the first half and it is great defense by our guys – they had 22 points and the 3 at the end for 25.”

Kreutzfeldt wrote on the board before the game that the toughest team would win. He thought that was true.

“We have played two dang tough teams. I don’t take anything away from them (Lincoln), but I’d put our toughness up against anybody,” he said.

Lincoln was 21-0 against their rest of their schedule but 0-2 against the Kernels.

“We’re not afraid. They buy into the plan and listen,” said Kreutzfeldt. “You can have all the plan you want, but if you have scared kids, if you have kids who can’t do the plan, then it is all for not.”

Mitchell's Markus Talley (1) celebrates scoring a 3-point basket against the Sioux Falls Lincoln Patriots 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)

Leading 30-25 at halftime, the Kernels took that late third-quarter momentum and built a nine-point advantage with 5:30 remaining in the game on four points from Smith and two baskets by Hinker.

Sam DeGroot stopped the 8-1 Mitchell run with a three-point play at the 4:34 mark. Brody Schafer’s four points cut the lead to four with three minutes remaining.

Leading by three, Hinker got the Mitchell crowd fired up with a reverse dunk to put the Kernels up 51-46 with 2:08 to play. Talley’s big game came to end when he fouled out with 1:45 on the clock, sending Schafer to the free-throw line. He made both to make it a three-point game.

“Markus fouls out and we have to pull it together. They tie it up, even when we go zone,” Kreutzfeldt said. “But we made four big free throws at the end. The fact is they are two of our lowest percentage in free throw shooters and they stepped up and made four in the biggest moment,”

After a Mitchell miss, the Patriots called time out and made the Kernels pay when DeGroot nailed a 3-pointer at the top of the key to tie the game at 51-51 with 55 seconds remaining. The Kernels responded when Hinker hit two free throws with 36.8 left.

The Pats went for the lead but DeGroot missed the 3-pointer and Smith grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He rattled two free throws home for the final points. Lincoln tried two more 3-pointers that were off the mark.

“It was a tough game, they were the number one team for a reason,” Talley said. “We just came out ready to play and we ae experienced … we knew what to do.  At the end of the day, we were tougher. We were mentally tougher, so we just pulled it out at the end.”

Schafer had the hot hand early, hitting a pair of 3-pointers to put the Patriots up 8-2 less than three minutes into the game, only to see Talley answer with two 3s of his own to tie the game at 8-8.

Make that three treys in the first quarter for Talley, giving the Kernels their first lead of the game at 11-10 before they took a 13-10 score into the second quarter after a basket by Colton Smith.

The second quarter was an impressive offensive show by both teams. There were six 3-point field goals (four by the Kernels), including a buzzer beater and one technical foul that would result in a three-point possession.

Mitchell built a 16-10 lead after an opening 3-pointer by Parker Mandel, who hit his second 3 later in the period to go up 21-17 lead. Lincoln came back behind Sam DeGroot, who scored eight points in the quarter, including one 3-pointer and three points on the possession that came from a technical foul by Mitchell’s Landen Soulek.

Lincoln’s 22-21 lead was brief as Talley took over again on a 2-point floater in the lane and two straight 3-pointers for a 29-22 advantage.

The Patriots closed the second on a long 3-pointer at the buzzer by Sam Ericcson to make it 30-25.

Talley was outstanding in the first half, hitting 5-of-7 3-pointers and 6-of-9 from the field for 17 points.

Ericcson got the Pats the lead again at 33-31 on two straight field goals, only to see – who else – Talley answer with his sixth 3-pointer of the game.

Smith’s first 3-pointer of the game with a half-minute remaining in the third gave the Kernels a 39-35 lead with one quarter to play.

Kreutzfeldt said everyone is just seeing Talley’s tournament.

 “I won’t say that Markus refused to lose, but Markus is not going to go away quietly, you’re going to have to take it from him … and his teammates battled,” he said.

Talley finished with 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including 6-of-9 3-pointers.

“I have a lot of confidence in my shot,” Talley said. “Once I see them go in, it feels like they all can go in.”

It was a tough loss for the Patriots, whose only two losses this season were to Mitchell.

“It just sucks,” said Lincoln head coach Luke Hannemann of the loss. “We have some really, really good guys in our locker room. I’ve never been around such great kids and it just sucks for great kids who work hard. They don’t deserve that; they deserve to win everything that they do.”

The Pats shot 38 percent from the field, with Schafer leading the way with 18 points, followed by DeGroot with 14 and Ericcson with 10.

“We didn’t shoot the ball at a high enough level at the end of the night,” said Hannemann. “But we played with some toughness, the guys fought hard and I am proud of them all.”

Hinker finished with 14 points and Smith had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

“We’re going to have to have our hands full,” said Kreutzfeldt of the title game. “Like I told the kids, it can’t be a celebration now because I have been here before (winning the semis and losing the championship game). We’re here to win.”