The Pierre Governor basketball teams couldn’t snag a win against some of the best teams in the state as the girls would fall 67-44 Friday night to unbeaten O’Gorman while the boys would drop a 66-48 loss to Harrisburg Friday and 67-63 heartbreak against O’Gorman on Saturday.
On Friday, the Governor girls would come out hot from beyond the arc with four threes in the first and lead 14-13 after one, but the second quarter went the way of Ruby Moore and the Lady Knights. Moore had 21 points in the first half and finished with the game high as OG outscored Pierre 25-10 to lead 38-23 at the break and kept the Governors chasing the rest of the night. Both Lennix DuPris and Emery Larson each had 11 for the Govs to lead the way. Gracelyn Taylor finished with eight. The Govs drop to 5-5 while OG is at 12-0.
Friday night for the Governor boys, Pierre played Harrisburg close in the first half, by Aiden Costain was too much, specifically in the third quarter, as Harrisburg extended its lead and win over Pierre. Luke Olson had the game high 21 points for Pierre while Dawson Getz had 12, but Nolan Krull would lead the Tigers with 16 points on the night, Kaden Anderson with 15 and Costain with 13. Harrisburg improved to 10-2 on the season.
On Saturday, Pierre started off the game by quickly grabbing the lead thanks in large part to an electrifying first quarter from Dawson Getz. Getz was money from distance with shots going in from beyond the arc in the first eight minutes. The Govs also saw great contributions from Lincoln Dilges and Sawyer Sonnenschein defensively throughout the early parts of the game to keep O’Gorman within arm’s reach.
The second half would be more of the same as the two teams exchanged blows back and forth, neither being able to truly outpace the other. In the fourth quarter, the Knights would begin to finally put some distance on Pierre on the back of Kamden Chase who ended up with 11 massive points in the game. O’Gorman led by as much as 10 in the later stages of the quarter, but Pierre refused to go away. Pierre generated multiple turnovers on the Knights to give themselves a chance to make their way back. The Governors would respond with three pointers from Getz and Caiden Ahartz to cut the lead to a point with less than 30 seconds to go. However, O’Gorman’s consistency in handling the basketball, and their efficiency from the three-point line would end up spelling doom for Pierre late in the going. In addition, a possible shooting foul on Luke Olson resulted in 2 free throws instead of 3, which all but turned out the lights for the Govs. O’Gorman moves to 9-4 on the season while Pierre drops to 4-7.
Next up for Pierre will two trips on Tuesday. The Governor girls will be on the road to Harrisburg while the boys will make the haul to Yankton. The boys game will be on KCCR and on YouTube at KCCR Sports with Bryce Ladwig on the call while the girls game will be on Capital City Rock and on YouTube at KCCR Sports with Dylan Simmons on the call. Both games have tip off times at 7:00.
