Harrisburg defeated Mitchell 78-77 in the ‘AA’ boys basketball quarterfinal round on Thursday afternoon in Sioux Falls, but it took three overtimes to do it.
Mitchell did have the final possession of the ball game, with a chance to try and win it, but the shot at the buzzer came up short. The game was tight from start to finish as neither team was ever able to pull away from the other.
“It’s just swings, man. Both teams could never get past four-point leads. You get a four-point lead with the ball, and you feel like you could get a score, feel like you could get a little space, but the other team would respond,” explained Harrisburg head boys basketball coach Scott Langerock. “Neither team wanted to lose and boy, isn’t that what the state tournament is all about?”
The Tigers were led by Jacoby Mehrman, who had 26-points, and Ethan Determan, who notched 25 of his own. Caden Hinker led Mitchell with 29-points.
State tournaments are already a grind with teams having three games in three days. Add in a triple overtime game, and it’ll put more stress on any squad’s stamina. But for coach Langerock, he said that’s all part of the process.
“Every coach and every player that gets to play in the state tournament will tell you, these three days are going to be hard, mentally, physically, and emotionally,” the Tigers coach said. “The three overtimes will probably show up on Saturday.”
Harrisburg will play top seeded Sioux Falls Roosevelt in the semifinal round on Friday night at 6 pm CT at the PREMIER Center. With the tournament being held in Sioux Falls, and both semifinal games guaranteed to consist of local teams, there’s expectations that the crowd size could be large.
“Tomorrow, there’s going to be so much excitement in here,” exclaimed Langerock. “Our guy’s getting to play in an environment with three Sioux Falls schools and us.”
