The final homestand of the regular season for Mobridge-Pollock basketball continued on Thursday night, with a doubleheader against Sully Buttes. Both squads were victorious, Lady Tigers won 61-34, boys were on the right side of a 75-59 thriller. For the girls, they had another fast start that had them in front 15-4 after one quarter. The Chargers did not score their first point until more than six minutes into the game. Both offenses sputtered for stretches, the score was just 26-13 at the half. It was an even 12-12 margin in the third quarter, leading into a fourth that saw the Lady Tigers score 23 points on the way to a route.
For Mobridge-Pollock, junior Blake Thompson scored 21, her most in five games. Senior Charley Henderson added 11, into double figures for the first time this month. For Sully Buttes, it was all senior Payge Bakker, scoring 21 of the Chargers 34 points. Sully Buttes drops to 7-10, while Mobridge-Pollock is up to 14-2 with just four games to go. They will face a tough Groton Area team on Saturday, but the other three teams all have a losing record.
The Tigers boys scored a season-high 75 points on Sully Buttes, in a bounce back from their loss to Aberdeen Christian Monday where they shot just 31% from the field. The entire first half was a barnburner, beginning with a high-flying first quarter that ended with the Tigers ahead 22-18. Mobridge-Pollock began to separate late in the second, but freshman Jett Yackley nailed a corner three at the buzzer to make it a 37-28 game at the half.
The two teams continued trading blows out of the locker room, the third quarter was 18-17 to give Mobridge-Pollock a lead of 10 going into the fourth. They went ahead by as many as 20 in the final period, to finally pull away and secure the win. It snapped an eight-game win streak for Sully Buttes, who is now 12-4 and still holding a comfortable lead in 6B. The Tigers get back into the win column at 11-4, during a grueling finish to their season. Starting from Monday, their final seven games all come against teams with winning records.
Lots of players got to high scoring totals on Thursday. Sophomore Shooter Frederick scored 20 points for the fourth time this season. Senior Shane Henderson had 18, with the help of two three-pointers, giving him eight makes from distance this season. For Sully Buttes, junior Wesley Wittler was a one-man wrecking crew with 22 points scored. Junior Gavin Colson gave them 13 more, and freshman Jett Yackley tallied 10 off the bench.
