Hitchcock-Tulare rallied from a four-point deficit after three quarters to end Britton-Hecla’s season 41-40 in quarterfinal play of the Region 1B girls basketball tournament on Saturday.
The Lady Braves finished with a 5-16 record. Hitchcock-Tulare fell to Warner 76-44 in semifinal action and finished with a 6-13 mark. Warner, 16-6, is the 12th seed in the SoDak 16 set for Thursday and will meet fifth-seeded Wall (175). The other Region 1B SoDak 16 qualifier is Leola-Frederick, a 46-33 winner over Northwestern, and the 16th-seeded Titans (166) will take on top-seeded Wolsey-Wessington (20-2).
Britton-Hecla, the fifth seed in regional play, led at the first three quarter stops against the fourth-seeded Hitchcock-Tulare squad. The Lady Braves led 12-11 after one period, boosted that lead to as much as 10 in the second period before taking a 26-20 halftime advantage, and still led 34-30 with eight minutes to play. But the hosts outscored B-H 11-6 in the fourth stanza to advance.
Sterling Brassfield led BH with 12 points and Tiyanna Schott added 11 points and 10 rebounds. Alyssa James also pulled down 10 boards as the Lady Braves held a 39-33 rebounding edge. B-H also turned the ball over just 12 times, while H-T had 21 miscues.
“We had some chances down the stretch but we had a couple of turnovers and missed a couple of “gimmes” underneath that hurt us,” said B-H coach Terry Nelson. “Hitchcock-Tulare got up by four for most of the fourth quarter and we just couldn’t get the lead back. “I guess it just wasn’t meant to be, but I thought we ended on a good note.”
