Langford Area led Hitchcock-Tulare by a point at halftime but was outscored 35-21 over the final two periods in a Region 1B boys basketball play-in game on Monday at Tulare.
The Lions finished their season with a 3-18 record. Seventh-seeded Hitchcock-Tulare played #2 Aberdeen Christian (15-5) in a quarterfinal matchup last night Tuesday with the winner meeting the winner between #3 Waubay-Summit and #6 Northwestern on Friday to determine a spot in the SoDak 16. The other quarterfinal contests Tuesday paired #1 Leola-Frederick against #8 Wilmot and #4 Waverly-South Shore played #5 Warner with those winners meeting on Friday in the other semifinal battle.
Langford Area rode the hot hand of Kassen Keough to its halftime advantage. The junior guard finished with nine three-pointers and 37 points. But the Patriots outscored the Lions 19-9 in the third quarter to go up 47-38 at the break and then reeled off a 13-3 run over the first five minutes of the final period to put the game out of reach. The Lions went over seven minutes without a field goal during that second half stretch.
Dylan Harmon had a big night on the boards for LA, pulling down 14 rebounds and adding a pair of blocked shorts. Conner Glines had four blocked shots in the contest.
LANGFORD AREA: Jacob Samson 1 1-2 4, Kassen Keough 12 4-6 37, Rennan Bruns 1 0-0 2, Caleb Mertz 2 0-0 4, Dylan Harmon 0 3-4 3. Totals 16 8-12 50.
HITCHCOCK-TULARE: Logan LaBrie 2 0-0 5, Devin Enander 8 1-3 17, Patrick Maynard 8 2-4 22, Aiden Frankenstein 1 1-4 3, Degan Moes 1 0-0 2, Kaiden Weinreis 1 0-0 3, Preston Wipf 4 3-6 11. Totals 25 7-17 63.
LA (3-18) 11 29 38 50
HT (7-14) 15 28 47 63
3-point goals – Samson, Keough 9; LaBrie, Maynard 4, Weinreis. Fouled out – Wipf. Total fouls – LA 15, HT 15.
Waverly-South Shore 63
Langford Area 48
Langford Area trailed by just two points after the opening period but Waverly-South Shore gradually padded that margin at each quarter break in the regular season finale.
Kassen Keough led the Lions with 26 points and three assists, while Conner Glines netted 10 and hauled down 10 rebounds. Dylan Harmon added six boards, three assists, and a pair of steals. LA shot 49% from the field, hitting 19-39 tries.
LANGFORD AREA: Jacob Samson 3 0-2 8, Kassen Keough 10 3-3 26, Conner Glines 5 0-0 10, Dylan Harmon 1 2-4 4. Totals 19-39 5-9 48.
WAVERLY-SOUTH SHORE: Colten Schroeder 1 0-0 2, Sam Appelhoff 8 4-6 23, Colton Kranz 3 0-0 8, Brady Eschen 1 1-4 3, Zach Ries 10 5-9 26, Kyle Kneeland 0 1-2 1. Totals 23 11-21 63.
LA (3-17) 13 20 35 48
WSS (12-8) 15 29 47 63
3-point goals – Keough 3, Samson 2; Appelhoff 3, Kranz 2, Ries. Fouled out – Samson, Glines. Total fouls – LA 18, WSS 14.
