The Pierre Governors were unable to stay with the Mitchell Kernels to the end of the game as the Kernels hit their free throws down the stretch in a 60-51 win over the Governors Thursday night in Rapid City.
The Governors dropped its opening round contest, but not without a fight. While Mitchell led at the end of every quarter, the Kernels built up multiple double digit leads, but Pierre would fight back to either tie or take a small lead. Lincoln Kienholz would finish with a game high 19 points including 12 in the fourth quarter. Jackson Edman also had 14 to help the Govs cause who shot 9-12 from the free throw line.
For the Mitchell Kernels, Steele Morgan had the team high 18 points while Aiden Myers had 13 and Markus Talley hit the dagger three late in the fourth quarter and had all 11 of his points in the second half. The Kernels went 12-13 from the charity stripe, including 7-8 in the fourth quarter.
Pierre will face the Roosevelt Roughriders on Friday at 2:45 Central Time in the consolation semifinals, who lost to the Lincoln Patriots. Jefferson will face Yankton in the first semifinal and Lincoln takes on Mitchell in the second semifinal on Friday. Coverage of the Govs game will be around 2:30 with tip off at 2:45 on KCCR and on YouTube at KCCR Sports with Jon Winkler and Blake Dean on the call.
