The Elkton-Lake Benton girls basketball team finished its season with an impressive defensive effort Saturday at the South Dakota Class A state tournament in Spearfish, S.D. The Lady Elks came up with 27 steals and forced 34 turnovers as they rolled past Miller 63-46 in the third-place game.
Senior guard Cassidy Gebhart led the No. 4-seeded Lady Elks with 25 points, seven rebounds, five assists and eight steals. Rebecca Jurgens added 10 points and four steals, Stephanie Johnson had eight points and six steals, and Megan Krogman added seven points, nine rebounds and six steals for E-LB against No. 2 seed Miller.
The Lady Elks took control of the game in the opening half. They held a 15-9 lead after the first quarter and increased their advantage to 35-20 by halftime.
E-LB gave itself many second-chance scoring opportunities, with 16 of their 33 rebounds coming on the offensive end.
Miller was led by Jansen Hunter, who was 7 of 8 from the field for 19 points. She also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Lady Elks opened the state tournament on Thursday with a 60-40 victory over Clark/Willow Lake. In Friday's semifinal against top seed St. Thomas More, E-LB came up just short in a 47-41 defeat. St. Thomas More ended up winning the tournament with a 70-51 victory over No. 6 seed Parkston on Saturday.
Fact Box
Miller9 11 14 12-46
E-LB15 20 14 14-63
Miller (46)
Tara Parmely 1 5-6 7, Hallie Fulton 1 0-0 2, Mallory Fischer 3 0-0 7, Jansen Hunter 7 5-9 19, Alexis Watts 2 3-4 7, Danae Schlechter 1 1-1 3, Annie Fulton 0 1-3 1. Totals 15 15-24 46. Three-pointers 1 Rebounds 38 (Hunter 10) Assists 9 (Parmely 4) Steals 9 (Jamie Mentzer 4) Blocks 7 Turnovers 34 Total Fouls 23.
Elkton-Lake Benton (63)
Cassidy Gebhart 10 4-11 25, Molly Koch 0 1-2 1, Rebecca Jurgens 2 5-6 10, Megan Krogman 2 3-6 7, Stephanie Johnson 3 2-2 9, Alissa Landsman 2 0-0 5, Haley Denison 2 0-0 4, Mindee VanDyke 1 0-0 3. Totals 22 15-29 63. Three-pointers 4 Rebounds 33 (Krogman 9, Gebhart 7) Assists 11 (Gebhart 5) Steals 27 (Gebhart 8, Krogman 6, Johnson 6) Blocks 4 (Denison 2, Krogman 2) Turnovers 15 Total Fouls 19.