Sioux Falls Roosevelt falls to Huron in SDHSAA boys basketball tournament

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RAPID CITY — In a game that featured 50 fouls and 56 free throw attempts, the No. 2 Sioux Falls Roosevelt boys basketball team couldn't overcome constant foul trouble and lost 53-44 to No. 3 Huron in the SDHSAA Class AA state semifinals.

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Roosevelt finished the game with five players — Justin Bilal, CJ Schmaus, Carson Hoines, Memphis Bylander and Bryson Skogsberg — all with four fouls. Deondre Painter fouled out, and Akol Thyab was tagged with three fouls.

"That was a bloodbath," Roosevelt head coach Mitch Begeman said. "I've never even coached a game like that where it was so hard to get into a rhythm. It just felt like we were foul after foul, and it made it tough for us in the first half to find any flow."

That lack of flow was evident on both sides, with Roosevelt going 12-for-41 (29.3%) from the field and Huron finishing 11-for-40 (27.5%). The Rough Riders made 17 of their 24 attempts from the line, and the Tigers went 28-for-32 from the stripe.

"The difference in that game is they made a lot of free throws, and unfortunately we gave them those free throws because of our fouls," Begeman said.

The fouls stacked up early and often on the Rough Riders, and there was no consistency to their lineup. Schmaus logged the most minutes with 28, then Skogsberg played 26 despite committing three fouls before halftime. Thyab logged 24 minutes, and Bilal, Bylander and Painter all had 23 minutes. Hoines was limited to just nine.

"We got to the end of the first half and Bryson was our lone guy at three fouls," Begeman said. "We start the second half and Carson picks up his third and fourth. We just kept getting ourselves in tough positions."

Huron capitalized on its chances at the line, and South Dakota State commit Blake Ellwein was chief among them. He sank 15 of 17 free throws to counter his 4-for-21 effort from the field and finished with 23 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks.

"We fought," Begeman said. "They did a good job of keeping us out of the paint. We just didn't give ourselves enough opportunities down the stretch."

Painter paced Roosevelt's scoring with 14 points, Bylander scored 10 points, Thyab provided seven points and Skogsberg and Schmaus had five apiece.

It was an emotional locker room with lots of teary eyes on a senior-laden team that earned the No. 2 seed in the state tournament. The Rough Riders had their sights set on a state championship rematch with No. 1 Sioux Falls Lincoln, but fell just short.

"These as a coach are extremely tough, trying to find the right words to say because there aren't the right words," Begeman said. "It's just support. I told them I'm proud of them."

Begeman's group fought through lots of adversity in the back half of this season, with a three-game losing streak in the middle of February halting all momentum. After that, Roosevelt ripped off four straight to reach the state semifinals.

"I'm just so proud," Begeman said. "Getting to be a basketball coach at Roosevelt with this group just makes me proud. It's something I'll never take for granted. I'm extremely blessed to be in this position to lead this program."

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Roosevelt falls to Huron in SDHSAA boys basketball state tournament

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