The Spearfish Lady Spartans faced one of their toughest weekends of the season, falling to undefeated No. 1 Brandon Valley on Friday before mounting a spirited comeback effort in a narrow loss to Harrisburg on Saturday.
Friday: #1 Brandon Valley 56, Spearfish 21
Spearfish opened the weekend against top-ranked, 16–0 Brandon Valley and struggled to generate offense against the Lynx’s pressure defense, falling 56–21. Senior guard Kate Scharf led the Spartans with eight points, while Anna Eisenbarth added five. Taylor Vitto scored three, and Adelyn Bouman, Tiersyn Grubb, and Finley Bouman rounded out the scoring.
Vitto’s rebounding efforts helped the Lady Spartans earn more opportunities to figure out the offense in the game, but Spearfish couldn’t find an answer. She was awarded the Superior Performer of the contest.
Brandon Valley controlled the game throughout, led by Alyvia Padgett’s 21 points. Ava Kellenberger followed with 11, Gracie Salter and London Geiver each added eight for the Lynx.
Saturday: Harrisburg 43, Spearfish 33
Less than 24 hours later, Spearfish delivered one of its grittiest performances of the season against 8-10 Harrisburg, a team that entered the matchup just behind the Spartans in the Class AA standings. Both teams needed a win to make a final push into the top 8 standings and a guaranteed SoDak 16 home game.
After falling behind 22–7 in the first quarter, Spearfish responded with a 7–0 run in the second and later mounted a dramatic third-quarter surge. Head Coach Dakota Johnson made a bold decision at the beginning of the second half to insert a youthful lineup of Sierra Sanford, Anna Eisenbarth, Avery Rauterkus, Finley Bouman, and Megan Markovetz, which sparked a comeback that cut a 16-point deficit to just two early in the fourth quarter, 32-30.
Despite the late Spartan push, Harrisburg regained control late with strong rebounding, including an offensive possession that extended over half the quarter, and second-chance scoring to close out a much-needed win for the Tigers.
Scharf led Spearfish with 12 points, while Adelyn Bouman added seven points and seven rebounds. Rauterkus scored four, and Markovetz and Finley Bouman each finished with three.
Harrisburg’s Logan Durnil led the Tigers with 11, followed by Lyncoln Tryon with 10, Taylor Nedved and Allison Flanagan with 9, and Emersyn Geddes with 2.
Spearfish showed resilience and toughness against two ranked opponents — including the state’s top team. The Spartans will look to build on Saturday’s comeback effort as they enter the final stretch of the regular season and prepare for postseason play.
Spearfish will host a pair of Class AA teams on Friday and Saturday, first vs the Yankton Gazelles on Friday at 6:00 pm for senior day, and vs Brookings on Saturday. Both games will be streamed on KDSJ-TV on YouTube and on Facebook.
Replay vs Brandon Valley: https://www.youtube.com/live/-DzEVUsxvJc?si=7Wf1j7x_niZI7ON6
Replay vs Harrisburg: https://www.youtube.com/live/kYMqp1jjehI?si=mLtufBXEVEOyV9Rz
