WATERTOWN — The fourth time was the charm for Watertown High School’s girls basketball team.
After three closes losses (including two in overtime) over the past two seasons to Brookings, the Arrows (2-8) used a 13-6 scoring surge in the final period to rally for a 45-40 win during a high school basketball doubleheader on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in the Watertown Civic Arena.
The loss not snapped a five-game losing skid for Watertown that featured one-sided losses to the state’s No. 1 (Brandon Valley), No. 2 (O’Gorman) and No. 4 (Aberdeen Central) Class AA teams.
“Definitely it (this past stretch) hasn’t been the most fun,” Watertown coach Chad Rohde said. “We talk about that a lot and how tough times build a lot of things including resiliency and character. These girls have had many times where they could fold and they never do. Even today, we had an opportunity to fold when we got down six or eight points in the third quarter.”
Watertown trimmed Brookings’ lead to 34-32 after three periods but still trailed 38-37 midway through the final period before Lily Mack’s 3-pointer with 3:46 left put the Arrows on top. Andi Olson drained four of six free throws and Ellie Thury one of two down the stretch to close out the win.
“It’s always a battle between us and Brookings because we’re always similar. They got the last three for us so it was great to finally get this one,” Rohde said. “The girls earned it and definitely deserve it. I’m just really happy for them.”
Thury led the way for Watertown with 12 points and seven rebounds. Jordan Remmers added nine points, Olson and Mack each six and Kynsee Russell and Lydia Stemwedel five apiece. Russell also tallied six rebounds and four assists and Olson five and four.
Brookings (1-7), which has dropped seven-straight games after a season-opening 43-41 overtime win over Watertown at home, received 12 points and six rebounds from Julia Burns, 11 points from Sloan McLagan. Taylee Connot contributed seven points and Tessa Connot eight rebounds.
Watertown boys complete sweep
Watertown’s fifth-rated Class AA boys team didn’t have to work as hard to top the Bobcats in the second game, cruising to a 71-38 victory. After the Bobcats (0-8) grabbed a 14-10 lead after one quarter, the Arrows (9-1) reeled off a 22-5 scoring spurt in the second quarter and rolled to their seventh-straight win.
Watertown displayed plenty of balance again, getting 19 points from Carter Busiker, 14 each from Kaden Decker and Jackson McClemans and 12 from Jack Mack. Mack also added 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals. McClemans chipped in six assists and four steals and Decker and Busiker four assists each. Dane Stark pitched in with seven points, seven rebounds and five assists.
The Bobcats were led by Drew Johnson’s 14 points. Bergan Tetzlaff had nine and Noah Lease eight.
Weather alters Watertown’s schedule
The doubleheader with Brookings was originally scheduled for Friday, Jan. 30 but was pushed up when weekend doubleheaders against Rapid City Stevens and Rapid City Central were postponed because of extreme cold temperatures.
Watertown and Brookings will now each face Stevens and Central in games Jan. 30 and 31, all in the Watertown Civic Area.
The varsity schedule for Jan. 30 include Central vs. Brookings girls at 3:30 p.m., Central vs. Brookings boys at 5 p.m., Watertown vs. Stevens girls at 6:30 p.m. and Watertown vs. Stevens boys at 8 p.m. The varsity schedule for Jan. 31 includes Stevens vs. Brookings girls at 10:30 a.m., Stevens vs. Brookings boys at noon, Central vs. Watertown girls at 1:30 p.m. and Central vs. Watertown boys at 3 p.m.
Aberdeen Central teams fall to Brandon Valley
No. 1 Class AA Brandon Valley (10-0) turned back No. 4 Class AA Aberdeen Central (8-3) in the girls’ game at Aberdeen. The Lynx (5-5) completed the sweep with a 76-63 win in the boys’ game at Brandon.
Alyvia Padgett poured in 21 points and Gracie Salter 20 for BV’s girls. AC was led by Lauryn Burckhard with 15 points, Taryn Hermansen 11 points and 10 rebounds and Emma Dohrer 10 points.
Briggs Knutson produced 11 points and Dylan Williams and Ayuel Deng 10 each for BV’s boys. Luke Swanson finished with 14 points and Liam Rife 13 for the Golden Eagles, who slipped to 1-9.
Clark-Willow Lake, Hamlin take on No. 1-rated teams
MITCHELL — Rated Class A area teams Clark-Willow Lake and Hamlin split games against top-rated teams in the 44th Hanson Corn Palace Classic on Jan. 24.
No. 3 Clark-Willow Lake fell to No. 1 Class A West Cent5ral 55-52. Will Kuhl scored 17 points, Connor Mebius 15, Hayden Heier 10 and Kolte Garry nine for West Central (13-0). CWL, now 11-1, received 18 points from Sully Felberg, 15 from Chris Bevers and 12 from Bo Begeman. Felberg added eight rebounds and Jakob Steen five assists.
The two teams battled throughout. Felberg gave CWL a 52-51 lead by scoring with 55 seconds left. Mebius answered with the go-ahead field goal seven seconds later and after two missed missed 3-point attempts by CWL, Heier drained two free throws to seal the win for WC.
No. 6 Hamlin improved to 8-1 by handling No. 1 Class B Viborg-Hurley 57-39. Jackson Wadsworth scored 20 points and Boden Stevenson 18 for Hamlin. Stevenson also had five assists and Jack Stormo six rebounds. Brady Schroedermeier had 23 points for VH (11-1).
Here are other area hoops highlights from Jan. 22-24. All statistics are points unless otherwise indicated:
Area Girls Basketball
- Thursday, Jan. 22 — No. 9 Clark-Willow Lake 50 (Kamryn Nesheim 14, Brynn Roehrich 13, Johanna Vandersnick 11, Jenny Bevers 10, Shelby Begeman 13 rebounds), No. 8 Class A Aberdeen Roncalli 38 (Gabby Thomas and Claire Crawford 11 each) … Ipswich 39 (Gabby Wald 14, Marley Guthmiller 9 plus 8 rebounds), Faulkton Area 37 (Anika Mueller 15 plus 8 rebounds, Brooklyn Mueller 12 plus 8 rebounds) … Hitchcock-Tulare 60 (Cambree Hoekman 21, Gracyn Bixler 18, Emmerie Arthurs 16), Iroquois-Lake Preston 52 (Hadlee Holt 21, Bentlee Holt 10) … James Valley Christian 37 (Addyson Kleinsasser 13, Rylin Wipf 11), Sunshine Bible Academy 25 (Ciera Mickelson 12) … Northwestern 44 (Breelyn Satter 12, Sophia Troske 10), Leola-Frederick Area 34 (Arabella Clark 14 plus 4 steals).
- Saturday, Jan. 24 — Florence-Henry 55 (Ana Byer 17, Aubrey Johnson 12, Ashlynn Vavruska 10), Parker-Marion 24 (Karley Luke 7) … Sisseton 50 (Elliot Hortness 20, Piper Langager 14 plus 12 rebounds, Saylor Langager 9 rebounds), Redfield 48 (Charli Jungwirth 26 plus 10 rebounds, Brynn Giblin 10) in OT … Great Plains Lutheran 57 (Katherine Prahl 18, Julia Prahl 15, Emily Moritz 14), Aberdeen Christian 26 (Ariana Johnson and Sophia Eichler 8 each) … Gayville-Volin 52 (Taylor Hoxeng 19, Paisley Dimmer 14), Deubrook Area 47 (Mataya Gouws 15, Matte Bauman 9) … Waubay-Summit 52 (Addison Heinje 18 plus 10 rebounds, Liza Purdy and Caley Boik 14 each, Peyton Rumpza 10 rebounds), Ipswich 44 (Wald 13, Guthmiller 12 plus 16 rebounds, Jalyssa Hutson 9) … Groton Area 54 (Jaedyn Penning 15 plus 6 rebounds, Jerica Locke 14 plus 4 assists, Rylee Dunker 13), Milbank 45 (Belle Pauli 17, Anna Neugebauer 10 plus 10 rebounds, Susie Schuneman and Adison Pauli 8 each, Avery Schuneman 6 assists) … North Central 56 (Amree Vander Vorst 25 plus 9 rebounds, Alaina Dosch 10 plus 8 rebounds), Langford Area 40 (Paytyn Marlow 15, Lizzie Gustafson 8, Josie Jensen 7) … Castlewood 41 (Claire Horn 14, Ava Ruml 12 plus 18 rebounds), Waverly-South Shore 36 (Jolene Krantz 14, Carlee Mushitz 12 plus 7 rebounds, Brianna Gottschalk 7 rebounds) … De Smet 57 (Hazel Luethmers 26, Addy Gross 9, Brooke Jennings 8, Megan Dylla 7), Hills-Beaver Creek, MN 51 in OT.
Area Boys Basketball
- Thursday, Jan. 22 — No. 3 Class A Clark-Willow Lake 64 (Bevers 14, Trigg Felberg 12, Jakob Steen 11), Aberdeen Roncalli 28 (Paul Barr-Kvapil 7) … Sioux Valley 57 (Brady Hiltunen 15 plus 5 assists, Connor Relf 15, Carter Sapp 14 plus 10 rebounds), No. 9 Class B Deubrook Area (Braxton Bednarek 16 plus 9 rebounds, Joshua Moberg 12 plus 6 rebounds, Chance Schoenfeld 10 plus 8 rebounds) … Leola-Frederick Area 69 (Milo Sumption 19, Westyn Thorpe 15, Winston Clark 10), Northwestern 54 (Talon Miller 17, Carson Ewalt 15) … North Central 48 (Donovan Nelson 18), Herreid-Selby Area (Tatum Quaschnick 13) … Ortonville MN 70 (Oliver Zinski 28 plus 9 rebounds, Ellis Longnecker 15, Cadyn Vanderwal 13), Canby, MN 35 (Will Abrahamson 12 plus 13 rebounds, Owen Peterson 9, Jace Rangaard 8 rebounds) … James Valley Christian 62 (Jayven Van Scharrel 19, Noah Fast 18), Hitchcock-Tulare 53 (Devin Enander 22, Deegan Moes 17) … Highmore-Harrold 66 (Brooks McPeak 25, Jordan Erfman 16), Sunshine Bible Academy 29 (Isaac Hague 12).
- Friday, Jan. 23 — Milbank 65 (Lincoln Holscher 16, Sam Rick 15, Jeter Scoular 12, Emmett Snaza 8 rebounds), Florence-Henry 27 (Tucker Keller 12, Carson Kelly 8).
- Saturday, Jan. 24 — No. 3 Class B Castlewood 65 (Kamden Keszler 20 plus 7 assists, Will Aderhold 18, Brody Bass 9, Trevor Everson 7 plus 6 rebounds), Waverly-South Shore 31 (Kyle Kneeland 15, Austin Hovitek 8) … Estelline-Hendricks 63 (Drayden Cokens 19 plus 5 rebounds, Kyler Carlson 17 plus 5 rebounds, Cade Hexem 13 plus 7 rebounds), Gayville-Volin 43 (Preston Karstens 16) … Waubay-Summit 52 (Jace Wohlleber 15, Evan Aker 12 plus 5 assists, Hogan Hlavacek 12 plus 15 rebounds), Ipswich 41 (Shay Knust 16 plus 7 rebounds, Jaxon Holt 11, Hayden Schlosser 7 rebounds) … Langford Area 53 (Kassen Keough 27, Dylan Harmon 7 plus 11 rebounds, Graydon Hurley 7), North Central 46 (Donovan Nelson 13 plus 9 rebounds, Jared Wherry 12, Reuben Blanco 10) … Dakota Valley 58 (Tatum Sorenson 23 plus 10 rebounds, Aaron Bruns 15), Sioux Valley 54 (Connor Relf 19, Brady Hiltunen 17, Carter Sapp 8 plus 11 rebounds, Bret Milton 8) … Sisseton 64 (Derrick Flute 23 plus 8 rebounds, Levi Nelson 9), Redfield 41 (Eloi Carnicero 10 plus 7 steals, Jacksan Rude 8, Micah Zastrow 6 rebounds) … De Smet 81 (Grant Wilkinson scores 44 and surpasses 1,000-point mark for his career, Noah Luethmers & Carter Wilkinson 11 each, Slayten Wilkinson 6 assists), Dawson-Boyd, MN 80 … No. 7 Class A Groton Area (Becker Bosma 12 plus 9 rebounds, Ryder Johnson 12, Gage Sippel 10), Milbank 36 (Rick 13) … Herreid-Selby Area 83 (Jared Weisbeck 32, Timothy Rueb 10, Luke Fiedler 9), Strasburg-Zeeland, ND 49 (Brady Pool 17, Sebastian Bravebull 16).
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Area high school basketball weekend roundup
