Travis Kriens
KORN News Radio Sports Director
The Mitchell girls basketball team will try to turn the tables on a familiar opponent with a state tournament berth on the line.
No. 7 Mitchell hosts No. 10 Spearfish at 6 p.m. Friday in the Class AA SoDAK 16 at Mitchell High School. Coverage begins at 5 p.m. with the KORNer Booth pregame show on KORN News Radio FM 101.3/AM 1490 and KORNRadio.com.
Both teams enter the postseason with identical 12-8 records, but their most recent meeting still looms large.
Spearfish defeated Mitchell 61-55 on Feb. 7, snapping the Kernels’ 10-game winning streak in dramatic fashion. Mitchell appeared in control for much of the game, using a 25-2 run in the first half and building a 44-25 lead early in the third quarter.
But the Spartans stormed back with a 22-0 run in the second half while Mitchell went nearly eight minutes without scoring. Kate Scharf and eighth-grader Finley Bouman each scored 14 points to lead the comeback, while CeCe Morgan and Londyn Hajek had 15 points apiece for the Kernels.
The matchup will mark another chapter in a series Mitchell has largely controlled. The Kernels have won 16 of the past 20 meetings between the two teams and have also had the upper hand in recent postseason games.
Mitchell defeated Spearfish 48-39 in last season’s fifth-place game at the Class AA state tournament and also beat the Spartans 54-43 in the 2024 state consolation semifinals.
The Kernels are seeking their fourth straight state tournament appearance.
Senior Addie Siemsen leads Mitchell with 18.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. Eighth-grader CeCe Morgan has provided a strong inside presence, averaging 11 points and 7.9 rebounds, while sophomore Londyn Hajek adds 8.4 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.
Mitchell averages 49 points per game and allows 43.
Spearfish counters with a defense-oriented team that averages 44 points per contest. Scharf leads the Spartans with 13.9 points per game and has signed to play college basketball at Western Colorado. Ady Bouman adds 7.8 points per game.
One of the biggest questions entering the rematch will be whether Finley Bouman can replicate her breakout performance from the first meeting. The eighth grader scored 14 points in the second half against Mitchell but has scored a total of 16 points combined in eight other games this season.
The Spartans have struggled away from home, going 2-5 on the road, and are just 2-8 against teams with winning records.
Mitchell also enters the postseason looking to regain momentum after losing five of its final six games. However, the Kernels faced one of the toughest closing stretches in Class AA, playing four of the top five teams in the state; Brandon Valley, O’Gorman, Sioux Falls Washington and Aberdeen Central.
Friday’s winner advances to the Class AA state tournament in Rapid City, March 12-14. The victor will face either No. 2 O’Gorman or No. 15 Rapid City Central at 6 p.m. CST on Thursday, March 12 in the opening round.
The schools also met earlier this school year in the Class AA volleyball SoDAK 16 in Mitchell, where the Kernels swept the Spartans 3-0.