SIOUX FALLS – While Groton’s defense has been locked in all weekend, the Tiger offense got rolling as well on Saturday as the Tigers burst out to an early lead and never looked back en route to a 64-52 win over Clark-Willow Lake in the seventh-place game of the Class A State Boys’ Basketball Tournament at the Sanford Premier Center.

Groton, which shot the ball at just a 29 percent clip over the first two days of the tournament, came out blazing in Saturday’s finale, putting together a 14-0 run over a 3-minute stretch in the first quarter. That put the Tigers in a position of control, and they never let up. 

“They came out today ready to go,” said Groton coach Brian Dolan.

That energy translated to a significant advantage in transition offense for the Tigers.

“We got kind of lazy with the ball a little bit,” said Clark-Willow Lake coach Jerome Nesheim. “They did a nice job of getting us to turn the ball over two or three times that led to some quick buckets for them. Then we just never recovered from that.”

Clark-Willow Lake trimmed the advantage to single digits just once the rest of the way, that coming in the second quarter. Groton, however, responded immediately with a 6-0 run to push its advantage back to a comfortable margin.

“Second half we played a lot better,” Nesheim said. “We were able to outscore them in the second half, but we had already dug that hole just a little too deep.”

The Cyclones made another push in the third quarter to cut the lead to 10, but again, Groton responded, this time with a 10-2 run fueled largely by its press defense and transition offense.

That Tiger defense, so prevalent in the first two games of the weekend, was also a key part of Saturday’s win. Groton badgered the Cyclones into a dozen turnovers and turned those into 23 points. Clark-Willow Lake was unable to take similar advantage, as Groton turned the ball over just twice.

“We held Sioux Falls Christian to the lowest of the season, tied with one other game for the lowest output,” Dolan said. “We just didn’t shoot it as well as we can. Then (Friday), I thought our defense was good. We can score in the halfcourt, we’re just used to getting some significant amount of points in transition we just didn’t get the first two days.”

In fact, the Tigers dominated nearly every statistical category except for rebounds, where Clark-Willow Lake held a 33-25 edge. But it didn’t ultimately matter, as the Tigers were stingy on defense and efficient on offense.

Still, the Cyclones kept making pushes despite being turned back by the Tiger defense.

“That’s a testament, especially to guys that are our leaders like Griffin (Musser) and Emmerson Larson,” Nesheim said. “He’s not going to let these guys quit. Emmerson is going to keep pushing these guys to play hard the entire time they’re out there. They’re young and they follow his lead and when he plays hard, we will constantly play hard, even through mistakes.”

Groton’s Karson Zak led all scorers with 19 points, followed by Keegen Tracy with 13, Becker Bosma with 11 and Ryder Johnson with 10. Bosma also added eight rebounds and four assists, while Johnson had five assists and four steals.

Clark-Willow Lake got 13 points apiece from Chris Bevers and Bo Begeman. Sullivan Felberg finished with 11 points, five rebounds, two assists and a pair of blocks for the Cyclones. Emmerson Larson had six points, six boards and three assists, while Begeman snagged eight rebounds.

Both squads will return a hefty load of talent next season. Clark-Willow Lake had one senior in the starting lineup, while Groton started a full slate of underclassmen.

“We know Hamlin loses a lot, but Clark and us have almost everyone back,” Dolan said. “It’s going to be a battle between us next year at a lot of turns during the season.”

“Just because we got eighth place, it sure beats getting ninth,” Nesheim said. “This thing gave us some experience that we needed going forward. Our young guys now understand what the game is played like at this level, how hard you have to play and how hard you have to defend the whole time. During the regular season you can take some plays off sometimes and still win games, but at this level you can’t. That’s the experience we’re going to take back. Kids now understand exactly what it takes to get back here.”

CLARK-WILLOW LAKE (18-7): Emmerson Larson 2 2-2 6, Chris Bevers 4 2-4 13, Bo Begeman 5 1-2 13, Griffin Musser 1 1-2 3, Sullivan Felberg 5 1-3 11, Joey Ries 0 3-4 3, Max Bratland 1 0-0 3. Totals 18-44 10-17 52.

GROTON (18-8): Keegan Tracy 5 3-3 13, Ryder Johnson 4 2-2 10, Becker Bosma 4 2-2 11, Karson Zak 7 4-7 18, Gage Sippel 0 4-6 4, Easton Weber 2 1-1 5, Turner Thompson 1 1-1 3. Totals 23-51 17-22 64.

Clark-Willow Lake 10 18 36 52

Groton 18 33 53 64

3-point field goals – Bevers 3, Begeman 2, Bratland; Bosma. Fouled out – Musser. Total fouls – Clark-Willow Lake 17; Groton 11. Rebounds – Clark-Willow Lake 33 (Begeman 8, Larson 6); Groton 25 (Tracy 5, Bosma 5). Assists – Clark-Willow Lake 12 (Larson 3); Groton 12 (Johnson 5, Bosma 4). Turnovers – Clark-Willow Lake 12; Groton 2. Blocks – Clark-Willow Lake 3 (Felberg 2); Groton 1 (Bosma). Steals – Clark-Willow Lake 1 (Larson); Groton 8 (Johnson 4).