SIOUX FALLS – Clark-Willow Lake felt in control for a solid three quarters.

But a two-and-a-half minute stretch early in the fourth ultimately spelled the demise of the Cyclones Friday afternoon in the consolation semifinals of the Class A State Boys’ Basketball Tournament at the Sanford Premier Center. 

Seventh-seeded Hill City put together a 13-0 run in the fourth quarter that not only erased a double-digit Cyclone lead, but gave the Rangers all the momentum they needed to close out a 68-63 win, sending Clark-Willow Lake to the seventh-place contest.

“We let this one slip away,” said Clark-Willow Lake coach Jerome Nesheim.

The Cyclones had slowly, but surely built up an 11-point lead with about seven minutes remaining in the game and were looking to close out a tournament victory when disaster derailed them.

“We had about a two-minute stretch there where, fundamentally, we got bad all of a sudden,” Nesheim said. “We had four turnovers in a row and gave up points on all four of those turnovers. That’s what really kind of kicked us in the butt there.”

Hill City’s Dax Frandsen was a key part of that Ranger run, scoring seven of his nine points during that stretch. Zane Messick added a 3-pointer, as did Brayden Wilkison – his only points of the night.

Clark-Willow Lake did rally for a brief lead and a pair of ties, but couldn’t regain its momentum down the stretch.

Chris Bevers scored 21 points to lead the way for the Cyclones. Emmerson Larson and Sullivan Felberg notched 15 points apiece, while Bo Begeman added 10.

Messick finished with 20 points for Hill City. Devin Buehler added 17 and Everett Sullivan had 13, including free throws in the final minute to help ice the game. As a team, the Rangers were 10-for-21 from 3-point range.

Clark-Willow Lake will face a familiar foe in Groton in the seventh-place game at noon today. The Tigers won a previous matchup in the finals seconds earlier this season.

“We get one more game,” Nesheim said. “It’s an opportunity to play and you never want to waste an opportunity to play the game. We look at it as an opportunity to play, so we’ve just got to play hard.”

CLARK-WILLOW LAKE (18-6): Emmerson Larson 6 2-3 15, Chris Bevers 8 3-3 21, Bo Begeman 3 4-4 10, Griffin Musser 1 0-0 2, Sullivan Felberg 6 1-1 15. Totals 24-47 10-11 63.

HILL CITY (20-5): Everett Sullivan 4 5-5 13, Devin Buehler 4 6-8 17, Zane Messick 6 3-5 20, Alex Stoeckmann 2 0-0 4, Dax Frandsen 4 1-2 9, Brayden Wilkison 1 0-0 3, Brensen Vaneklasen 1 0-0 2. Totals 22-48 14-18 68.

Clark-Willow Lake 18 33 48 63

Hill City 18 30 42 68

3-point field goals – Larson, Bevers 2, Felberg 2; Buehler 3, Messick 5, Frandsen, Wilkison. Fouled out – Stoeckmann. Total fouls – Clark-Willow Lake 15; Hill City 12. Rebounds – Clark-Willow Lake 25 (Felberg 8, Begeman 7); Hill City 27 (Sullivan 7, Messick 7). Assists – Clark-Willow Lake 13 (Felberg 5); Hill City 13 (Buehler 6). Turnovers – Clark-Willow Lake 15; Hill City 11. Blocks – Clark-Willow Lake 1 (Begeman); Hill City 0. Steals – Clark-Willow Lake 5 (Larson 2, Bevers 2); Hill City 9 (Buehler 3).