Titan girls fall to Brookings, Brandon Valley

On Monday, Jan. 6 the Tea Area High School girls’ basketball team traveled to Brookings and suffered the 34-24 loss. Tea Area trailed early, falling behind 12-3 in the opening quarter and were unable to make up the difference. 

Leading the Titans was Anna Binde who hit four of her five attempts from downtown to finish the night with 12 points. Elli Clayberg finished with six points, Sienna Mork and Tatym Slykhuis each had two and Emma Lingren and Kya Haynes each had one point.  

Leading the team in rebounds were Binde, Grace Bialas, Jaycie Babb and Haynes all of whom pulled down three in the game. Clayberg, Mork and Lingren each pulled down two. 

Binde and Reese Hammerquist had two assists each. Haynes and Babb each recorded three steals. 

Prior to their loss to Brookings, the Titan girls traveled to Brandon Valley where they fell, 59-29. 

Clayberg finished the night with eight points. Lingren added six, Binde five, Piper Benning and Mork each had three,  Haynes two, and Hammerquist and Slykhuis one each. 

Haynes pulled down four rebounds, Binde and Hammerquist three each, and Clayberg and Babb two apiece. Mork led the team in assists with two. Babb and Lingren led in steals with two each. 

“Over the past three games, we’ve faced three top-5 ranked teams, all featuring veteran players with extensive experience at a high level. While many of our players are still gaining their first true taste of varsity basketball, we continue to improve with each practice and every game. This team will look very different by the end of the season,” said Titan head coach Taylor Fechner. “Our upperclassmen—Jaycie Babb, Anna Binde, and Ellie Clayberg—have been instrumental in leading the team, while Emma Lingren has provided valuable minutes off the bench. Overall, I’m very pleased with the progress we’re making as a group and am excited for the busy stretch of games we have ahead in January.”

The Titans will travel to West Central on Thursday, Jan. 9 and will take on Sioux Center who has only one loss on the season this Saturday, Jan. 11 at the Sanford Pentagon. Tip-off is set for 11:30 a.m. On Tuesday, Jan. 14 the team will travel to Sioux Falls Roosevelt and on Thursday, Jan. 16 they will be home, taking on Sioux Falls Jefferson in a 7 p.m. game.