Kingsley-Pierson boys end season with loss to South O’Brien

KINGSLEY — The Kingsley-Pierson boys basketball team had their season come to a close with a 44-35 loss to South O’Brien in Thursday’s Class 1A district semifinal round.

In a low-scoring first half, the Panthers held a 9-5 advantage after a quarter while both teams scored just six points in the second frame to make it a 15-11 score at the half.

South O’Brien more than doubled their scoring output from the first half in the third quarter while the Panthers added just six points in the third frame as the Wolverines took a 25-21 lead. South O’Brien added on to their lead in the comparatively high-scoring fourth quarter by a 19-14 advantage.

Ben Woodall led the Wolverines with 13 points which included three makes from behind the arc. David Bottjen added 11 points to go along with team highs in rebounds (7) and steals (4). Boston Riedemann chipped in eight points.

Beau Goodwin led the Panthers with 15 points as the only player to finish in double figures for the team.

Boston Doeschot ended with six points while Evan Neumann added five. Conner Beelner and Derek Reinking chipped in four points apiece. A free throw from Landon Howe provided the team’s other point.

South O’Brien has sent Kingsley-Pierson home three times in recent years with the other meetings coming at the end of the 2015-16 and 2019-20 seasons.

The Panthers, the Western Valley Conference tournament champions, finish their season with a 17-5 record as the loss ended a 12 game winning streak entering the contest. The team will say goodbye to a large senior group of contributors. Suiting up for the final time were Doeschot, Beelner, Neumann, Reinking, Jake Utesch and Brady Hirschman.

South O’Brien (16-7) advances to play No. 7 Remsen St. Mary’s (20-2) in Tuesday’s district final held at Sioux Center.