WATERTOWN – An adjustment on offense led to an alteration on the scoreboard for Hamlin Thursday afternoon.

The top-seeded Chargers worked the ball inside in the second half to help power a 61-52 win over Lakota Tech during the opening round of the State A Girls’ Basketball Tournament at the Watertown Civic Arena.

Trailing by two points at the half, Hamlin put an emphasis on getting the ball into the lane in the second half and it paid major dividends.

“It’s one of the things that we talked about at halftime is that we need to get post touches, because good things happen when Addie Jensen touches the ball,” said Hamlin coach Tim Koisti. “And it’s not just her scoring. She attracts such a crowd that it’s a kick out, it’s a cut, it’s a drop off, or a foul is on them. Whatever it happens to be, if we can get her a touch, it really makes good things happen for us.”

Jensen made 5-of-6 shots from the field on the way to scoring 13 second-half points as Hamlin gradually grabbed the momentum and the lead.

“At halftime we talked about getting post touches is going to do a lot, so I mean I really owe it all to my teammates. I couldn’t do it if they didn’t get me the ball,” Jensen said. “A lot of my transition points is all from my teammates, me doing the easy part. They have to see me, all I have to do is run.”

While Jensen did score in transition, the majority of her points came on post feeds from Addie Neuendorf, who beat her defender off the dribble and then fed Jensen near the basket.

“All I have to do is seal my girl out,” Jensen said. “She finds a way to get me the ball when I’m open.”

The duo has learned how to play together through the years and the chemistry is evident.

“First I get down hill and I draw her girl if I beat my girl, and then she does a really good job of sealing out the backside, that’s why she seems to be open so often,” Neuendorf said. “She does a really good job of that. She makes it easy for me.”

Jensen scored eight points in the third quarter as the Chargers built a 39-33 lead midway through the period. Hamlin took advantage of Lakota Tech’s aggressive defense on the perimeter.

“One of things we preach is we have to attack close outs if we’re moving the ball and someone’s trying to attack us with the pressure that Lakota Tech put on us,” Koisti said. “Man, whew, they were good. That is a good team and it was a battle.”

The Tatanka hung tough and trailed by just three points early in the final period before the Chargers gradually pulled away.

Hamlin took better care of the ball in the final 16 minutes after Lakota Tech caused problems by pushing the pace in the first half.

“We talked at halftime that we need to limit the silly turnovers that we were creating ourselves,” Neuendorf said. “Their zone really sped us up in the first half, so we knew that we just had to slow down.”

The hard-fought battle between the top seed and bottom seed did not come as a surprise to Koisti, who said that anybody could eventually capture the state championship.

“I told the girls that at the beginning, this tournament could go any way,” Koisti said. “You could play this tournament five times and it’s going to go different ways. It doesn’t really matter. We just got to go out and play, and show people how Hamlin plays basketball.”

Jensen finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Chargers. Neuendorf added 16, and Issie Steffensen added 11, including a pair of key 3-pointers in the second half.

Amelia Shangreaux had 15 points to lead a balanced attack for Lakota Tech. Kate Robinson and Lizzie Robinson each followed with 12, and Addison Goings contributed 11.

Neuendorf said the postseason feels much different than the regular season.

“We kind of talked that there’s two different seasons. You have your regular season and then you have your postseason where it doesn’t matter your record anymore. Anybody can win it,” Neuendorf said. “There’s eight great teams here. We just knew that being the one seed, it’s all great and fun, but obviously we still have to go out there and get the job done.”

Hamlin was fueled by a large partisan crowd during the first game of the tourney. Koisti said the fanbase makes a difference for his team.

“It absolutely does. We’ve had such great fan support and especially here in Watertown. It’s almost our home court, just because we’re so close,” Koisti said. “We’ve really had a lot of success here and a key part of that is all the fans that come out and support us, and especially postseason all sorts of people, former Hamlin people, they love the Chargers and we love to see them all, and it’s amazing.”

Hamlin, 22-1, takes on Lennox in the semifinals this evening at 5. The Chargers won two previous matchups, one by two points and the other by three points.

“Just because we played them before doesn’t change anything,” Koisti said. “They know us, we know them. It’s going to be a battle and hopefully we can come out on top.”

LAKOTA TECH (19-5): Amelia Shangreaux 4 5-6 15, Addison Goings 4 1-2 11, Kate Robinson 5 1-4 12, Lizzie Robinson 4 2-4 12, Isabella Shangreaux 1 0-0 2. Totals 18-61 9-16 52.

HAMLIN (22-1): Addison Neuendorf 4 5-6 16, Sarita Stevenson 1 1-4 3, Paxton Neuendorf 2 4-4 9, Issie Steffensen 3 2-2 11, Addelyn Jensen 9 4-6 22. Totals 19-54 16-22 61.

Lakota Tech 12 30 38 52

Hamlin 11 28 42 61

3-point field goals – A. Shangreaux 2, Goings 2, K. Robinson, L. Robinson 2; A. Neuendorf 3, P. Neuendorf, Steffensen 3. Fouled out –  K. Robinson, I. Shangreau. Total fouls – Lakota Tech 21; Hamlin 12. Rebounds – Lakota Tech 27 (K. Robinson 4, L. Robinson 4); Hamlin 35 (Jensen 10, Stevenson 7). Assists – Lakota Tech 10 (A. Shangreaux 3, L. Robinson 3); Hamlin 19 (A. Neuendorf 6, Stevenson 6). Steals – Lakota Tech 15 (A. Shangreaux 3, L. Robinson 3, I. Shangreaux 3); Hamlin 8 (Steffensen 2).