STURGIS — The Pierre Governors continued a frustrating run over the weekend, playing well but dropping a pair of close games at Spearfish and Sturgis.

The Govs lost 74-70 to the Spartans on Friday night, then fell 63-57 to the Scoopers on Saturday afternoon.

Over their past four games, Pierre has lost to top-ranked Huron in overtime, fell by a single point to Mitchell and ended up dropping a pair out West by a combined 10 points.

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“It’s a little frustrating,” Pierre coach Terry Becker said. “We’re playing people tight, but we just can’t seem to get over the hump.”

Pierre continues to tinker with its personnel, with eyes toward both its pressure defense and its needs on the offensive end.

“I do feel like, every week, we’re getting closer to where we want to be on the press,” Becker said. “We have three or four different looks, and every year you try to figure out what your best stuff is with the guys you have, and I think we’re getting there.”

The Governors used their press to race out to an early 12-2 lead on Spearfish, but a few letdowns and mental errors allowed the Spartans to creep back into the game and pull it out at the end.

On Friday night, Zach Hanson led Pierre with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Saturday, Lane Severyn came off the bench to score 21 points — 14 in the first quarter. That made him the fourth Governor to score 20 this season.

“We’ve had a lot of different guys step up and have good games for us,” Becker said. “Now it’s just a question of can we get everybody to do it on the same night.”

While the wins haven’t been coming, the Governors do face a more friendly schedule in February, with four of their next five games coming at home. All told, Pierre has nine games left before the playoffs.

“Now that we’re into February, we need to show the strides we’re taking and then take that next step,” Becker said. “At this point, we’ve played 11 games, so it doesn’t really matter that we’re young or inexperienced.

“The kids are tired of being close, and it kind of feels like we just need to get on the board, get a win, get some confidence and hopefully surge forward fron that,” Becker said.

The Governors have a pair of home games scheduled for this weekend. Pierre plays the Brookings Bobcats on Friday night, followed by the Sioux Falls Washington Warriors on Saturday afternoon.