Century trounces Dickinson with defense

• Brigette Uttech

Press Photo by Chris Aarhus Dickinson High senior Brigette Uttech goes up for a shot against Bismarck Century junior Carli Peterson during Tuesday night’s West Region girls basketball game.

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Execution was a piece of cake for the Bismarck Century girls basketball team on Tuesday. For Dickinson, it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Century forced 28 turnovers and shot 51 percent as the Patriots took a 79-46 West Region victory away from Dickinson at the Dickinson High School gymnasium.

“(A fast start) was one of the things we’ve been struggling with,” Century coach Ron Metz said. “The big thing was execution.”

The Patriots started the game on a 15-2 run with help from senior Tricia Sorensen, who had eight points during the run including a pair of 3-pointers. It was her second trey that gave Century its first double-digit lead, 14-2, which it never relinquished. Sorensen finished with 10 points.

“I don’t think that, mentally, we’re ready to play with that caliber of basketball team,” Dickinson coach Greg Jung said. “We have to understand what’s in front of us.”

Jung felt Century’s prestige played a part in the loss. The Patriots are ranked third in state.

“The girls respect Bismarck Century, but they played very scared,” Jung said. “That attributed to us looking so disorganized.”

The Patriots scored 28 points off turnovers and juniors Erika Jossart and Carli Peterson shared game-high honors with 14 points each. They were two of five players in double figures for Century, which improved to 4-0 in the region and 6-1 overall. Madi Buck had 12 and Alexis Jacobs 11.

Trailing 45-19 early in the second half, the Midgets ran off a 9-0 run thanks to six points from sophomore Jess Herauf, who finished the game with team-highs of 10 points and six rebounds. However, the offensive spurt barely put a dent in the Patriots’ lead.

“Century played like they were on a mission,” said Jung, whose team fell to 2-1 in the region and 2-3 overall.

“Dickinson played like we were afraid to be in the gym.”

Bismarck Century 79, Dickinson High 46

BC: Erika Jossart 15, Carli Peterson 15, Madi Buck 12, Alexis Jacobs 11, Tricia Sorensen 10, Kelli Richard 6, Nikki Helsman 4, Molly Vanderpan 4, Ann Govig 2.

D: Jess Herauf 10, Justine Braunagel 7, Ashley Jahner 6, Brie Lynch 5, Alyssa Stroh 5, Kaitlin Ridl 3, Cori Schweiger 2, Ashley Krieg 2, Taylor Halter 2.

Halftime score: BC 41, D 19. 3-pointers: BC, Sorensen 2, Jossart. D, Braunagel, Lynch. Total fouls: BC 15, D 21. Rebounds: BC 37 (Buck 6), D 28 (Herauf 6). Assists: BC 16 (Jossart 6), D 4 (four with one). Steals: BC 14 (Buck 4), D 8 (Lynch 2). Blocks: BC 2 (Jossart 2), D 1 (Braunagel). Turnovers: BC 18, D 28.

Tags: dickinson, midgets, century, patriots, west, region, basketball, carli, peterson, erika, jossart