Pressure pays off

• Emily Gordon and Jordyn Bender

Press Photo by Dustin Monke Dickinson Trinity senior guard Emily Gordon, left, pressures New England junior guard Jordyn Bender during a girls basketball game Thursday night at New England High School gymnasium. The Titans forced 32 Tiger turnovers in their 65-52 come-from-behind victory.

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NEW ENGLAND — Opposing pressure defense has humbled the New England girls basketball team in all of its losses this season.

In the third quarter of Friday night’s game against Dickinson Trinity, the Tigers had to relive that same story.

Behind a stifling full-court defense, Trinity doubled up the Tigers on the scoreboard in the second half and secured a 65-52 victory at the New England High School gymnasium.

“The first half, things weren’t going the way we wanted them to go,” Trinity senior Emily Gordon said. “But in the second half, we just got after our defense and that’s how we got our points.”

Gordon, whose 14 points and seven rebounds led the Titans, hit the nail on the head.

New England’s 31-23 halftime lead disappeared after the Titans found ways to force turnovers in the third quarter.

Trinity gave up just seven points in the third and slowly began keeping the Tigers from doing as much as getting the ball across the half-court line as it turned an eight-point halftime deficit into a 44-38 lead.

Trinity (11-4) scored 11 of its 21 points in the third quarter directly off New England turnovers.

The Tigers (15-3) gave the ball up 20 times in the second half and finished with 32 turnovers.

“I talked to the girls about matching their intensity in the third quarter and we didn’t,” New England coach Jason Jung said. “Their intensity took over and the defensive pressure really got to us.”

New England tied the game at 46 with 5:24 remaining in the fourth quarter after Shari Hewson banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the key and Amanda Olheiser got open in the low post for two easy buckets.

But, Trinity quickly went back to the defense that helped build its third-quarter lead and made two easy layups off turnovers.

The Tigers also fell into foul trouble and the Titans were able to hit their free throws. Trinity was 17 of 24 from the free-throw line.

Trinity scored eight unanswered points over a span of 1:17, taking a 54-46 lead and effectively securing the victory.

“Defensively, we finally got up and got after things and we started anticipating some things in the second half,” Trinity coach Alysia Hugret said.

Senior Shannon Ernst came off the bench and led Trinity’s defense with six steals. She added nine points. Breanna Messer had 12 points and three steals. Sheyenne Plummer had nine points, four steals and three assists.

Hugret also attributed the team’s defensive spark to a rotation of players guarding New England junior guard Jordyn Bender, who had the Tigers’ offense humming in the first half.

Although she finished with 17 points, seven assists, four rebounds and four assists, the second half was a nightmare for Bender, as the Titans swarmed to her nearly every time she touched the ball.

“In the third quarter, we started rotating a couple different girls in on her,” Hugret said. “The girl that was guarding her was always fresh and that definitely paid off for us.”

Olheiser and Hewson provided bright spots for the Tigers who their floor general was in trouble. Olheiser scored 17 points and had seven rebounds. Hewson chalked up 10 points and 11 rebounds while blocking four shots.

New England visit Hebron-Glen Ullin on Monday before taking the No. 3 seed in the District 13 tournament, which begins next Friday in Bowman.

Trinity, meanwhile, plays two games over the next two days. They host Hettinger at 7 tonight and visit Watford City at 2 p.m. Saturday. The Titans have the No. 2 seed in the District 14 tournament, which begins next Friday in Hazen.

“It’s nice to play a good team like this right before the district tournament,” Hugret said.

Trinity 14 23 46 65

NE 17 31 38 52

T: Emily Gordon 14, Breanna Messer, Shannon Ernst 9, Sheyenne Plummer 9, Marinna Marsh 8, Avery Jirges 6, Katie Kovash 5, Mackenzie Glasser 2,

NE: Jordyn Bender 17, Amanda Olheiser 17, Shari Hewson 10, Sara Wandler 4, Jasmine Jung 4.

3-pointers: Hewson 2. Free throws: T 17-24, NE 14-23. Total fouls: T 23, NE 22. Fouled out: Marsh, Bender, Wandler. Rebounds: T 40 (Gordon 7, Jirges 7), NE 29 (Hewson 11. Assists: T 10 (Plummer 3), NE 12 (Bender 7). Steals: T 20 (Ernst 6), NE 11 (Bender 4). Blocks: T 0, NE 4 (Hewson 4). Turnovers: T 20, NE 32. Records: T 11-4, NE 15-3.

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