Wolves stop Titans

• Brooks Thorson

Press Photo by Dustin Monke Dickinson Trinity senior guard Brooks Thorson, right, looks to pass while being pressured by Watford City sophomore guard Nick Liebel on Friday night during a boys basketball game at Knights of Columbus Activities Center.

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• Dickinson Trinity vs. Watford City Boys Basketball Game

Fans at Knights of Columbus Activities Center couldn’t have asked for more out of Friday night’s matchup between Class B’s second- and third-ranked boys basketball teams.

After a seesaw battle that saw ties at both halftime and the end of the third quarter, second-ranked Watford City pulled ahead late and hit key free throws down the stretch to hold off third-ranked Dickinson Trinity 56-52, snapping the Titans’ 17-game win streak.

Despite the loss, Trinity coach Gregg Grinsteinner wasn’t too disheartened.

“I expected a game just like this,” Grinsteinner said. “I thought you had two teams who were getting after it and getting ready for tournaments.”

Watford City (18-1) came out like a team on a mission.

After Trinity (17-2) scored the first three points of the game, the Wolves fired back with a 17-0 run that lasted 3 minutes, 28 seconds.

Senior guard Christian Schulz capped the run with a pair of long-range 3-pointers from opposite wings. Schulz scored a team-high 15 points.

“We just came out hard right away,” said Watford City senior Kevin Sanford, who scored 11 points. “We kind of made a statement right away but we let them back into it.”

Trinity chipped away a bit to close out the quarter, but still trailed 21-12. Its ability to cut into the lead wasn’t lost on Watford City coach Randy Cranston.

“The first thing that came out of my mouth there was, ‘This is a good basketball team, and they will make a run and we have to answer their run,’ ” Cranston said.

The Titans did make their run and, much to Cranston’s dismay, it went unanswered.

Trinity scored 12 unanswered points to open the second quarter and claimed a 24-21 lead on Robbie Morey’s second 3-pointer of the game with 3:42 left. The 6-foot-2 junior had game highs of 19 points and 10 rebounds.

After that, Watford City regained its composure a bit and was able to force a 27-27 halftime tie.

The teams went back and forth in the third quarter, with Morey tying the game at 43 on a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1:11 left. The score stayed that way until Morey was fouled making a driving layup 28 seconds into the fourth and made the ensuing free throw.

It gave the Titans a 46-43 lead to open the fourth quarter. But they were unable to capitalize on the advantage.

Watford City senior Justin Flatland was fouled as he made a shot in the post and connected on his free throw with 6:12 to play, giving his team a 48-46 lead. The Wolves never trailed again.

Trinity stayed close and had a chance to retie the game with less than 30 seconds to play but Morey airballed a 3-pointer from the key.

Sanford lost the ball out of bounds trying to get the rebound and Aaron Grinsteinner made a layup on a designed in-bounds play to cut Watford City’s lead to 53-52.

The Titans quickly fouled Sanford who, up to that point, had missed the back end of three trips to the free-throw line. The 6-foot-1 guard came through in the clutch, however.

Sanford gave the Wolves a 55-52 lead and Trinity senior guard Jordan Selinger’s cross-court pass out of a trap was intercepted by Schulz, who iced the game with a free throw.

Grinsteinner was impressed with how the Titans reacted to the loss but said losing a close game proved the team still has work to do as it heads into the District 14 tournment.

“That’s going to happen, it’s a good learning experience for our kids,” Grinsteinner said. “… You could see it in their eyes, it hurt to lose.”

WC 21 27 43 56

Trinity 12 27 43 52

WC: Christian Schultz 15, Nick Liebel 11, Kevin Sanford 11, Trey Jacobson 9, Justin Flatland 8, Tyler Flatland 2.

T: Robbie Morey 19, Aaron Grinsteinner 11, Jordan Selinger 7, Austin Fridrich 7, Brooks Thorson 4, Erik Arnold 2, Tommy Peters 2.

3-pointers: Morey 4, Schultz 3, Liebel 1, Jacobson 1, Grinsteinner 1. Free throws: WC 11-17, T 3-7. Total fouls: WC 9, T 16. Fouled out: Morey. Rebounds: WC 21 (J. Flatland 6), T 22 (Morey 10). Assists: WC 10 (Jacobson 3), T 18 (Selinger 7). Steals: WC 13 (Jacobson 4), T 7 (Thorson 3). Turnovers: WC 14, T 16.

Tags: sports, preps, trinity, titans, basketball