Bucs pass Killdeer’s test
When the 3-pointers weren’t falling for the Beach Buccaneers in the first half on Monday, they watched Killdeer beat them at their own game. But when the shots did fall, there was nothing Killdeer could do.By: Chris Aarhus, The Dickinson Press
- Jill Rising
When the 3-pointers weren’t falling for the Beach Buccaneers in the first half on Monday, they watched Killdeer beat them at their own game.
But when the shots did fall, there was nothing Killdeer could do.
The Buccaneers advanced to the semifinals of the Region 7 girls basketball tournament by rallying from a nine-point second-quarter deficit to take a 74-59 win over Killdeer on Monday at the Knights of Columbus Activities Center.
Beach, who plays Dickinson Trinity at 7:30 tonight, trailed 31-23 with less than 2 minutes to go in the first half, but were the Buccaneers worried?
“I was,” Beach junior guard Emily Hardy said. “(But) I don’t think any of us were really panicking.”
At that point, Killdeer was putting the finishing touches on a 19-2 run that came from a run-and-gun offense. The Cowboys beat Beach down the floor many times and were able to get easy baskets.
“They beat us at our own game,” Beach coach Bob Waldal said. “We didn’t have an outside game. In the second half, Kayla Dolyniuk and Emily Hardy hit the outside shots we needed.”
Beach got to the line in the final 1:30 to bring it within four as Dolyniuk and sophomore Jill Rising both hit a pair of free throws to give the Bucs some momentum before halftime.
Killdeer coach Randy Binstock said the free throws didn’t take away from their momentum.
“That didn’t deflate us in the locker room,” Binstock said.
Something clearly changed, however, as Beach held the Cowboys to just one field goal in the first 4:29 of the second half.
Waldal credits his team’s man-to-man defense for creating points off turnovers. Killdeer faired well against the Buccaneers’ zone defense in the first half, forcing the change by Waldal.
“We were zone pressing, but it didn’t seem like we were getting enough out of it,” Waldal said. “We had to go to man-to-man.”
Beach (19-2) overtook Killdeer with a 7-0 run and never trailed after that. Dolyniuk and Hardy buried 3-pointers as the two teams traded baskets until the fourth quarter when Beach started with a 10-0 run. Dolyniuk finished with a game-high 21 points while Brittney Dietz had 19. Junior Abby Weinreis scored 14 and Hardy 11.
“We played better defense and were actually setting up an offense,” Hardy said of the second half.
Killdeer ends it season at 12-10 and was led in scoring by junior Shalee Dolezal’s 13 points. She had four 3-pointers.
“Tonight, we played 2¾ quarters of basketball,” Binstock said. “That’s not enough.”
Killdeer 12 31 47 59
Beach 21 27 54 74
K: Shalee Dolezal 13, Hailey Schaper 12, Dani Sadowsky 11, Emily Doe 8, Megan Klein 7, Shayla Brandvik 6, Marnie Wagner 2.
Beach: Kayla Dolyniuk 21, Brittney Dietz 19, Abby Weinreis 14, Emily Hardy 11, Jill Rising 8, LaCee Vollum 1.
3-pointers: K 5 (Dolezal 4, Klein). B 7 (Hardy 3, Dolyniuk 3, Dietz). Free throws: K 8-15, B 23-30. Total fouls: K 21, PF 16. Fouled out: K 2 (Schaper, Klein), B 1 (Hardy). Rebounds: K 46 (Sadowsky 10), B 26 (Weinreis 5, Jill Rising 5). Assists: K 12 (Sadowsky 5), B 11 (Hardy 4). Steals: K 11 (three with 3), B 15 (Hardy 7). Turnovers: K 25, B 14.
Tags: sports, preps, region, 7, basketball
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