For all the marbles

• Breanna Messer

Press Photo by Dustin Monke Dickinson Trinity senior Breanna Messer starts at forward for the Titans, who take on Hazen in today’s Region 7 championship game.

Talk about it

If a region championship basketball game could ever be decided by rebounds, two coaches believe this might be the one.

While Dickinson Trinity coach Alysia Hugret believes the Titans’ ability to crash the boards has helped them reach tonight’s Region 7 girls basketball title game, Hazen coach Leland Opp thinks getting beat beneath the basket has been his team’s only downfall the last two games.

“If we outrebound them, we’re going to put ourselves in a very good situation,” said Hugret, whose team held an edge on the boards in tournament games against both Bowman County and Beach.

Meanwhile, Opp has been concerned with his team — one of the tallest in the tournament — and how its been beat on the boards in both its quarterfinal and semifinal games.

New England beat Hazen on the boards 48-42 on Tuesday night and had two players reach double figures in the category as they fell to the Bison 63-58. In Hazen’s 64-37 victory over Heart River, they were still outrebounded 44-37.

“If we take care of the ball and control the boards, we’ll give ourselves a chance to win in the end,” Opp said.

Both coaches will find out how much rebounding matters when they tip off at approximately 7:30 tonight at Knights of Columbus Activities Center.

No. 1-ranked Hazen (22-0) is trying to take its unbeaten record into the Class B state tournament. Trinity (18-5), meanwhile, is hoping to beat Hazen in a region championship in two sports this school year.

The Titans defeated Hazen in the Region 7 volleyball championship earlier this season.

However, the Bison won both meetings between the teams this season, beating Trinity 64-60 on its home floor during the regular season and winning 67-60 in the District 14 title game, which was played in Hazen.

“We feel we match up very well with Trinity,” Opp said. “There’s a lot of similarities between the two teams.”

On one hand, there is. Both teams rely on size and depth.

However, the Titans are led by seniors — they start five and bring another off the bench — while Hazen’s only senior starter is point guard Breanna Beecher, who didn’t play in the district title game but has made a big impact during the region tournament.

Hugret said the Titans’ upperclassmen are the reason they’re in the championship game.

Trinity staged an amazing comeback to beat Beach 60-47 in the semifinals. Trinity scored 25 unanswered points over 8 minutes, 9 seconds in the third and fourth quarters to completely turn around a game that seemed destined for a loss.

“Last night was the most important game we’ve played all season,” Hugret said Wednesday morning. “I think our senior leadership is a key for us right now.”

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