Bison rumble to ‘B’
No. 1 Hazen downs Trinity in Region 7 title gameClass B’s only unbeaten girls basketball team stayed that way Thursday night.
By: Dustin Monke, The Dickinson Press
- Jenna Maas and Avery Jirges
- Jill Rising
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Class B’s only unbeaten girls basketball team stayed that way Thursday night.
No. 1-ranked Hazen withstood its third test of the season from Dickinson Trinity and broke open a tight Region 7 championship game with steals and free throws late in the fourth quarter en route to a 63-51 win and a spot in next weekend’s state tournament.
“You knew it would be a battle down to the wire,” Hazen coach Leland Opp said. “We were just fortunate enough to come out on top.”
While it was tight, the Bison made sure they owned the fourth quarter to improve to 23-0 on the season and schedule a date with Region 5 champion Standing Rock at 6 p.m. CST next Thursday at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center in Grand Forks.
Kate Berg came off the bench to score seven points as Hazen went on a 9-0 run to break a 42-42 tie late in the fourth, which gave the Bison some much-needed breathing room.
Even though the Bison had Trinity’s backs to the wall with a 52-41 lead with 2½ minutes left, they kept pushing.
“You never know that you have it,” said Berg, who scored all eight of her points in the fourth quarter. “We started seeing smiles from the team probably halfway through (the fourth quarter).”
The Bison went 9-for-13 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter and knocked Trinity out of a rhythm that had kept the Titans fighting to keep the game close for the majority of the first 3½ quarters.
Hazen led after at the end of ever quarter, but its advantages were miniscule.
The Bison had a 13-12 lead at the end of the first quarter, were up 28-26 at halftime and took a 36-35 edge on a Paige Burling shot in the post with 8 seconds left in the third quarter. Burling finished with 13 points off the bench.
“The first half, we came out strong,” Trinity senior Breanna Messer said. “This is the first game (in the region tournament) we started strong. The only downfall was we couldn’t catch up in the end.”
“We couldn’t finish it off,” Trinity senior Sheyenne Plummer added.
Berg had a three-point play with 4:26 remaining in the fourth when she connected on shot in the post and was fouled by Trinity senior Avery Jirges. Seven seconds later, Hazen senior Breanna Beecher stripped the ball from Plummer at midcourt and put her team ahead 47-42 with a layup.
Over the next two minutes, Trinity couldn’t get a shot to fall and Berg made a pair of free throws and another shot in the post to put Hazen ahead 51-42.
“(Berg) has been a sparkplug off the bench,” Opp said. “She’s been instrumental throughout the season.”
Trinity, which ends its season at 18-6, did a lot of work in the paint to keep the game close. Katie Kovash came off the bench and led the Titans with 12 points.
Breanna Messer had a great start and finished with 10 points. Marinna Marsh got in the lane and to the free throw line and finished with 11 points. Avery Jirges had eight points and nine rebounds while holding Hazen junior Stef Borher, the team’s leading scorer, to just nine points.
“I thought our kids played hard,” Trinity coach Alysia Hugret said. “We just couldn’t get a shot to fall for us tonight.”
While Hazen shot 47 percent from the field and went 19 of 27 from the free-throw line, Trinity could only manage 36 percent shooting while going 12 of 21 from the line.
Junior forward Allison Opp led the Bison with 14 points and seven rebounds. Bohrer had 10 boards.
Leland Opp credited the team’s No. 1 ranking in the state media for getting as far as it has this season.
“I think that really kept our kids focused,” he said. “… They knew they had a lot of work to do and no one was going to lay down for us.”
Hazen 13 28 36 63
Trinity 12 26 35 51
H: Allison Opp 14, Paige Burling 13, Stef Bohrer 9, Jenna Maas 9, Kate Berg 8, Sarah Grimm 4, Brianna Beecher 4, Breaunna Oakland 2.
T: Katie Kovash 12, Marinna Marsh 11, Breanna Messer 10, Avery Jirges 8, Shannon Ernst 3, Emily Gordon 3, Mackenzie Glasser 2, Sheyenne Plummer 2.
3-pointers: Kovash 1. Free throws: H 19-27, T 12-21. Total fouls: H 16, T 23. Fouled out: Kovash. Rebounds: H 36 (Bohrer 10), T 36 (Jirges 9). Assists: H 12 (Opp 4), T 7 (Marsh 4). Steals: H 7 (Opp 3), T 11 (Messer 4). Blocks: H 0, T 1 (Kovash). Turnovers: H 16, T 19.
Third-place game
Beach 59, New England 57
Jill Rising had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds and Brittney Dietz added 13 points to help Beach outlast New England for third place.
Jordyn Bender went 11 of 21 from the field and scored a game-high 23 points for the Tigers, who finished their season at 18-6.
Beach, which ended its season at 20-3, shot 48 percent from the field while playing without starter Emily Hardy, who tore her Anterior Cruciate Ligament in Tuesday’s semifinal loss to Trinity.
New England senior Amanda Olheiser ended her career with a solid game, scoring 17 points and grabbing nine rebounds.
NE 13 28 47 57
Beach 12 30 48 59
NE: Jordyn Bender 23, Amanda Olheiser 17, Shari Hewson 7, Megan Neprash 4, Sara Wandler 2, Steph Herberholz 2, Jasmine Jung 2.
B: Brittney Dietz 13, Jill Rising 10, LaCee Vollum 9, Kayla Dolyniuk 7, Teal Waldal 6, Abby Weinreis 6, ReaAnn Schulte 6, Dani Weinreis 2.
3-pointers: Waldal 2, Dolyniuk 1, Vollum 1, Dietz 1, Hewson 1, Bender 1. Free throws: NE 5-10, B 4-4. Total fouls: NE 11, B 16. Rebounds: NE 34 (two with 9), B 36 (Rising 10). Assists: NE 9 (Hewson 4), B 8 (two with 2). Steals: NE 6 (two with 2), B 6 (A. Weinreis 2). Blocks: NE 0, B 2 (two with 1). Turnovers: NE 10, B 13.
Tags: sports, preps, region, 7, trinity, titans, hazen, bison
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