Powering through

• Tyler Fischer

Press Photo by Chris Aarhus Bowman County senior Tyler Fischer has battled through a knee injury this season, though it hasn’t seemed to slow his development on the court. Fischer had 17 points and eight rebounds to help the Bulldogs win the Region 7 championship.

Talk about it

After many of Bowman County’s boys basketball games this season, Tyler Fischer could feel his knee acting up again.

Still, the 6-foot-5 senior post isn’t about to sit out.

“It still gets kind of sore, but I’ve been trying to tough it out,” Fischer said.

Even though the old football injury still gets to him now and then, he will be the first to say that playing through it has been worth it. The Bulldogs (20-5) meet Turtle Lake-Mercer in the quarterfinals of the Class B state tournament at 5:30 p.m. today at the Minot State University Dome.

“It hurts more after the game,” Fischer said, adding that this being his senior season makes his participation important.

“That’s one of the main reasons.”

Fischer’s pain hasn’t hindered his development on the court. He averages around 10 points per game and eight rebounds while providing the Bulldogs with a big body in the middle.

“He’s just gotten so much more active on both ends of the floor,” Bowman County coach Gary Ballard said. “He’s getting where he’s become a great rebounder on the defensive end, but also on the offensive end.”

Ballard, in his second year with Bowman County, noticed the extra commitment while the team was playing in summer camps and participating in summer leagues.

“He never missed any team camps or team-league basketball,” Ballard said.

“He’s really worked hard. He works his tail off. He’s exerted himself this year and that’s a plus for us.”

It’s certainly worked out well for the Bulldogs, who leaned on Fischer in the Region 7 tournament. Fischer averaged 14 points and eight rebounds per game including a 17-point, eight-rebound performance in a come-from-behind win over Dickinson Trinity in the region championship.

“He’s pretty strong and people can hang on him and bump him, and he can still put it in the basket,” Ballard said. “He hurries himself a little too much sometimes. When he slows down, it’s hard to stop him. He’s gotten where he can put some post moves on people now, and he’s getting better and better with that drop step.”

Ballard said Fischer’s biggest improvements were noticeable when the Bulldogs started to make their postseason run.

“Within the period of time where we were feeling we could make it to the state tournament, we saw a lot of growth with Fischer,” Ballard said. “His play really made a difference for us at both ends of the floor.”

Hurting or not, Fischer said he’s well aware of the memories that can be made this weekend.

“This is going to stick with us for a long time,” Fischer said. “We just want to go out and finish the year without having any regrets.”

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