Titans get job done, reach semifinals
Dickinson Trinity head coach Gregg Grinsteinner said his team had just one thing on its mind Monday night as it took on Heart River in the opening round of the Region 7 boys basketball tournament quarterfinals: “Make it to the next night.”By: Kyle Smith, The Dickinson Press
- Robbie Morey
Dickinson Trinity head coach Gregg Grinsteinner said his team had just one thing on its mind Monday night as it took on Heart River in the opening round of the Region 7 boys basketball tournament quarterfinals:
“Make it to the next night.”
The Titans used a big third quarter to do just that as it overwhelmed the Cougars 60-32 at Knights of Columbus Activities Center.
“This time of the year is all about surviving and making it to the next day,” Grinsteinner said. “You have to play your best ball each night.”
Lead by senior Robbie Morey and his game high 15 points, the Titans (19-3) limited Heart River to three third quarter points and went on a 17-3 run to start the second half.
The first half, however, was a different story.
From the opening tip, neither team looked comfortable as each struggled to find the bottom of the basket.
After a scoreless first two minutes, Morey broke the stalemate by connecting on his first 3-pointer. Behind Morey, the Titans built a 16-10 first quarter lead.
“Their pressure really got us out of rhythm in the first half,” Morey said. “They are a really good defensive team, and they showed that tonight.”
Jared Schoch spearheaded the Heart River defensive attack as he accounted for three of the Cougars’ four first-half steals.
Leading 28-20 at halftime, the Titans knew eight points was anything but a comfortable lead.
“At half we talked about how we couldn’t be complacent,” Aaron Grinsteinner said. “We knew we had to pick it up on defense.”
The Titans were a different team in the second half. Their first 11 points of the third quarter came off Heart River turnovers.
Limited to just one point in the first half, Austin Fridrich sniffed out his first field goal of the game after a Heart River timeout at 4:08.
Fridrich finished with a double-double as he scored 11 points and added a game-high 11 rebounds. Trinity outrebounded Heart River 45-29.
“Austin played a great game down low,” Morey said. “Him and Aaron (Grinsteinner) did a great job at crashing the boards and getting us second-chance shots.”
Behind a dominate third quarter, the Titans built a 45-23 lead. The Cougars shot just 2 of 22 from the field as they scored only 12 points in the second half.
“We missed a few shots, they made a few shots,” Heart River head coach Greg Pruitt said. “In the second half we just didn’t handle their pressure like we wanted to.”
Jarek Haverluk led the Cougars with a team-high eight points and was one of the teams few bright spots offensively. The sophomore point guard hit two 3-pointers while going 3 of 5 from the field.
“We really wanted to win this one for our seniors,” Haverluk said. “They have worked so hard. We wanted this one for them.”
Trinity advances on to the semifinals where it will face Bowman County at 6 tonight in the semifinals.
“Make it to the next night,” Gregg Grinsteinner said. “That’s all we are focusing on now.
HR 10 20 23 32
Trinity 16 28 45 60
HR: Jarek Haverluk 8, Zach Krivorushka 7, Jared Schoch 6, Dalton O’Brien 6, Channing Wagner 2, Daniel Mehrer 1, Jordan Strecker 1,
T: Robbie Morey 15, Tommy Peters 14, Austin Fridrich 11, Aaron Grinsteinner 11, Andrew Klein 3, Ryan Jones 2, Alex Klug 2, Michael Mortenson 2.
3-pointers: Morey 2, Haverluk 2, O’Brien 2. Free throws: HR 10-23, T 10-16. Total fouls: HR 15, T 21. Rebounds: HR 29 (Krivorushka 7), T 45 (Fridrich 11). Assists: HR 6 (Schoch 2, Wagner 2), T 11 (Jones 2, Grinsteinner 2, Peters 2). Steals: HR 9 (Schoch 4), T 13 (Morey 4). Blocks: HR 0, T 2 (Fridrich). Turnovers: HR 17, T 13.
Tags: region 7 tournament, sports, preps, basketball, titans
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