Another title for Bucs

• Abby Weinreis

Press Photo by Dustin Monke Beach senior guard Abby Weinreis, middle, goes in for a basket against Heart River senior Shea Shypkoski, left, and sophomore Mary Hlebechuk, right, during the District 13 girls basketball tournament championship game on Monday at Knights of Columbus Activities Center. Weinreis scored 19 points to help the No. 1-ranked Buccaneers win their third consecutive district title.

Talk about it

The Beach girls basketball team is such a well-oiled machine that not even the absence of its head coach can keep them down.

Head coach Bob Waldal missed Monday night’s District 13 championship game due to illness, but the No. 1-ranked and top-seeded Buccaneers were as good as ever as they defeated Heart River 78-30 to win their third consecutive district title.

“We knew where we wanted to go and we knew that we wanted to do this for coach Bob, so we wanted to work hard,” said Beach senior Brittney Dietz, who led the team with 21 points, five rebounds and four assists. “I was pretty nervous.”

The nerves went away quickly, however.

With assistant coaches Kari Bosserman and Gary Hardy taking the reins in Waldal’s stead, the Buccaneers stretched a 16-0 run over 6 minutes, 23 seconds in the first and second quarters.

That gave Beach a 31-8 lead midway through the second quarter and there was no looking back.

They went ahead 43-16 at halftime, ending the first half on a 13-2 run.

“They kind of had a monkey wrench thrown in, with Bob not being here,” Bosserman said. “But they came out ready to go and they knew they had to take charge right off the bat. That’s what they did: took charge and took control.”

The defending Class B state champion Buccaneers (21-0) increased their two-season long win streak to 47 games. They play District 14 No. 4 seed Hazen at 6 p.m. next Monday in the Region 7 tournament quarterfinals. Heart River (13-8) will play District 14 No. 3 seed Killdeer at 4:30 p.m.

While Heart River kept things close for a few minutes, head coach Ashlee Viveros just smiled as she described her team’s thoughts on Beach and the game.

“They’re whole team is extremely talented,” said Viveros, in her first season. “They’re so good at pushing the ball. It comes second nature to them. When we can’t get back fast enough and they’re getting wide-open layups, that’s going to be the outcome of the game.”

Dietz, who was named District 13 Senior Athlete of the Year, and seniors Jill Rising and Abby Weinreis led the way for Beach.

Weinreis had 19 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Rising had 11 points, five rebounds and three steals.

Beach’s full-court press kept Heart River’s offense off balance and generated points for the Buccaneers.

Beach scored 28 points off Heart River’s 22 turnovers, which mostly created fast-break opportunities.

“That’s what they love to do, it’s enjoyable to watch and it’s fun for the girls,” Bosserman said.

Senior Alicia Palaniuk was the lone Cougar in double figures. She scored 10 points.

“We came out strong on the defensive end and that pretty much made the offense start clicking,” Weinreis said.

Beach shot 29 of 53 (55 percent) from the field and 16 of 21 (76 percent) from the free-throw line.

Despite not being there to accept the award, Waldal was named the district’s Coach of the Year by his peers.

Though Dietz admitted she was a little nervous about not having Waldal on the bench, she said had faith in Bosserman and Hardy.

“I knew our other two (coaches) would step in and do a good job,” Dietz said.

HR 6 16 29 30

Beach 20 43 68 78

HR: Alicia Palaniuk 10, Mary Hlebechuk 7, Miranda Kadrmas 5, Karli Northrop 5, Hannah Rodne 2, Shea Shypkoski 1.

B: Brittney Dietz 21, Abby Weinreis 19, Jill Rising 11, Kiffin Howard 10, LaCee Vollum 6, Hailee Farsteveet 5, Cydni Stedman 4, Bobbi Nielsen 2.

3-pointers: HR 3 (Hlebechuk, Palaniuk, Northrop), B 4 (Dietz 2, Farstveet 1, Weinreis 1). Free throws: HR 3-8, B 16-21.

Total fouls: HR 19, B 8.

Rebounds: HR 17 (four with 3), B 33 (Weinreis 6). Assists: HR 4 (Palaniuk 2), B 16 (Weinreis 4, Dietz 4). Steals: HR 4 (Hlebechuk 2), B 9 (Weinreis 3, Rising 3). Blocks: HR 0, B 2 (Dietz 2). Turnovers: HR 22, B 9. Records: Beach 21-0, HR 13-8.

Region qualifiers

Scranton 54, Hettinger 49

Taylor Kelner had 24 points and made 12 of 20 free throws to help keep the Scranton Miners around a little bit longer.

Scranton won the region-qualifying game after shooting 23 of 38 from the free-throw line, including a 14 of 18 clip in the second half.

The Miners (9-13) will face District 14 runner-up Beulah at 7:30 p.m. next Monday in the region tournament quarterfinals.

Plagued by fouls, Hettinger played its final game as the Black Devils — in any sport — and finished the season with an 8-13 record.

The schools form a co-op next season and will be known as the Hettinger-Scranton Night Hawks.

After trailing 33-19 at halftime, the Miners made a 12-2 run to open the third quarter and took a 38-37 lead into the fourth quarter.

Hettinger senior standouts Samantha Kristy and Alix Pearson fouled out late in the third quarter and early in the fourth, respectively.

Pearson had 15 points and 12 rebounds. Kristy added 10 points.

Tess Kilwein had a team-high 20 points and four steals while shooting 10 of 15 from the field and keeping the Black Devils in the game in the fourth quarter.

The senior point guard, who returned from a near-fatal car accident on Jan. 17 to play out the final three weeks of her season, fouled out with 13.1 seconds remaining. She had just scored four straight points in 15 seconds to bring her team back within one, 50-49.

Shelby Burns added 15 points and eight rebounds for Scranton.

The teams combined for 44 turnovers and 47 personal fouls.

Scranton 5 19 38 54

Hettinger 14 33 37 49

S: Taylor Kelner 24, Shelby Burns 15, Courtney Anderson 6, Kaityn Olson 4, Cassie Holt 2, Rebecca Oase 2, Kaitlin Reitz 1.

H: Tess Kilwein 20, Alix Pearson 15, Samantha Kristy 10, Nicole Johnson 2, Bailey Sadowsky 2.

3-pointers: S 1 (Olson), H 1 (Kristy). Free throws: S 23-38, H 4-17. Total fouls: S 20, H 27. Fouled out: H, Kilwein, Kristy, Pearson. Technical fouls: H, Bench. Rebounds: S 25 (Burns 8), H 32 (Pearson 12). Assists: S 6 (Kelner 2, Anderson 2), H 15 (Pearson 4). Steals: S 6 (Kelner 2, Anderson 2), H 6 (Kilwein 4). Blocks: S 0, H 1 (Pearson). Turnovers: S 20, H 24/

Mott-Regent 56, Bowman County 44

Alexis Roth had 15 points and seven rebounds, leading three Wildfire players who scored in double figures as they won the region-qualifying game against Bowman County.

Shelby Miller scored 13 points and Kim Miller added 10 points and five rebounds.

Sophomore Kit Miller had 17 points and eight rebounds to lead the fifth-seeded Bulldogs, who shot 26 percent from the field and ended their season with a 3-18 record.

Mott-Regent (9-12) will have District 13’s No. 4 seed in the Region 7 tournament and will face District 14 champion Dickinson Trinity at 3 p.m. next Monday in the region tournament quarterfinals.

BC 6 19 28 44

MR 14 29 45 56

BC: Kit Miller 17, Erika Olson 6, Haley Sabe 6, Matessa Jorgenson 3, Miranda Miller 3, Macy Smyle 3, Kaitlyn Dix 2, Kayla Palczewski 2, Morgan Woodley 2.

MR: Alexis Roth 15, Shelby Miller 13, Kim Miller 10, Marah Friez 6, MacKenzie Hertz 4, Alyssa Olin 4, Naomi Meier 2, Brandi Poehls 2.

3-pointers: None. Free throws: BC 10-21, MR 16-25. Total fouls BC 21, MR 22. Fouled out: BC, Palczewski; MR, Poehls. Rebounds: BC 40 (K. Miller 8), MR 36 (Roth 7). Assists: BC 7 (Sabe 3), MR 11 (Hertz 3). Steals: BC 8 (three with 2), MR 7 (Hertz 2, Abby Honeyman 2). Blocks: BC 0, MR 3 (Honeyman 2). Turnovers: BC 21, MR 18.

Awards

All-District 13 Team: Brittany Dietz, Beach; Abby Weinreis, Beach; Jill Rising Beach; Kit Miller, Bowman County; Miranda Kadrmas, Heart River; Alicia Palaniuk, Heart River; Tess Kilwein, Hettinger; Samantha Kristy, Hettinger; Alix Pearson, Hettinger; MacKenzie Hertz, Mott-Regent; Shelby Burns, Scranton; Taylor Kelner, Scranton.

All-District 13 honorable mention: Hailee Farstveet, Beach; Kiffin Howard, Beach; LaCee Vollum, Beach; Bailey Waldal, Beach; Kayla Palczewski, Bowman County; Haley Sabe, Bowman County; Mary Hlebechuk, Heart River; Alexis Roth, Mott-Regent; Marah Friez, Mott-Regent; India Fitterer, New England.

Senior athlete of the year: Brittney Dietz, Beach.

Coach of the year: Bob Waldal, Beach.

Region 7 Tournament

At Knights of Columbus Activities Center, Dickinson

Games Monday, March 7

Quarterfinals

1) Dickinson Trinity (District 14 No. 1) vs. Mott-Regent (District 13 No. 4), 3 p.m.

2) Heart River (District 13 No. 2) vs. Killdeer (District 14 No. 3), 4:30 p.m.

3) Beach (District 13 No. 1) vs. Hazen (District 14 No. 4), 6 p.m.

4) Beulah (District 14 No. 2) vs. Scranton (District 13 No. 3), 7:30 p.m.

Games Tuesday, March 8

Semifinals

6) Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 6 p.m.

7) Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 7:30 p.m.

Games Thursday, March 9

Third place: Semifinal losers, 6 p.m.

Championship: Semifinal winners, 7:30 p.m.

Tags: district 13, beach buccaneers, bowman county bulldogs, hettinger black devils, scranton miners, mott-regent wildfire, heart river cougars, sports, preps, basketball