Hanstad scores 30 as Dickinson stays alive

• Joe Hanstad

Press Photo by Dustin Monke Dickinson High senior Joe Hanstad puts up a shot over a Belcourt defender on Friday afternoon during a West Region boys basketball tournament loser-out game at the Bismarck Civic Center Exhibition Hall.
• Nate Moody

Press Photo by Dustin Monke Dickinson senior forward Nate Moody looks for room against a Belcourt defender on Friday afternoon during a West Region boys basketball tournament loser-out game at the Bismarck Civic Center Exhibition Hall.
• Alex Klug

Photo by Kevin Cederstrom/Special to The Press North Star senior center Grant Lindahl handles the ball in front of Dickinson Trinity senior guard Alex Klug during the Class B state boys basketball tournament semifinals at the Minot State University Dome.

Talk about it

BISMARCK — Joe Hanstad laughs at the assertion he has his shot back.

“I don’t,” he said.

Don’t be so humble, Joe.

Hanstad scored a game-high 30 points Friday afternoon to keep the Dickinson High boys basketball team alive with a 67-51 victory over Belcourt in the loser-out round of the West Region Tournament at the Bismarck Civic Center Exhibition Hall.

It was Hanstad’s second big game after returning from a five-week absence caused by a broken right wrist.

“It’s still really stiff, but at halftime, I stretch it out in hot water,” Hanstad said. “The second half is really tough for me. It’s not the same.”

The 6-foot-4 senior guard scored 18 points as Dickinson jumped out to a 40-30 first-half lead.

He finished 10 of 16 from the field and 10 of 11 from the free-throw line.

He is 22 of 23 on free throws for the tournament.

Hanstad also made a little history in the game, moving into third on the Class A all-time scoring chart. He passed Bob Eaglestaff of Fort Yates and now has 1,814 career points.

But, Hanstad was only the tip of the sword.

Dickinson heated up early, jumped out to a 23-12 lead on one of Hanstad’s layups.

The Midgets shot 50 percent from the field in the first half.

“We got to feeling it early, got some guys to hit some shots,” Dickinson head coach John Wilson said. “When that happens, you can’t blame a kid for taking a shot. But we really wanted to make sure they were more patient than they’ve been in the past.”

The Midgets did that in the second half, keeping Hanstad on the perimeter and letting others pound the ball inside and draw fouls.

Despite some big jumpers from Hanstad and shots beneath the basket by nearly everyone else, Belcourt kept the game within reach much of the second half.

Braves senior J.R. Gunville, who had team highs of 19 points and 10 rebounds, hit a 3-pointer and scored on a transition layup to cut Dickinson’s lead to 53-44 on with 5 minutes remaining.

But, 50 seconds later, Gunville was called for a technical foul after arguing with an official.

Hanstad hit the ensuing free throws and Belcourt began to unravel.

The Midgets scored 11 unanswered points, building a 62-44 lead and locking up the victory.

“At this time of the year, it’s all about execution and experience,” Belcourt coach John Demery said. “In tournament games, we don’t have a lot of experience — none at all actually.”

Kyrell Parisisen added 12 points, eight rebounds and three steals for the Braves, who ended their season with a 5-16 record.

Senior forward Nate Moody was big for Dickinson beneath the basket, scoring eight points and grabbing a game-high 15 rebounds. Senior point guard Jarl Abrahamson added 13 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Dickinson (11-10) faces No. 3 seed Minot High at 3:15 p.m. today in a Class A state tournament qualifying game at the Civic Center’s Main Arena.

Minot (16-5) is coached by Dean Winczewski, who was the head coach at Dickinson when this year’s seniors were freshmen.

After the decisive victory over Belcourt, Hanstad said the team likes its chances going into the qualifying game.

“It was a good team win,” Hanstad said. “Yesterday, we just didn’t put together a good, full game. We played good for a while. We just had such a bad start. Today we played well for most of the game and that really helped.”

D: Joe Hanstad 30, Jarl Abrahamson 13, Jesse Kessel 9, Nate Moody 8, Nick Lupo 5, Jay Emmrrich 2.

B: J.R. Gunville 19, Kyrell Parisien 12, Kansas Ree 8, Jared Lambert 6, Jacob Knife 4, Charlie Larocque 2.

Halftime: Dickinson 40-30. 3-pointers: D 3 (Abrahamson 2, Lupo 1), B 3 (Gunville 2, Knife 1). Free throws: D 18-25, B 2-5. Total fouls: D 10, B 21. Technical fouls: J. Gunville. Rebounds: D 39 (Moody 15), B 36 (Guville 10). Assists: D 11 (Hanstad 3, Abrahamson 3), B 5 (Ree 2). Steals: D 8 (Moody 2), B 5 (Parisien 3). Blocks: D 2 (Hanstad 2), B 2 (Parisien 2). Turnovers: D 12, B 11.

Tags: joe hanstad, west region tournament, sports, midgets, preps, basketball