Turnovers don’t haunt Midgets in win over Bravettes

• Rachel Schroeder

Press Photo by Royal McGregor Dickinson High junior Rachel Schroeder, right, goes up over Belcourt junior Whitney Wallette as senior Quinn Parisien looks on during a West Region girls basketball game Friday at the DHS gymnasium.

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Turnovers have been a key factor in the Dickinson High girls basketball team’s defeats this season.

But with a consistent offensive effort Friday, the mistakes that have haunted the Midgets didn’t play a factor.

Dickinson used a strong second half to beat Belcourt 69-58 for its first West Region win of the season at the DHS gymnasium.

“I’m proud for the girls,” Dickinson head coach Dan Pender said. “They worked their tails off tonight and to get their first WDA win, we get off to the right start here at home.”

Despite turning the ball over 29 times, the Midgets (2-8, 1-7 West) had three players in figures to make up the difference.

“We just read their zone really well,” Dickinson senior Leslie Beaudoin said. “I just found open spots.”

Beaudoin finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds and three steals in her first home game this season.

Sophomore Sydney Gangl and junior Taylor Cooper each knocked down 3-pointers in the early stages of the second half. That’s when junior center Ali Moody and company started creating points in the paint.

Moody scored a team-high 16 points. She also grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds. Rachel Schroeder complimented Moody with nine points and seven boards.

“We ran our offense for the first time in a while,” Moody said. “A few plays worked and it gets us going.”

After battling throughout the first half, the teams went into halftime with the score tied at 26.

One facet of the game that marked the downfall for Belcourt (7-5, 4-5 West) was its shooting percentage. The Bravettes went 21 of 65 (32 percent) from the field, which included a 1 of 16 (6 percent) clip from 3-point range.

“You aren’t going to win many games with a shooting percentage like that,” Belcourt head coach G.T. Monette said.

The Midgets started the second half on a 10-2 run.

Quinn Parisien was Belcourt’s lone player to created problems for Dickinson. She tallied a game-high 21 points.

“Quinn’s an excellent basketball player,” Monette said. “She’s our point guard and she’s stepped up the offense for us. She’s also an excellent defender.”

Pender’s message to start the second half was simple.

“The second half, the whole message was we need to go out in the first six minutes and take care of the game,” Pender said. “I think we did. We got out on that lead and held on. We’re a young team and the nerves started to show at the last four minutes.”

The Midgets never trailed in the second half and built a 51-40 lead with about 8 minutes left.

Dickinson dropped in its free throws for the most part too. The Midgets went 17 of 25 from the line (68 percent) and Schroeder iced the game with .5 seconds left when she knocked down three free throws.

“We got to the free-throw line 25 times and if you get there, good things do happen,” Pender said. “… I think we just got up, relaxed at the end game and made free throws.”

The win gives the team something it had been severely lacking: confidence.

“We have so much confidence now,” Beaudoin said. “We’re just clicking. We are seeing people on the floor. It just seems like we are so much more together as a team.”

B: Quinn Parisien 21, Whitney Wallette 11, Shaiyan Davis 8, Mariah Marcellais 7, Ashley Short 5, Winter Monette 4, Shikiya Chase 2.

D: Ali Moody 16, Leslie Beaudoin 13, Taylor Cooper 13, Sydney Gangl 9, Rachel Schroeder 9, Riley Cooper 5, Mackee Hoffman, Avery Privratsky 2.

Halftime: 26-26. 3-pointers: B 1 (Davis 1), D 6 (Gangl 3, T. Cooper 2, R. Cooper 1). Free throws: B 15-33, D 17-25. Total fouls: B 20, D 24. Fouled out: B, Davis, Wallette. D, Hoffmann. Technical fouls: B, Davis. Rebounds: B 39 (Parisien 6), D 53 (Moody 15). Assists: B 2 (Marcellais 2), D 18 (Hoffman 4). Steals: B 26 (Davis 6), D 15 (Beaudoin 3). Blocks: B 0, D 3 (Gangl 2). Turnovers: B 20, D 29. Records: B 7-5 (4-5 West), D 2-8 (1-7 West).

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