Dickinson High girls use best shooting performance of season to beat St. Mary's
Good things happen to basketball teams when the ball goes in the basket and stays out of the opposition’s hands.By: Dustin Monke, The Dickinson Press
- Rachel Schroeder
Good things happen to basketball teams when the ball goes in the basket and stays out of the opposition’s hands.
The Dickinson High girls basketball team had its best shooting performance of the season and limited its turnovers to hand Bismarck St. Mary’s its sixth consecutive defeat, 59-55, Friday night in a West Region tilt at the DHS gymnasium.
The Midgets, meanwhile, have won two of its last three.
“We just have a lot of confidence right now,” said Dickinson senior Leslie Beaudoin, who led the Midgets with 18 points and seven rebounds. “We just feel really good about ourselves.”
The Midgets (3-9, 2-8 West) have reason to feel that way.
One day removed from its worse loss of the season, an 89-31 drubbing at the hands of No. 1-ranked Bismarck Century, the Midgets bounced back with what head coach Dan Pender said was their best game of the year.
The Midgets came in shooting 35 percent from the field and averaging 27 turnovers per game.
They shot 22 of 49 (45 percent) and gave up 19 turnovers — including just four in the second half — while holding a 43-37 rebounding edge that St. Mary’s head coach Scott Jung felt was big down the stretch.
“Dickinson crushed us on the boards and I think that was the difference in the game,” Jung said.
The Midgets pulled down crucial rebounds on St. Mary’s misfires in the final minutes and made enough of their late free throws to seal the win.
Dickinson’s junior trio of Ali Moody, Taylor Cooper and Rachel Schroeder came up big late in the second half on the boards, at the free-throw line and with points in the paint.
Moody notched a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, Cooper had 10 points and eight rebounds and Schroeder finished with 14 points and five rebounds.
“We ran our offense this game in the second half, even at the beginning of the first half,” Pender said. “We got some looks we’ve been waiting for in the post. We’re getting those good first shots.”
Dickinson persevered through the Saints’ late first-half surge that put them up 28-24 at halftime and reclaimed the lead 37-36 on Sydney Gangl’s drive to the hoop that resulted in a three-point play just 5 minutes into the second half.
The game remained close, but the Midgets never trailed again.
St. Mary’s made it a two-point game, 56-54, on Katelyn Schaffner’s layup with 37 seconds left. But the Saints (4-8, 3-7 West) couldn’t get anything other looks to drop.
Junior Rachel Power led St. Mary’s with 19 points. She was 6 of 7 on free throws and made three 3-pointers.
“We’re having a tough time getting that team cohesiveness together and putting together a complete game,” Jung said. “I’m not going to take anything away from Dickinson tonight. They came out and played harder than they have all year.”
With three weeks remaining in the regular season, Beaudoin said the Midgets are beginning to believe they can be competitive in the West Region.
“We could definitely play better, but right now it’s looking positive,” Beaudoin said.
SM: Rachel Power 19, Sydney Miller 9, Domique Gieson 9, Katyelyn Schaffner 4, Angie Schimadher 4, Taylor Gendreau 4, Jamen Fallgatter 3, Lexi Schweit 2.
D: Leslie Beaudoin 18, Rachel Schroeder 14, Ali Moody 14, Taylor Cooper 10, Sydney Gangl 3.
Halftime: St. Mary’s 28-24. 3-pointers: SM 4 (Power 3, Miller 1). Free throws: SM 14-20, D 15-16. Total fouls: SM 21, D 17. Fouled out: Gendreau. Rebounds: SM 37 (Gieson 7), D 43 (Moody 10). Assists: Not available. Steals: SM 5 (Miller 2), D 8 (three with 2). Blocks: SM 0, D 2 (Moody, Beaudoin). Turnovers: SM 21, D 19.
Tags: dickinson midgets, high school basketball, bismarck st. marys saints, sports, preps, midgets
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