Strecker, Marschner key Heart River's win over Killdeer

• Jordan Strecker

Press Photo by Dusttin Monke Heart River senior Jordan Strecker, middle, goes up over Killdeer sophomore Calum Blankeship, right, as junior Brock Pittsley, left, watches Monday during the Region 7 boys basketball tournament quarterfinals at Knights of Columbus Activities Center.

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• Class B region boys basketball tournaments

The win looked convincing enough.

But, Greg Pruitt thinks his Heart River boys basketball team can do a lot more than it did Monday afternoon during the Region 7 tournament quarterfinals.

Behind the steady post presence of senior Jordan Strecker and junior Isaiah Marschner, the Cougars captured a 68-53 victory over Killdeer at Knights of Columbus Activities Center.

Yet, Pruitt said he expects more from his team today when they face Dickinson Trinity at 6 p.m. in the semifinals.

“I’m proud of the way our kids kept their composure. A win’s a win,” Pruitt said. “We wanted to take it one game at a time. We wanted to get to the (semifinals). We did. Now we can refocus.”

Strecker had 20 points and 11 rebounds while Marschner added 17 points and nine boards to pace the District 13 champion Cougars (18-5).

While Heart River trailed only once, early in the first quarter, the Cowboys didn’t down go easy. In the second quarter, they went shot-for-shot with the Cougars.

Heart River led 36-28 at halftime and finally broke free with a 12-0 run midway through the third quarter to take its biggest lead, 52-33.

“That’s been our biggest problem here the last five or six ball games,” Killdeer head coach Wayne Sanders said. “We just can’t seem to get over the hump in that third quarter. The rest of the game, we play pretty good.”

Austy Sadowsky had 18 points and five rebounds to lead the Cowboys, the No. 4 seed from District 14 whose season ended with an 8-15 record.

Tate Harris added 15 points and four rebounds. He scored 10 of his points in the fourth quarter with good moves in the post that kept the game somewhat within reach.

But, three consecutive Heart River 3-point plays — the old-fashioned kind by Marschner and senior Dylan Northrop and a 3-pointer from Tyson Kudrna — put Heart River ahead 61-43 with 5:18 to play, all but sealing the victory for the Cougars.

Seth Ewoniuk added 12 points and four assists for Heart River.

“We need to bring it right away in the game because it’ll carry through for the rest of the game,” said Strecker had 14 points in the first 11½ minutes. “I didn’t think we brought it so well tonight, but we tried. Killdeer definitely brought it.”

Strecker said the Cougars must play better defensively when they face the Titans tonight if it they want to advance to their second straight region title game. Heart River lost to Trinity in last year’s championship game.

“We didn’t play as good defensively as we normally do,” Strecker said. “We have to pick that up tomorrow.”

Killdeer 12 28 38 53

HR 19 36 52 68

K: Austyn Sadowsky 18, Tate Harris 15, Brock Pittsley 7, Trenton Rohr 5, Lewis Keller 4, Riley Blankenship 2, Marc Wagner 2, Calum Blankenship 2.

HR: Jordan Strecker 20, Isaiah Marschner 17, Seth Ewoniuk 12, Tyson Kudrna 6, Dylan Northrop 5, Jarek Haverluk 4, Cole Hecker 2, Riley Obrigewitch 2.

3-pointers: K 2 (Sadowsky, Harris), HR 3 (Kudrna 2, Ewoniuk 1). Free throws: K 11-15, HR 11-16. Total fouls: K 16, HR 15. Rebounds: K 26 (Sadowsky 5), HR 35 (Strecker 11). Assists: K 10 (Harris 3), HR 17 (Northrop 9). Steals: K 5 (Keller 2), HR 6 (Marschner 2). Blocks: K 1 (Keller), HR 2 (Marschner 2). Turnovers: K 13, HR 9. Records: K 8-15, HR 18-5.

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