Mandan beats Dickinson High after second-half slowdown
Whatever the message the Mandan girls basketball team received at halftime seem to pay dividends for the remainder of the game.By: Royal McGregor, The Dickinson Press
- Leslie Beaudoin
Whatever the message the Mandan girls basketball team received at halftime seem to pay dividends for the remainder of the game.
The Braves picked up the pace in the second half to defeat Dickinson High 55-38 in a West Region game and regular-season finale for both teams Tuesday at the DHS gymnasium.
“We were lethargic in the first half,” Mandan head coach Len Stanley said. “That’s not taking anything away from Dickinson. Dickinson played well. We didn’t have a bounce in our step, we weren’t rebounding and we didn’t shot it very well.”
The Midgets (6-13, 4-12 in the West Region) opened up a 22-21 lead in the first half, containing the No. 3-ranked Braves.
Dickinson limited Mandan to 8 of 37 shooting (22 percent) from the field in the first half. The Midgets shot 7 of 17 (41 percent).
Halftime couldn’t come soon enough for the Braves (15-4, 13-3 West).
After the break, Mandan looked a like a completely different team. The Braves outscored the Midgets 13-9 in the first 6 minutes, 47 seconds of the second half.
That was only a precursor of things to come.
Mandan outscored Dickinson 34-16 in the second half.
“I don’t know,” Dickinson senior Leslie Beaudoin said. “The second half just didn’t go our way.”
The main player that helped to put that run together was senior guard Mic Longtin. She had eight points and four steals.
“I wasn’t happy with our point guard play,” Stanley said. “Longtin will be an all-state player. The message got across to her and she came back into the game and (we) went on 16-2 run. She is the motor that makes us run.”
One area the Midgets have struggled with all season is turnovers.
Though the team didn’t feel those same haunting effects in the first half, the Midgets ended the game with 40 turnovers and 37 total shots.
“It was more that we just got really, really flustered and didn’t know how to take care of the ball,” said Dickinson junior forward Rachel Schroeder, who had a team-high 10 points. “We didn’t make good passes.”
The Braves, meanwhile, did make good passes and took comfortable shots.
Keela Burt led Mandan with 12 points, while Courtney Goetz added 10.
The Braves shot a little better in the second half but finished 19 of 72 (26 percent) from the field.
“Those are shots that we encourage our kids to take,” Stanley said. “They got the green light. We’ve got the kids that can knock shots down. First half we didn’t shot real well. The second half, we did.”
It was senior night for the two Dickinson seniors on the team. Beaudoin finished with five points and 10 rebounds, while Sara Spradley started the game.
“Our two seniors played as hard as they could,” Pender said. “They lead by example, but we just didn’t get it done tonight.”
After a tale of two halves for the Midgets, Beaudoin said the team just needs a level of consistency throughout an entire game as it prepares for the West Region Tournament that begins March 1 at the Bismarck Civic Center.
“We have to get the ball moving a lot,” Beaudoin said. “For a few moments we play well, but then we’ll switch off. We just need to have more of those moments when we play well.”
M: Keela Burt 12, Courtney Goetz 10, Mic Longtin 8, Lexi Goldade 7, Mackenzie Schmidt 7, McKayla Howling Wolf 6, Elizabeth Meyer 4, JaeLyn Russell 1.
D: Rachel Schroeder 10, Sydney Gangl 8, Ali Moody 7, Riley Cooper 6, Leslie Beaudoin 5, Avery Privratsky 2.
Haltime: DHS 22-21. 3-pointers: M 5 (Burt 2, Goetz 2, Howling Wolf 1), D 1 (Cooper 1). Free throws: M 12-17, D 11-22. Total fouls: M 19, D 18. Fouled out: M, Meyer. Rebounds: M 41 (Meyer 8), D 41 (Beaudoin 10, Moody 10). Assists: M 11 (Longtin 3), D 9 (Beaudoin 5). Steals: M 35 (Goldade 4, Longtin 4), D 15 (Beaudoin 4). Blocks: M 0, D 4 (Beaudoin 3). Turnovers: M 18, D 40. Records: M 15-4 (13-3 West), D 6-13 (4-12).
Tags: dickinson midgets, high school basketball, sports, midgets, preps
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