Dykins makes best of season ending injury

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BISMARCK — Kelcee Dykins could only watch as her team’s hopes of a state championship were crushed by Linton-Hazelton-Moffit-Braddock.

The injured Beach senior forward, who led the team in scoring and rebounding this season, had a seat next to head coach Bob Waldal on the bench Friday night during the Class B state girls basketball tournament semifinals.

“It’s hard,” Dykins said before Beach’s 47-30 loss to LHMB. “I wanted to play. That’s what we worked for. But you can’t do anything about it. You just have to make the best of it.”

Dykins, whose slightly diminutive 5-foot-9 frame had frequently caused opposing teams problems in the post on both ends of the floor this season, is on crutches after suffering a contusion on the heel of her right foot in the first quarter of Thursday night’s quarterfinal game against Kindred.

Without Dykins in the middle, LHMB attacked the paint and scored the bulk of their points down low.

Beach sophomore Hailee Farstveet said not having Dykins on the floor also hurt the Buccaneers early in the game as LHMB staked an 11-3 first-quarter lead.

“I think she would have got us started a little earlier, just how she rebounds and gets after it,” said Farstveet, who had seven points and seven boards against LHMB. “She gets us going.”

Dykins said the injury happened on her first shot of the tournament, a fast-break layup.

“I came down and all my weight was on the back of my heel,” Dykins said.

She played less than 11 minutes and had seven points in five rebounds in Beach’s 52-48 quarterfinal victory over No. 2-ranked Kindred on Thursday. She sat out the entire second half as the Buccaneers rallied from a 28-20 halftime deficit.

Dykins averaged team highs of 18.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per game coming into the state tournament. However, she was never more than a role player who off the bench in Beach’s last two trips to the state tournament.

Waldal gave Dykins an opportunity to go back in the game against Kindred after she tried walking on the foot. But she told the coach on the sideline that she didn’t feel she’d be effective if he put her the game.

“If you bruise something like that, it’s so tender,” Waldal said. “She was in a lot of pain.”

Before Beach’s game on Friday, Dykins could hardly walk through the Bismarck Civic Center without someone stopping and giving her a hug.

“It means a lot, but it’s emotional and it’s hard to deal with,” Dykins said with a smile and a tear running down her face.

Tags: kelcee dykins, high school basketball, class b girls state basketball tournament, sports