‘Learning to win’
During the 2010 and 2011 seasons, the Dickinson boys hockey won a total of five games.By: Royal McGregor, The Dickinson Press
- Mickey Folske
- Jacob Good
During the 2010 and 2011 seasons, the Dickinson boys hockey won a total of five games.
The Midgets have already totaled five wins this season, but in the words head coach Tom Folske used on multiple occasions, the team is still learning to win.
“Finishing games is the big thing and being in the game all the way to the end,” he said. “They have learned that. Saturday (against Jamestown) will be a big test to see how far we’ve come.”
After a 2-0 loss against non-region opponent Devils Lake on Dec. 29, the Midgets are back to West Region play when they host they Blue Jays at 4:15 p.m. Saturday at the Dickinson Recreation Center. The girls game between Dickinson and Jamestown precedes it at 2 p.m.
“We’re hitting practice really hard this week,” Dickinson senior forward Jayden Mink said. “We’re getting everything down that we weren’t so good at against Devils Lake, so then we don’t make the same mistakes against Jamestown.”
Since starting the 2012 season with three straight wins — the longest win streak since 2008 — the Midgets are now 2-5 in their last seven games.
“We’ve been doing well, but I think we can play a lot better,” said Mink, who has one goal and six assists. “We are just going to have to play 100 percent of the time in order for that to happen.”
Despite having a 5-5 record, Dickinson has yet to drop below .500 due in large part to many young players. The Midgets have five seniors, five juniors, seven sophomores and one freshman. Dickinson did have two freshmen until Mike McChesney, who has five goals and two assists, broke his left arm on Dec. 18 against Bismarck High.
“The young guys are contributing,” Folske said. “The seniors are seeing that and playing hard. The young players are getting the leadership from the older players.”
Dickinson’s top four scores are sophomores led by Mickey Folske. Tom Folske’s son leads the team with eight goals and six assists while Matt Pavek has six goals and six assists. Andrew Heckaman has supplied two goals and six assists, followed by Kass Dvorak with two goals and five assists.
The Midgets split time in the net with senior Jamison Gray and junior Brett Schweitzer. Gray has a 3.16 goals against average with two wins and four loss. Schweitzer ranks second in state with a 1.33 goals against average.
Dickinson has already shown promise this season, but Tom Folske said every point counts in the second half of the season.
“There’s a little more urgency now,” he said. “We are in the second half of the season. That’s time to gear up for WDA.”
Beach still battling adversity
The Beach girls basketball team lost 6-foot-1 sophomore center Channa Clarin to an ACL injury before the season even started.
Less than a month later the team is looking to fill another spot.
The spot is one regularly occupied by freshman guard Brooklyn Zachmann, who has been battling a multitude of illnesses. Beach head coach Bob Waldal expects Zachmann to be out at least four weeks.
“We’ve had so many challenges and so many adversities,” he said. “It started with Channa and now we are without starter Brooklyn. We’ve got a lot of challenges ahead of us.”
The Buccaneers, however, are back on the right track with back-to-back wins over Harding County (S.D.) and Hazen after dropping their first two games of the season to No. 3-ranked Napoleon and Linton-HMB, last year’s Class B state runner-up, on back-to-back days on the road.
“Our schedule should make us better,” Waldal said. “Playing good opponents is a good way to evaluate your team. I felt like we should have won one of the first two games.”
After the holiday break, the Buccaneers return to the court at 7 p.m. today when they visit Region 7 opponent Dickinson Trinity (2-2).
“Against Trinity it will be another good evaluation, because they’ll come out and try to put some pressure on us,” Waldal said.
Beach ranks first in Region 7 scoring 61.3 points per game. It allows 45.5 points per game, fourth best in the region.
The Buccaneers have three scorers averaging double figures as junior guard Hailee Farstveet leads the way with 15.3 points per game. Juniors Cyndi Stedman follows with 15 and Bailey Waldal with 13.
“The season so far has been an uphill grind, which is fine,” Bob Waldal said. “It’s a nice challenge for the kids. The kids are working hard. That’s what we want.”
Trinity has two marque matchups at Shiloh New Year Invitational
The No. 3-ranked Dickinson Trinity boys basketball team always hung its hat on being a solid defensive team.
Through the first eight games of the season, the Titans have allowed 38.3 points per game, which ranks second in Class B and first in Region 7.
“I’m really impressed with how our guards are kind of dictating the tempo,” Trinity head coach Gregg Grinsteinner said. “We are outrebounding our opponents 10 to 12 and that’s really important.”
Trinity (8-0) has one of its toughest challenges of the season on Friday and Saturday traveling to the Shiloh Christian New Year Invitational. The Titans play unranked yet undefeated Minot Our Redeemers (7-0) at 2:30 p.m. and then No. 4-ranked Fargo Oak Grove (6-1) at 3 p.m. Saturday.
“We knew coming into this part of the season is going to be a challenge for us,” Grinsteinner said. “We like the start where we are at right now.
“We are playing two solid teams. Both are undefeated in North Dakota. We are going to have to execute on both sides of the floor.”
Grinsteinner said 6-3 senior guard Jacob Good was going to be the wildcard this season and he has turned out to be the team’s best defender.
A strong defense helps Trinity provide a strong offense, which averages 64.4 points per game. Jacob Volk, a 6-3 senior guard, leads the team and ranks third in Region 7 with 19.3 points per game, while Jesse Kubik, a 6-7 senior post, averages 11 points.
“The more balance we have on the offensive side of the ball, the harder it’s going to be to guard us,” Grinsteinner said. “I think our defense is always going to keep us in the game and as long as our offense keeps that balance up. We really got something going.”
Tags: high school hockey, high school basketball, trinity titans, dickinson midgets, beach buccaneers, sports
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