Nordby, Tigers rally to beat Bowman County

• Gabbi Hanson

Press Photo by Royal McGregor New England junior Gabbi Hanson, right, shoots over Bowman County senior Kit Miller during a District 13 girls basketball game Thursday night at the New England High School gymnasium.

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NEW ENGLAND — Through the first 4 minutes, the New England girls basketball team was in the driver’s seat. However, Bowman County wasn’t going let a 13-point early deficit be the defining moment.

After back and forth second and third quarters, New England rallied around 5-foot-9 junior forward Hannah Nordby, who had game highs of 16 points and 16 rebounds, en route to a 47-42 win over Bowman County in a District 13 game on Thursday.

“At halftime, we talked about getting the ball inside more,” New England head coach Jason Jung said. “I thought we had a lot better balanced scoring in the second half and I think that made the difference.”

The main cog helping New England get the ball inside was junior forward Gabbi Hanson. She lifted the Tigers (6-4, 1-1 District 13) to a 16-3 lead after the first quarter. Hanson supplied half of the team’s first quarter points while finishing with 14.

Hanson’s outburst in the first quarter helped Hannah Nordby and the rest of the Tiger forwards get on a roll. Bryanna Rasch, a 5-10 senior, finished with nine points and 12 rebounds.

“Gabbi really opened it up for us inside,” Nordby said. “Bowman really extended their zone, so we were able to get the ball into our post players.”

Bowman County (5-5, 0-3 District 13) returned the favor in the second quarter. Brittany Hansey and Justyce Duffield tallied 12 of the team’s 17 points in the second quarter. Hansey finished with a team-high 15 points, while Duffield added 10. Bowman County’s Kit Miller and Kaylee Heinrich each posted 10 points.

The Tigers held a 22-20 advantage at halftime but the Bulldogs’ night wasn’t over. Bowman County opened the third quarter with five consecutive points from Hansey. The brief run marked the Bulldogs’ first lead in the game at 25-22.

“We’re capable of that,” Bowman County head coach Pam Fisher said. “We need to find out how to put that consistency out on the floor from the very beginning.”

From there, the teams traded points with two lead changes and two ties. Bowman County fought back from its early 13-point deficit to lead 36-33 after three quarters.

Despite rocky second and third quarters, the Tigers had energy left in the tank. Bowman County did not.

“We can’t start out the game with that big of a deficit, it burns a lot of our energy and a lot of our life to get back out of a hole,” Fisher said. “We need to fix the intensity at the beginning of the game, so we don’t come out with a slow start.”

New England outscored the Bulldogs 14-6 in the final quarter for its first District 13 win of the season.

Ashley Plaggemeyer, a 6-1 junior, only posted five points in the game, but her two most important came with 1:34 left when she gave New England a 45-42 lead.

“It’s really nice to have Ashley in the post, because when team’s play man, I don’t get stuck with the tallest person anymore,” Nordby said with a laugh.

The Tigers travel to Flasher at 6:30 p.m. Monday. Jung hopes Thursday’s victory propel his team on a win streak.

“This is a huge momentum builder for us,” Jung said. “After losing to Mott-Regent in our first district game, we needed a big win. It’s going to do a ton for the kids’ confidence.”

BC 3 20 36 42

NE 16 22 33 47

BC: Brittany Hansey 15, Kit Miller 10, Kaylee Heinrich 10, Justyce Duffield 6, Morgan Woodley 1.

NE: Hannah Nordby 16, Gabbi Hanson 14, Bryanna Rasch 9, Ashley Plaggemeyer 5, Autumn Wolf 3.

3-pointers: BC 1 (Hansey 1), NE 1 (Hanson 1). Free throws: BC 9-19, NE 14-27. Total fouls: BC 21, NE 13. Fouled out: BC, Miller. Rebounds: NE 39 (Nordby 16). Assists: NE 9 (Erin Volk 4). Steals: NE 12 (Nordby 3, Wolf 3). Blocks: NE 3 (Plaggemeyer 3). Turnovers: NE 24. Records: BC 5-5 (0-3 District 13), NE 6-3 (1-1 District 13).

Tags: new england tigers, bowman county bulldogs, high school basketball, region 7, district 13, sports, basketball, preps