Krieg, heavy-hearted Midgets rout Braves

Jordan Krieg was his typical focused self on the DHS gymnasium basketball floor for 36 minutes on Friday night.

When Friday night’s game against Turtle Mountain was over, however, Dickinson High’s 6-foot-4 senior center and team leader let the tears flow.

Krieg, playing with a heavy heart as one of his closest friends lie in a Bismarck hospital on life support, scored 20 points and 10 rebounds as the Midgets earned their most lopsided victory of the season with a 76-41 West Region victory over winless Turtle Mountain.

Krieg said only days ago, Kevin Theurer was texting him about coming to Friday’s game. Theurer sustained life-threatening injuries after his pickup truck rear-ended a semi three miles north of Dickinson on Thursday morning.

“He was one of my great friends,” Krieg said, wiping back tears. “Bad things happen to good people. I just played for him tonight.

“You’ve just got to block it out for an hour and a half. You owe it to the fans, you owe it to the alumni to play your heart out. It’s just another motivation for me. … He wasn’t there physically but spiritually, he was there.”

Krieg said the Midgets played wanted to play for Theurer.

Did they ever.

The game was never really in question as Dickinson (5-3, 3-3 West) built a double-digit lead 10 minutes into the game.

Krieg scored 10 of the team’s first 16 points and the Midgets’ guards took it from there.

Dickinson scored 11 straight as it built a 38-17 lead.

“These kids had a lot on their mind and had a heavy heart out there playing tonight, but those kids responded and I’m just proud of the fact that this is a team that’s kind of been our Achilles’ heel the last couple years and the kids responded well and executed our game plan very well,” Dickinson head coach John Wilson said. “Everybody got involved and that’s what makes it fun.”

Junior Dylan Skabo added 11 points, four assists, four rebounds and a pair of steals that resulted in transition layups, while Luke Herauf scored 10 points off the bench. Mark Erickson and Jaden Kudrna each had nine as they provided first-half sparks.

The Midgets shot 30 of 62 (48 percent) from the field. They visit Mandan at 6:30 p.m. MST today.

Dickinson held a 48-33 rebounding edge on the Braves (0-11, 0-9 West), who got seven points from both Kyle Charette and Jonathan Parisien.

The Braves had 27 turnovers and were 15 of 53 (28 percent) from the field. They travel to Williston today.

“We’re trying to get everybody to play under control and move the ball,” Turtle Mountain head coach Chris Thomas said. “Tonight, we couldn’t make our shots. That’s the last three games, we’ve been struggling shooting.”

Dickinson’s biggest lead was the final score and it never led by less than 20 in the second half.

“When you get locked in, the game just happens,” Wilson said. “We’re a good enough talented team, we’ve got great athletes. If we can get locked in and stay locked in, it was going to be a good night for us and that’s what it was.”

TM: Kyle Charette 7, Jonathan Parisien 7, Jalen Jeanotte 6, TiRay Azure 5, Kolton Keplin 4, Lane Day 4, Brock Keplin 3, Landyn Keplin 3, Tanner DeCoteau 2.

D: Jordan Krieg 20, Dylan Skabo 11, Luke Herauf 10, Mark Erickson 9, Jaden Kudrna 9, Alex Huschka 5, Levi Jordheim 5, Cole Anderson 4, Matt Becker 3.

Halftime: D 38-17 3-pointers: TM 4 (Azure, Charette, B. Keplin, L. Keplin), D 3 (Becker, Erickson, Kudrna). Free throws: TM 7-15, D 13-23. Total fouls: TM 23, D 18. Rebounds: TM 33 (Parisien 4), D 48 (Krieg 10). Assists: TM 2 (K. Keplin 2), D 13 (Skabo 4). Steals: TM 3 (three with 1), D 7 (Skabo 2). Blocks: TM 0, D 4 (Krieg 2, Herauf 2). Turnovers: TM 27, D 16.

Tags: high school basketball, dickinson midgets, sports, basketball