No. 3 Titans bounce Tigers 66-46 in Region 7 quarterfinals

• Isiah Binstock

Press Photo by Dustin Monke Dickinson Trinity senior Isiah Binstock, second from left, goes up for a shot over New England sophomore Daniel Prince, left, sophomore Ty Nordby, second from right, and senior Lane Herberholz, right, on Monday during the Region 7 boys basketball tournament quarterfinals at Knights of Columbus Activities Center.

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• Parting the ‘Red Sea’

The New England boys basketball team was within striking distance 3 minutes into the second quarter.

Dickinson Trinity didn’t keep it close for much longer.

After going on a 16-3 run to end the second quarter, the No. 3-ranked Titans used a 22-point lead at halftime to roll past the Tigers 66-46 in the quarterfinals of the Region 7 Tournament on Monday at Knights of Columbus Activities Center.

“The first game of the tournament is always scary because you don’t know how the kids are going to react,” Trinity head coach Gregg Grinsteinner said. “I thought we had a very nice start to the game and did some nice things.”

Trinity’s key component throughout the game was 6-foot-3 senior guard Jacob Volk. He supplied a game-high 23 points, eight rebounds, four blocks and three steals. Volk said New England (11-12), the No. 3 seed from District 13, forced him into taking some tough shots.

“They played really good defense and they had a hand in my face the whole game,” Volk said. “That made it tough, but my teammates made some good plays.”

After a solid defensive first quarter, the Titans held a 19-7 advantage, but Levi Hollinger nailed a 3-pointer with 6:10 left in the second quarter to bring the Tigers within single digits, 23-14.

The Titans (20-2), the District 14 runner-up to No. 1-ranked Beulah, clamped down on defense, while Volk and company extended their lead to double-digits for the remainder of the contest. Hollinger led the Tigers with 15 points.

“Physically, they are so strong and disciplined,” New England head coach Luke Powers said. “They are well coached. When you are well coached and have that size and talent, it’s hard to compete with. We went out and competed. We ran nine different defenses and we did everything we knew how to do to try to play with them.”

Trinity held a 39-17 lead at halftime. The Titans extended their lead to 32 points, 52-20, in the third quarter after senior Isiah Binstock supplied a layup. Binstock finished with nine points.

Alex Binstock chipped in 11 points and a game-high five assists.

Powers said despite the score in the third quarter, his team continued to battle until the bitter end. The Tigers held a slight scoring advantage in the second half, 29-27.

“I’m proud of my kids’ effort,” Powers said. “They’ve worked hard and that’s what it’s all about.”

The Titans’ mantra this season has been to start with their inside-out game. But with 6-7 senior post Jesse Kubik battling a sinus infection, points in the paint were tough to get at times.

Kubik and senior post Binstock combined for 11 points. They were both averaging more than 11 points coming into the game.

“Jesse has a sinus infection right now — it probably wasn’t the best time to get one,” Grinsteinner said with a laugh. “It was tough for him to go tonight and we went to him a couple minutes at a time.”

Though Kubik only played 10 minutes, Volk said Kubik made an impact during that span. The impact was the rebounding effort. The Titans held a big advantage in the paint, outrebounding the Tigers 34-18.

“Just to have him out there, he’s a big presence and it’s just someone else the other team has to guard,” Volk said.

Despite a 20-point win, Volk knows the team is going to have to put forth an all-around solid effort against District 13 champions Heart River in the semifinal game at 7:30 p.m. today.

“Heart River goes really hard and they are a really good team,” Volk said. “If we don’t come out tomorrow with focus, they will take advantage of that.”

NE 7 17 29 46

Trinity 19 39 52 66

NE: Levi Hollinger 15, Austin Fitterer 8, Daniel Prince 6, Brady Bender 6, Ty Nordby 4, Hunter Wolf 2, Alex Nielsen 2, Garrett Fitterer 2, Lane Herberholz 1.

T: Jacob Volk 23, Alex Binstock 11, Isiah Binstock 9, Jacob Good 8, Ben Gordon 7, Brett Mortenson 4, Jesse Kubik 2, Dylan Gress 2.

3-pointers: NE 6 (A. Fitterer 2, Hollinger 2, Bender 2), T 3 (Gordon 1, Volk 1, A. Binstock 1). Free throws: NE 6-14, T 11-18. Total fouls: NE 12, T 16. Rebounds: NE 18 (Prince 5), T 34 (Volk 8). Assists: NE 11 (Prince 3, Hollinger 3, A. Fitterer 3), T 15 (A. Binstock 5). Steals: NE 11 (Nielsen 4), T 8 (Good 4). Blocks: NE 1 (Hollinger 1), T 6 (Volk 4). Turnovers: NE 17, T 15. Records: NE 11-12, T 20-2.

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