Fantastic fourth: Beach wins 4th consecutive Region 7 title, using huge 2nd half to beat Trinity
No one on the Beach girls basketball team ever panicked. That included times when shots weren’t falling or when Dickinson Trinity responded to a rough first quarter with an 18-point second quarter to tie the score at halftime.By: Royal McGregor, The Dickinson Press
- Cydni Stedman
- Kit Miller
- Bailey Waldal
- Hailee Farstveet, Chantel Fulton and Megan Benes
- Beach Buccaneers
- Farstveet and Soehren
- Grinsteinner and Farstveet
- Waldal and Keator
- Beach fans
No one on the Beach girls basketball team ever panicked.
That included times when shots weren’t falling or when Dickinson Trinity responded to a rough first quarter with an 18-point second quarter to tie the score at halftime.
Instead, the District 13 champion Buccaneers stayed cool and calm to punch their ticket to the Class B state tournament after a rock-solid defensive lift in the second half en route to a 55-35 win over District 14 champion Trinity in the Region 7 Tournament championship game on Thursday at Knights of Columbus Activities Center.
“I liked the way the kids stuck together and they didn’t get rattled,” Beach head coach Bob Waldal said. “Sometimes it can happen. High school kids can get rattled when things aren’t going right. I like the way they regrouped coming out of the locker room after halftime.”
After Trinity rallied to knot the score 27-27 at halftime, Beach (20-5) came out of the locker room and kicked off the third quarter with a 9-0 run.
Beach outscored Trinity 19-3 in the third and limited the Titans 3 of 30 (10 percent) shooting from field in the second half. Meanwhile, the Buccaneers created some breathing room, going 10-for-24 (42 percent) from the field in the second half as it stretched its lead.
“They started knocking down some shots and we couldn’t buy a bucket,” Trinity head coach Alysia Barman said. “We had to take some chances defensively. I’m very proud of our kids’ effort. They never backed down and they withstood every punch.”
In the final 16 minutes, Waldal pulled off the full-court press that the Titans found ways around in the second quarter.
Trinity scored a majority of their buckets in the first half off outrunning the press. Trinity junior guard Katelyn Grinsteinner was the main thorn in Beach’s side throughout the game. Grinsteinner scored a team-high 11 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
“We knew Beach was going to come out hard at us right away,” Grinsteinner said. “We had to come out just as hard and match their physicality. We just came out and went as hard as we possibly could go.”
The Buccaneers were cold from the field. Beach shot 7 of 26 (27 percent) in the first half, but warmed up in the third quarter.
“It was about time,” Waldal said with a smile. “We were cold. That’s why you work so hard on defense, because if you had nights like that. Thank goodness we warmed up in the third quarter.”
Beach’s junior guard Hailee Farstveet scored 19 combined points in the first two games of the Region 7 Tournament. But, with the state tournament berth in reach, Farstveet upped the ante.
The junior guard supplied a game-high 16 points, six rebounds and six assists.
Beach’s junior trio of Farstveet, Bailey Waldal and Cydni Stedman combined for 31 of the team’s 55 points. Stedman posted 13 points, eight rebounds and two assists, while Bailey Waldal added 12 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
“I’m very happy with my team,” Farstveet said. “Everyone shot well and did what they needed to.”
Nonetheless, the Titans (18-6) made Beach work for its fourth-straight state tournament appearance. Trinity outscored the Buccaneers 18-10 in the second quarter. Trinity has no seniors on its roster and will bring back a wealth of experience as its entire team was made up of juniors and freshmen.
“Every game, every practice is always a lesson,” Barman said. “We learned from this, that it was great experience for us. We learned from this and we’ll become more determined during the offseason.”
Beach held the advantage in rebounding 47-38 and assists 17-12. Trinity committed fewer turnovers 7-10, which led to a slight 5-4 advantage in steals.
Bob Waldal and the rest of the Buccaneers felt this was a good test going into the Class B state tournament, which begins March 21 at the Fargodome. Beach will play the opening game of the tournament at noon against Napoleon, which is making its first state appearance in 30 years.
“This game gave us the same feeling of how state would be with different situations throughout the game,” Farstveet said.
Beach 17 27 46 55
Trinity 9 27 30 35
B: Hailee Farstveet 16, Cydni Stedman 13, Bailey Waldal 12, Kari Schmeling 8, Brooklyn Zachmann 4, Morgan Nunberg 2.
T: Katelyn Grinsteinner 11, Kennedy Keator 6, Jillian Stockert 5, Madison Jahner 4, Brianna Soehren 4, Alanna Sickler 3, Gretchen Weir 2.
3-pointers: B 7 (Farstveet 3, Schmeling 2, Stedman 1, Waldal 1), T 1 (Stocket 1). Free throws: B 14-23, T 4-12. Total fouls: B 12, T 19. Fouled out: B, Zachmann. T, Sickler. Rebounds: B 47 (Nunberg 9), T 38 (Soehren 9). Assists: B 13 (Farstveet 6), T 7 (Grinsteinner 3). Steals: B 4 (Nunberg 2), T 5 (Weir 2). Blocks: B 3 (three tied with one), T 2 (two tied with one). Turnovers: B 10, T 7. Records: B 20-5, T 18-6.
Bowman County tops Hazen for third place
Bowman County rallied in the second half to claim third place in the Region 7 Tournament.
After trailing by six at halftime, District 13 runner-up Bowman County responded in the second half to take a 57-50 win over District 14 runner-up Hazen.
Kit Miller, a senior forward, led the team with 19 points, 11 rebounds and three assists. The Bulldogs (15-10) rallied around Miller to outscore Hazen 30-17 in the second half.
Morgan Woodley added nine points and five rebounds despite hardly playing in the second half after suffering an eye injury. Brittany Hansey and Haley Sabe each supplied eight points.
After a 21-point second quarter, Hazen headed into halftime with a 33-27 lead.
Mariya Schneider led the Bison (13-11) with 12 points, while Sadie Bolton added 11. Junior guard Ashton Carter scored nine of her 12 points in the second half.
Hazen 12 33 42 50
BC 20 27 44 57
H: Ashton Carter 12, Mariya Schneider 12, Sadie Bolton 11, Rachael Hansana 5, Dakota Wood 3, Lexie Biffert 3, Krista Slaubaugh 2, Kendra Slaubaugh 2.
BC: Kit Miller 19, Morgan Woodley 9, Haley Sabe 8, Brittany Hansey 8, Ariana Zook 6, Justyce Duffield 4, Kaylee Heinrich 3.
3-pointers: H 4 (Bolton 1, Biffert 1, Schneider 1, Wood 1), BC 3 (Sabe 1, Zook 1, Woodley 1). Free throws: H 12-20, BC 16-22. Total fouls: H 19, BC 18. Fouled out: H, Bolton. Rebounds: H 29 (Wood 6), BC 45 (Miller 11). Assists: H 10 (Wood 5), BC 12 (Miller 3). Steals: H 11 (Biffert 5), BC 3 (Hansey 2). Blocks: H 0, BC 3 (three tied with one). Turnovers: H 13, BC 22. Records: H 13-11, BC 15-10.
All-Region 7 Team
Ashton Carter, Hazen; Rachael Hansana, Hazen; Cydni Stedman, Beach; Hailee Farstveet, Beach; Bailey Waldal, Beach; Gabbi Hanson, New England; Hannah Nordby, New England; Haley Sabe, Bowman County; Halle Olson, Richardton-Taylor; Mary Hlebechuk, Heart River; Morgan LeMieux, Killdeer; Rachel Jahner, Dickinson Trinity; Katelyn Grinsteinner, Dickinson Trinity.
Senior Athlete of the Year: Mary Hlebechuk, Heart River.
Co-Coach of the Year: John Ward, Hazen; Jason Jung, New England.
Athletic Director of the Year: Kevin Morast, Hettinger-Scranton.
Tags: high school basketball, beach buccaneers, trinity titans, region 7 championship, sports, basketball, preps
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