DICKINSON – Two-point basketball losses are the haven of many regrets, and in the end Tuesday night's game in Dickinson came down to a final shot for the Midgets with 1.2-seconds left on the clock. While the final shot from senior standout guard Alex Dvorak was blocked by his arch-nemesis on the night, Isiah St. Romain, the game could have gone quite differently with a few key moments … like all single basket losses.
Dickinson High School's loss to Williston, 70-68, proved to be the result of turnovers, turnovers, and – if that didn’t work – more turnovers. The team had 24 on the night, many coming at crucial times and during unforced, open play. But WHS (4-14) has proven to be on the upswing in recent weeks, and they upset the celebratory atmosphere of Senior Night for the Midget athletes and their families.
“It’s hard to win when you turn the ball over that many times,” Dan Glasser, DHS Head Coach, said. “You just gotta take care of the ball. It’s tough to scores points when you don’t get field-goal attempts.”
In the first-half, the shooting was as cold from the two teams as the temperatures outside — at times. Neither team could get on track during the first 18 minutes, and while Coyotes stand-out St. Romain contributed 11 points for WHS, the game was knotted at 31 as the teams headed to the locker room.
The second half was a constant give-and-take, and the game stayed close throughout, but St. Romain and his teammate, Malaki Sik, poured in 25 second-half points – to combine for 46 on the night. The result was that the Coyotes were able to outlast the Midgets in the end.
Senior Tyrese Annace had an outstanding night, scoring a team-high 17 – including three 3-pointers – but he recognized that things could have gone much better.
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“Yeah, it came down to a last-second shot, but you can’t blame anybody. It shouldn’t have come down to that in the first place, we’ve just got to do better during the game,” he said.
The game was close, throughout, with a total of 10 ties and lead changes, with solid scoring from the other Midgets on the court. Dvorak ended up with 16, but got into early foul trouble that limited his time on the court. Perfect from the charity-stripe, Dvorak went 7-for-7 and notched another 9 points from the field.
“We did not come out and execute anything correctly, and we played really bad down the stretch and made a lot of the same mistakes that we’ve made from the beginning of the season that we still haven’t fixed and we continue to go back to,” Dvorak admitted. “We’ve just got to get over that hump, already; we can’t keep doing this or we’re not gonna win games. And that’s what happened tonight.”
Drew Biel had a particularly solid night in the low-post, scoring 6, but he was crucial and lethal from the foul-line, where he went 7-for-10 and ended up with 15. Damon Glasser also ended up in double-figures with 11, contributing a pair of clutch 3-pointers as part of that total.
Outside of the combination of St. Romain and Sik, only one other WHS player was in double-digits: Austin Baumer with 10, and five Coyote players didn’t even get onto the score sheet.
“Both teams played really hard, and both teams played their butts off,“ Glasser said. “They just made less mistakes than us, and that’s what it came down to.”
Next up for the Midgets will be a home 2022-23 season finale on Thursday evening at 7:30, as DHS will welcome the 16-2 Minot Magicians to town with MHS riding an impressive 8-game win streak.
“Last home game, so hopefully we can play smarter and bring the same intensity and the same effort and just play a little bit smarter," Glasser added.
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