Bowman County, Dickinson Trinity get set for marquee matchup

DICKINSON - Bowman County has won its last 13 games. Dickinson Trinity has won its past nine.

One of the teams will see its streak and season end tonight

during the Region 7 girls basketball championship game at

Knights of Columbus Activities Center.

"We physically work as hard as they do every single possession,"

Trinity coach Alysia Hugret said. "We can be there. I think it's

going to be a very good game."

The big, bad Bulldogs have been on the winning side of the

scoreboard in all but one of their games this season - their

only loss was a 36-33 setback against South Dakota power Harding

County - and are eyeing a return to the Class B state

tournament.

Bowman County finished the regular season ranked third in the

state, returned its entire team that finished fourth in the

state tournament last season and has been considered one of the

top contenders for the state title all season.

Now, the Bulldogs are ready to jump at the chance to get back to

the Minot State Dome.

"That's been our goal," senior Brittany Anderson said. "We've

been looking forward to it all season."

The Titans, meanwhile, appear to be peaking at the right time.

"They're playing well," Bulldogs coach Kent Harding

said. "They've been on a roll now for a month or so now. They

have a lot of weapons and we're going to have to be able to

defend."

Trinity's strength has been its depth. Leading scorer Shannon

Ernst is Trinity's first player off the bench and averages

around 13 points per game.

The junior led the Titans with 18 points against New England in

the region quarterfinals and had 13 against Killdeer in the

semifinals.

Still, the Bulldogs aren't overlooking the rest of Trinity's

team.

"Every one of their players is good," said Bowman County senior

Lindsey Tivis, who scored 14 points when the teams met to open

the season on Nov. 27.

Bowman County won that game at Solberg Gymnasium 48-43.

This time, the teams meet on Trinity's home court.

Bowman County is no stranger to Knights of Columbus Activities

Center though. The Bulldogs haven't lost there since the 2006

region quarterfinals.

"It's going to come down to the buzzer probably and who does the

little things well," Harding said.

Hugret agrees that Trinity has to hold an edge in the unheralded

areas of the game if it wants to knock off Bowman County.

"They do all the little things every night," Hugret said.

While Bowman County hits the boards and plays strong defense,

the Bulldogs also have the ability to put points on the board.

Four of their players have scored in double figures during the

first two games of the region tournament.

Forward Abby Nasset, the District 13 senior athlete of the year,

is averaging 17 points and eights rebounds a game during the

postseason.

Then against Beach in the semifinals, Anderson climbed out of

her quarterfinal slumber. The all-state guard scored 14 of her

team-high points in a short span in the second half.

"It'll be a good game. We'll match up real well," Anderson

said. "It'll be fun."