Defense lifts Titans

When the Dickinson Trinity girls basketball team's defense let up just enough for Beach to breath on Tuesday, the Titans clamped down even further.

Behind a defense that forced 32 turnovers, Dickinson Trinity scored 20 points off Beach miscues en route to a 58-33 Region 7 win at the Knights of Columbus Activities Center.

In the entire game, Beach led just once - a 4-2 advantage early in the first quarter.

"I think we just self-destructed," Beach coach Bob Waldal said. "We're a young team. We need to play Trinity's every day to get better."

The Titans certainly made it difficult on the Buccaneers, thanks to a stifling full-court press that flustered Beach into taking just 37 shots.

The Buccaneers shot just 19 percent (3 of 16) from the floor in the first half.

"We've been spending the majority of our practice time on defense," Trinity coach Alysia Hugret said. "Our pressure really frustrated them."

Though the Titans made their presence known on defense, Beach didn't help itself much. On two separate occasions, the Buccaneers turned the ball over for stepping over the line on the in-bounds pass.

"I don't think it's anything Trinity did," Waldal said. "We just came out so flat. We made turnovers without any defense played on us.

"It was almost like it was stage fright for us."

The Titans turned a 7-6 early-first quarter lead into a 19-8 advantage when junior Marinna Marsh hit a jumper to start the second quarter. After allowing a basket by Beach freshman center Brittney Dietz, the Titans ran off an 8-1 run to close the gap even further.

However, good free throw shooting by Beach brought a once 16-point gap down to nine at the half.

"We thought the jitters would be gone and here we go," Waldal said. "We didn't go."

Beach got within four at 31-27 early in the third quarter, but watched the Titans go on an 8-0 run to put the game away. Beach scored just two points in the final quarter.

Beach was led in scoring by freshman Abby Weinreis' 11 points.

"The way we played was more disappointing than the loss," Waldal said. "We have to pick up the pieces and go back to work."

Trinity got a balanced scoring effort as the Titans boasted two players in double figures.

Junior Breanna Messer had a game-high 15 points, 10 of which came in the second half. The first half belonged to Marsh, who led all scorers at halftime with eight and finished with 13.

"Marinna was sick, so we had to go with her a couple of minutes at a time," Hugret said. "She can create things on her own."

Hugret praised the play of junior point guard Sheyenne Plummer, who had four points and five rebounds while being a key component in Trinity's fast break.

"We have a great point guard," Hugret said. "She does things very well and creates basically all of our offense at this point."

Dickinson Trinity 58, Beach 33

Beach 8 20 31 33

Trinity 17 29 44 58

Beach: Abby Weinreis 11, Brittany Dietz 9, Mikayla Dahl 6, Kayla Weinreis 3, Emily Hardy 2, Jill Rising 2.

Trinity: Breanna Messer 15, Marinna Marsh 12, Kaylee Schank 8, Shannon Ernst 6, Avery Jirges 6, Noelle Steiner 5, Sheyenne Plummer 4, Keshia Kudrna 2.

3-pointers: Dietz. Free throws: Beach 12-20, Trinity 10-18. Total fouls: Beach 18, Trinity 15. Rebounds: Beach 43 (Weinreis, Dietz 6), Trinity 43 (Plummer, Messer 5). Assists: Beach 1 (Hardy), Trinity 13 (Marsh, Steiner, Kudrna 4). Steals: Beach 9 (Weinreis, Hardy 3), Trinity 17 (Schank 5). Turnovers: Beach 32, Trinity 14.