BEULAH -- Richardton-Taylor became the first team to earn a legitimate upset in a big game during the Region 7 girls basketball postseason Saturday night.
Behind senior Katie Zent's 17 points and 12 rebounds, the Raiders gained an early lead and never looked back as they went on to upset top-seeded Killdeer 51-41 in the District 14 tournament semifinals at Beulah High School.
Raiders first-year coach Bill Butterfield simply said it was a good feeling for his team to qualify for the Region 7 tournament.
"Not all that surprised, but awful good," Butterfield said. "I knew we had the capabilities. We just had to go out and execute. The girls just did a tremendous effort on everybody's part."
Kaitlyn Forster scored 11 points for the fourth-seeded Raiders, despite being chased continuously throughout the game.
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Richardton-Taylor faces second-seeded Dickinson Trinity at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the district championship game.
Tana Trotter scored a game-high 22 points and had 11 rebounds for the Cowboys, who will face Hazen at 6 p.m. Monday in a regional-qualifier game.
Although the Raiders shot 66 percent (24 of 36) from the free-throw line, Butterfield was impressed.
"The biggest thing we've practiced all year long was free throws," Butterfield said.
The Raiders will meet Dickinson Trinity in Monday's district championship game, which tips off at 7:30 p.m.
Richardton-Taylor 51, Killdeer 41
R-T 10 24 39 51
Killdeer 6 17 35 41
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R-T: Katie Zent 17, Kaitlyn Forster 11, Kaylee Stein 9, Kayla Hoerner 7, Mandy Naumann 6, Libby Forster 1.
K: Tana Trotter 22, Kailey Appledoorn 10, Dani Sadowsky 4, Lynae Lee 3, Katie Dukart 2.
3-pointers: K. Forster, Lee. Free throws: R-T 24-36, K 8-18. Rebounds: R-T 38 (Zent 12), K 28 (Trotter 11). Assists: R-T 7 (Hoerner 5), K 10 (Appledoorn 3). Steals: R-T 7 (Zent 3), K 13 (Appledoorn 7). Turnovers: R-T 22, K 15.
Dickinson Trinity 52, Hebron-Glen Ullin 37
Trinity kept Kylee Bittner in check and earned itself a shot at the District 14 championship with a victory over Hebron-Glen Ullin during Saturday night's semifinal game.
"I thought that our girls did a very good job of recognizing," Trinity coach Alysia Hugret said. "She's a very good player. I thought they did a good job of executing our defensive plan."
Bittner finished with 13 points and nine rebounds and didn't break into double figures until the fourth quarter. The senior guard scored 35 points on Friday night against Hazen.
Kayla Rebel added 10 points for the Bearcats.
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Marinna Marsh led a balanced Titans attack with 14 points. Shannon Ernst chipped in 11. Breanna Messer added eight points and six rebounds for the Titans.
"That's kind of been the key we've been telling the girls all year is we have to be balanced," Hugret said.
They chased Breanna, Sheyenne (Plummer) and Shannon at different times tonight," Hugret said. "I thought it showedhow well our girls are able to step up and get things done."
Dickinson Trinity 52, Hebron-Glen Ullin 37
H-GU 13 15 28 37
Trinity 12 22 37 52
H-GU: Kylee Bittner 13, Kayla Rebel 10, Sarah Schaaf 6, Alisha Gerving 6, Kylie Hellman 1, Shalayna Barth 1.
T: Marinna Marsh 14, Shannon Ernst 11, Breanna Messer 8, Noelle Steiner 7, Keshia Kudrna 5, Avery Jirges 4, Kaylee Schank 2, Kendra Kovash 1.
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3-pointers: Bittner 2, Ernst, Kudrna. Free throws: H-GU 7-12, T 18-26. Rebounds: H-GU 24 (Bittner 9), T 29 (Messer 6). Assists: H-GU 2 (Rebel 2), T 4 (Schank, Marsh, Ernst, Steiner). Steals: H-GU 3 (Schaaf, Schneider, Hellman), T 4 (Marsh, Ernst 2). Turnovers: H-GU 11, T 8.
