Dickinson Trinity senior Jacob Volk has never had a game quite like the one he had Thursday night.
"I just let the game come to me," Volk said.
Titans head coach Gregg Grinsteinner wouldn't mind if he did that more often.
Volk shot 13 of 14 from the field, was 6 of 7 from the free-throw line and didn't take a 3-pointer as he scored a career-high 32 points to lead the No. 4-ranked Titans to a 70-42 victory over Heart River at Knights of Columbus Activities Center.
The Region 7 rivals had played a week earlier in the Roughrider Tournament semifinals. Trinity (7-0) won 51-48 as Volk nursed an illness yet scored 15 points.
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Tonight, the 6-foot-3 guard was healthy and locked in.
"He didn't try and make the outstanding play," Grinsteinner said. "He just played basketball like he's capable of: elevate and shoot a jump shot and when the opportunity is there to go to the rim, he did a nice job of doing that. That's what we've been trying to tell him, 'Just let the game come to you.' Look what happened. He had his best game of the year."
Volk scored 13 points in the first quarter as he helped the Titans to a 17-13 lead, capping the quarter with drive to the hoop with 6 seconds remaining.
Volk got a little help from his teammates in the second quarter and, after throwing down a pair of second-quarter dunks -- one of which he turned into a three-point play after being fouled -- the Titans took a 35-25 lead into halftime.
Volk had 24 points at the break.
"We knew Jacob Volk would, sooner or later, put up points like that," Heart River head coach Greg Pruitt said. "We just have to match their intensity."
That never happened as the Titans took a 50-37 lead after three quarters and outscored the Cougars 20-5 in the fourth quarter.
Trinity dictated the tempo through its defense. Though the Cougars had just 14 turnovers, the Titans outrebounded them 38-22.
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Senior center Isaiah Marschner led Heart River (3-2) with 12 points and six rebounds while senior guard Seth Ewoniuk added 10 points but was limited otherwise.
"Heart River is such a hard team to defend and I thought our team did such a good job," Grinsteinner said. "They had to earn every point they got. I liked the way our kids performed tonight."
Trinity senior Jacob Good had 12 points, four assists, four steals and three rebounds. Senior Isiah Binstock added a game-high 10 rebounds and six points.
Grinsteinner felt Volk did his most damage when Heart River collapsed on Binstock and senior center Jesse Kubik in the post.
"They were trying to take our big guys away and I thought Jacob got into the flow early," Grinsteinner said.
Volk heads into the Christmas break leading Region 7 in scoring with 19.6 points per game.
The Titans hope to keep their undefeated season going when they visit Killdeer at 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 29. They don't play again until the Shiloh Christian New Year Invitational, where they'll take on Minot Our Redeemers Fargo Oak Grove on Jan. 4 and 5, respectively. Our Redeemers is undefeated and receiving votes in the Class B media poll while Oak Grove is ranked fifth.
"It's a building block," Grinsteinner said. "By no means are we at where we think we can be at, but it's a building block to get where we want to be at."
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HR 13 25 37 42
Trinity 17 35 50 70
HR: Isaiah Marschner 12, Seth Ewoniuk 10, Riley Obrigewitch 8, Cole Hecker 5, Brady Olson 5, Kyle Schoch 2.
T: Jacob Volk 32, Jacob Good 12, Isiah Binstock 6, Austin Deichert 6, Jesse Kubik 6, Alex Binstock 3, Ben Gordon 3, Cody Heiser 2.
3-pointers: HR 3 (Ewoniuk 2, Olson 1), T 2 (A. Binstock, Gordon). Free throws: HR 5-8, T 18-26. Total fouls: HR 20, T 11. Technical fouls: HR, coach. Rebounds: HR 22 (Marschner 6), T 38 (I. Binstock 10). Assists: HR 10 (Ewoniuk 3, Hecker 3), T 14 (Good 4). Steals: HR 6 (Hecker 2, Marschner 2), HR 10 (Good 4). Blocks: HR 1 (Zach Miller), T 2 (Volk, Gordon). Turnovers: HR 14, T 17. Records: T 7-0, HR 3-2.
