Beach wins first district title since '91

BOWMAN -- Beach girls basketball players will tell you defensive intensity helps get their offense moving. This was never more evident than Monday night at Solberg Gymnasium.

Beach's defense sparked its offense early in the District 13 championship game against New England and the Buccaneers felt little trouble from then on as they cruised to a 68-51 victory and their first district title since 1991.

"Whenever we have better defense our offense starts to click," Beach sophomore guard Abby Weinreis said.

Weinreis, who had team highs of 18 points and eight assists, was both the creator and beneficiary of the team's transition game on numerous trips down the floor.

The Buccaneers (18-2) took advantage of early Tiger turnovers and foul trouble as it built an 11-2 lead before the midway point of the first quarter.

An Emily Hardy-led surge late in the first helped put Beach ahead 20-11 by the end of the quarter and forced New England into playing catch-up the rest of the way.

"They set the tempo right from the start," said Tigers coach Jason Jung, who shared District 13 coach of the year honors with Scranton's Kelly Pierce. "It seemed like they were too quick for us right from the start."

The underclassmen-led Buccaneers -- the only senior on the roster is guard Teal Waldal, who comes off the bench -- haven't been fazed in big games this season and playing for a district title didn't seem too hard to handle.

Hardy's surge of five unanswered points toward the end of the first quarter was just the start for the junior forward. She finished with 17 points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals.

Sophomore Brittney Dietz, who played just 20 minutes due to foul trouble, finished with 12 points and five rebounds. Junior guard Kayla Dolyniuk added 10 points while sophomore forward Jill Rising, who was also in foul trouble, scored all of her six points late in the second half when New England was threatening to cut into the Buccaneers' lead.

New England (17-4) got in trouble extremely early when all-district senior forward Amanda Olheiser committed her third foul just 1:11 into the game. She played just 18 minutes and didn't foul out despite being called for her fourth early in the second quarter.

Without Olheiser in the game, the taller Buccaneers were able to get to the basket easier and the Tigers were limited in the post.

"That changed everything," Jung said. "Amanda has been a huge player for us this year. To lose her in this game early, it hurt us offensively."

Beach took a 37-22 halftime lead and brushed back a New England comeback in the third quarter after Buccaneers coach Bob Waldal was issued what he says is the first technical of his storied coaching career with 1:22 left in the quarter.

At the time of the call, Beach led 45-36, but the Tigers missed both free throws and failed to score on three consecutive possessions, allowing the Buccaneers to take a 47-38 lead into the fourth quarter.

"Offensively and defensively the kids handled the ball very well," Waldal said. "We've got some solid chemistry. We read each other well."

Junior guard Jordyn Bender scored a game-high 19 points to lead New England, which was trying to win its first district title since 1994.

Beach faces District 14 fourth seed Killdeer at 7:30 p.m. next Monday in the Region 7 tournament at Knights of Columbus Activities Center in Dickinson. New England will play District 13 third seed Beulah at 4:30 p.m.

Weinreis said the Buccaneers can't dwell on the win for too long, knowing full well a bigger challenge awaits them next week.

"We just have to go into regionals strong," she said.

NE 11 22 38 51

Beach 20 37 47 68

NE: Jordyn Bender 19, Amanda Olheiser 9, Shari Hewson 8, Steph Herberholz 6, Megan Neprash 5, Jasmine Jung 4.

B: Abby Weinreis 18, Emily Hardy 17, Brittney Dietz 12, Kayla Dolyniuk 10, Jill Rising 6, Teal Waldal 2, RaeAnn Schulte 2.

3-pointers: Dolyniuk 2, Bender 2, Weinreis 1, Waldal 1. Free throws: NE 13-23, B 18-27. Total fouls: NE 18, B 22. Fouled out: Hewson. Rebounds: NE 28 (Hewson 11), B 38 (Hardy 6). Assists: NE 10 (Bender 4), B 21 (Weinreis 8). Steals: NE 11 (Bender 5), B 12 (two with 4). Blocks: NE 1 (Hewson), B 1 (Hardy). Turnovers: NE 19, B 19.

Cougars 49, Miners 44

Ashlynn Evoniuk hit a 3-pointer to give Heart River its first lead of the game at 42-41 with less than 2 minutes to play and the seventh-seeded Cougars held on from there to upset fourth-seeded Scranton.

Candice Buckman had 11 points, 13 rebounds and six assists for the Cougars (6-15). Shea Shypkoski added 11 points. Evoniuk finished with just seven points.

Buckman hit a 3-pointer as time expired in the second quarter to trim Scranton's halftime lead to 24-22 and the game was close from there.

Jessica Ehlers scored 15 points and had eight rebounds for the Miners, who ended their season at 13-8.

Hettinger 11 22 28 32

BC 3 14 20 36

H: Gwen Kristy 16, Cloe Kilwein 6, Alix Pearson 3, Jade Yates 3, Samantha Kristy 2, Tess Kilwein 2.

BC: Jenna Olsen 16, Allison Hanson 10, Megan Naico 6, Keisha Sparks 2.

3-pointers: Hanson 1, Yates 1. Free throws: H 5-7, BC 17-25. Total fouls: H 22, BC 14. Fouled out: Olivia Duletski, G. Kristy, Yates. Rebounds: H 24 (Pearson 9), BC 36 (Olsen 10). Assists: H 11 (Yates 6), BC 3 (three with 1). Steals: H 6 (C. Kilwein 4), BC 11 (two with 5). Blocks: H 4 (Hanson 2), BC 2 (two with 1). Turnovers: H 20, BC 19.

Bulldogs 36, Black Devils 32

Bowman County had to make a fourth-quarter comeback in order to get into the regional tournament.

After trailing for nearly all of the first three quarters, the Bulldogs (14-8) outscored Hettinger 16-4 in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.

Jenna Olson had 16 points, 10 rebounds and five steals to lead the Bulldogs while Allison Hanson had 10 points, seven rebounds and five steals.

Gwen Kristy had a team-high 16 points to lead the Black Devils, who ended their season at 11-8.

Scranton 11 24 36 44

Heart River 6 22 33 49

S: Jessica Ehlers 15, Chaundra Wolf 7, Megan Case 6, Mallorie Pierce 5, Caitlin Layden 5, Taylor Kelner 4, Shelby Burns 2.

HR: Candice Buckman 11, Shea Shypkoski 11, Laura Steffan 8, Ashlynn Evoniuk 7, Loren Baranko 6, Alicia Palaniuk 4, Hannah Rodne 2.

3-pointers: Buckman 1, Evoniuk 1, Steffan 1. Free throws: S 10-22, HR 6-14. Total fouls: S 17, HR 18. Fouled out: Wolf, Shypkoski. Rebounds: S 32 (Ehlers 8), HR 46 (Buckman 13). Assists: S 13 (Pierce 5), HR 14 (Buckman 6). Steals: S 11 (Ehlers 4) , HR 8 (three with 2). Blocks: S 2 (two with 1), HR 3 (three with 1). Turnovers: S 14, HR 25.