BISMARCK -- The Dickinson High girls basketball team didn't have enough gas in its tank to stop Jamestown senior Morgan Dale on Thursday.
Dale, a 5-foot-11 senior, poured in 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as third-ranked, third-seeded Jamestown held the Midgets' offense to a season low in a 51-25 triumph in the quarterfinals of the West Region Tournament at the Bismarck Civic Center.
Jamestown (14-5) meets Bismarck Century at 2:45 MST today in the semifinals while the Midgets (9-11) take on Minot in a loser-out game at 5:15 p.m.
Dale had 13 of her points in the second half and also scored the first seven of her team's points in the game.
"This time of year, she seems to step up," Jamestown coach Scott Botner said of Dale.
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With 9 minutes, 33 seconds remaining in the game, Dickinson junior Ashley Krieg made a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to nine points.
On the ensuing possession, Dale drilled her second 3-pointer from the left corner to give the Blue Jays a permanent double-digit lead. The trey sparked a 16-0 run and shut the door on any Dickinson hopes to make it a competitive game.
"Those were two daggers," Dickinson coach Greg Jung said of Dale's treys. "Once they got those, that gave them momentum."
Dickinson managed just three total points in the final 9:33 and Jung said Jamestown's defense was the best he has seen all year.
"That's as good as defense as I've seen in a long time," Jung said. "As the game wore on, I thought we'd get more in a flow, but it never materialized. We just weren't in attack mode."
A big part of that was a Jamestown defense that held the Midgets to just 11 points in the first half.
"Our defense was tremendous," Botner said. "That's as well as we've played all year. Everything was clicking."
Jamestown held a 41-24 edge in rebounding and held Dickinson to 13 percent shooting (4-for-31) in the second half. The Midgets finished 19 percent for the game and were led in scoring by Jess Herauf's 10 points.
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"I can't say enough about their defense," Jung said. "Obviously, we're disappointed. We hope we got our bad shooting game out of the way."
Jamestown senior Amber Ramlo also finished in double figures with 12 points. She added five rebounds.
Botner praised Dale's 3-point shooting as a big factor in the win.
"Morgan hitting those 3s was huge," Botner said. "That's something we need the rest of the way."
D: Jess Herauf 10, Kaitlin Ridl 5, Brigette Uttech 4, Brie Lynch 3, Ashley Krieg 2, Justin Braunagel 1.
J: Morgan Dale 20, Amber Ramlo 12, Kara Nygaard 6, Brooke Winston 5, Samantha Giesler 3, Kristi Meikle 3, Jenae Dabill 2.
Halftime: Jamestown 23, Dickinson 11. 3-pointers: Ridl, Lynch, Dale 2, Giesler, Winston. Free throws: D 5-13, J 11-17. Total fouls: D 16, J 13. Rebounds: D 24 (Uttech 4), J 41 (Dale 12). Assists: D 6 (Uttech 3), J 11 (Kara Wahl 3). Steals: D 7 (Ridl 2), J 13 (Meilke 4). Blocks: D 2 (Uttech, Braunagel), J 0. Turnovers: D 19, J 18.
