In the final game of the second round of the Class B Region 7 boys basketball tournament, many had hoped for a close game that did not result in a double-digit deficit finish. With third seeded-Bowman County and sixth-seeded Glen Ullin-Hebron, the matchup was sure to be a good one, and it lived up to the expectations, until the second half.
With the Bulldogs previously defeating the Bearcats 80-64, Glen Ullin played like a team prepared to avenge the loss and battled early on with the Bowman County roster with nine lead changes and six ties. Unfortunately, the Bearcats seemed to have gassed out in the second half as the Bulldogs began to run away with the victory after outscoring Glen Ullin 20-13 in the third and 23-16 to take a 83-71 victory.
Despite the loss, Bearcats Head Coach Greg Pruitt praised his team, and his seniors, on a strong season.
"Just proud of our seniors because if it’s our last game we want to go out leaving everything on the court, and I thought they did that," Pruitt said. "I thought we had a good game plan coming in. We know going into halftime that it’s the tale of two halves, so we've got to keep playing hard and give ourselves a chance. With about three or four minutes left there we gave ourselves a chance."
Bowman County Head Coach Nick Walker gave credit to Glen Ullin for its hard-fought battle throughout the contest, forcing Walker to coach at his best.
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"I thought their kids played very well and very hard, as we knew they would," Walker said. " It was a good ballgame. It was a fun ball game to be a part of."
The two teams were nearly identical in terms of scoring the basketball. Glen Ullin-Hebron scored on 60.5% of its overall shots and 53.8% from the 3-point line. Bowman County went 54.4% overall from the field and 61.1% from the 3-point line.
Bowman County senior Caleb Duffield led the Bulldogs with 20 points with 44% shooting from the field and draining three of his six attempts from the 3-point line. Bohden Duffield came in second with 19 points of his own.
As for Glen Ullin, Damian Gerving led the team with 18 points and six rebounds. Senior Grant Gerving came in second with 17 points and five rebounds.
Pruitt said that even though his team came out on the losing edge, the team followed the game plan that was set up for Bowman County on the defensive end.
"Some of their guys had come off the bench and hit some big shots, and that was our game plan," he said. "We were going to make those guys make shots and they did. Credit to Bowman; they played a good game."
With the victory, Bowman County now advances to Tuesday's semifinal round against second-seeded Trinity. The Titans are currently 2-0 against Bowman County. However, the last time the two teams battled, Bowman County barely lost with a 69-68 score.
"First and foremost, when you play a Coach Grinsteinner team they’re going to play hard," Walker said. "They’re going to be very physical and get on the glass and they’re going to be very patient on offense."
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As for Glen Ullin-Hebron, the team will now be saying farewell to its four seniors in Grant Gerving, Layne Duppong, Ethan Duppong and Zayden Schmalenberger. While the team is sad about losing the seniors, and the season coming to an end, Pruitt is looking forward to seeing what the future holds for Glen Ullin-Hebron basketball.
"We’re excited. Right now it’s about our seniors and letting them have their glory and last minute," he said. "But we’re always excited when you have some nice young players coming up. We’ll leave that for this summer and we’ll get after it."
Glen Ullin-Hebron: 23 19 13 16 - 71
Bowman County: 23 20 20 23 - 83
Glen Ullin-Hebron: Kanyon Unruh 5, Karter Kuhn 0, Layne Duppong 0, Ben Hosman 2, Zayden Schmalenberger 6, Tyus Thomas 7, Jamison Opp 0, Grant Gerving 17, Jaiden Krizan 0, Ethan Duppong 2, Gunnar Remboldt 14, Riley Schneider 0, Landon Schaff 0.
Bowman County: Caleb Duffield 20, Clay Heimer 2, Bishop Duffield 9, Gavin Scott 16, Carson Massey 3, Roman Fossum 0, Brady Senn 14, Aidan Thompson 0, Teigen Marmon 0, Sam Andrews 0, Barrett Walby 0, Grant Kees 0, Bohden Duffield 19, Kyler Paulson 0, Kirklan Meschke 0.
