KILLDEER - Beulah’s girls basketball team went the better part of 8 minutes - spanning the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth - without scoring Tuesday against New England.
In that time, the Tigers chiseled out a 19-0 run to take an otherwise even game and turn it into a runaway, winning 62-44 in the first round of the Roughrider Tournament at Killdeer High School.
“We had some bad turnovers - throwing the ball away - that we just have to be more mentally focused,” Miners head coach Mary Hoherz said. “For some reason, we just had a stretch where we did not focus in like we should, and that hurts us in scoring, and then we’re playing catch-up.”
New England led 28-25 at halftime and built from there, but Beulah had a short run late in the third to get back within three points at 37-34. The Miners would sit on those 34 points for the rest of that quarter and the first 6:39 of the fourth, all but deciding the game.
“We went into the locker room knowing that we hadn’t been doing the things that we had been practicing,” Tigers head coach Jordyn Bender said. “Down the bench, every girl wanted it. They came out with a great press and our defense led to our offense.”
New England senior Jenna Ehlis led all scorers with 27 points on 13 of 19 shooting. She also had five steals. Senior Hailee Kuske added 16 points for the Tigers.
Beulah’s own press kept the game close in the first half.
“We weren’t handling it well,” Bender said. “Their guards were putting a lot of pressure on ours. We were rushing, and we were just making a lot of mistakes.”
Both teams were guilty of sloppy play in the second half; namely, dribbling to a spot on the floor that couldn’t be dribbled out of. That resulted in countless jump balls and a collective 49 turnovers. For Bender, the team’s first area of focus going forward is rectifying that.
“We just have to be smarter,” she said. “The girls know what they need to do. We need to make sure we’re meeting or coming to help that person because of that pressure. The main thing to fix is everyone needs to want the ball in their hands and be confident with the ball.”
Junior Abrielle Schantz led the Miners with 11 points. Freshman Erin Walcker followed with 10.
The Tigers (1-1) move on to play Killdeer at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Beulah (0-4) will play Hettinger-Scranton on the consolation side of the bracket at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at KHS.
New England 62, Beulah 44
B 8 17 9 10 - 44
NE 14 14 19 15 - 62
B: Elizabeth Walsh 8, Erin Walker 10, Dayton Keltner 1, Emily Alt 6, Abbielle Schantz 11, Hunter Keller 4, Alyssa Bjornson 4
NE: Kassi Lara 5, Paige Ehlis 4, Julia Eineborg 1, Jenna Ehlis 27, Hailee Kuske 16, Elizabeth Kaufman 4, Jordan Kass 5.
3-pointers: B, 2 (Walker 2), NE 2 (Lara 1, Kuske 1). Free throws: B 6-16, NE 6-17. Total fouls: B 16, NE 18. Fouled out: NE, Eineborg 1. Rebounds: B 25 (Schantz 8), NE 29 (P. Ehlis 11). Assists: B 3 (Keltner 2), NE 2 (two tied with 1). Steals: B 14 (Walsh 4), NE 16 (J. Ehlis). Blocks: B 1 (Walker 1), NE 1 (Kass). Turnovers: B 26, NE 23.
