DICKINSON — The Dickinson boy’s basketball team are on a three-game winning streak after defeating Williston at home on Tuesday night. Despite losing the lead right before halftime, the Midgets overcame the Coyotes’ strong defensive plays.
“I thought we were a little more aggressive in the second half,” Dickinson’s head coach Dan Glasser said. “I thought we did a better job at being able to take some things on defense away that they were very successful at in the first half. Basically it came down to communication on the court and those guys helping each other out and making each other better.”
Williston (4-14) took the tipoff, but senior forward Isaac Daley would get a quick steal and pass to point guard Alex Dvorak who converted a three-point play.
The Coyotes had a small lead after five minutes with the score at 12-9 and then applied heavy pressure after a tipped ball landed out of bounds with Midgets in possession. Dickinson senior guard Britton Cranston leaped in the air to catch the incoming ball from the baseline and was fouled on his way to the rim. He made his two free throws to once again take the lead 13-12.
Later in the first half, Dvorak executed a four-point play after being fouled on a 3-pointer to make the score 24-18. Dickinson’s last point before the second half was a free throw from sophomore guard Damon Glasser to make it 33-26. The Coyotes would then go on a 7-0 run to tie it up. With only 40 seconds remaining, the traveling team tallied six more points to take a lead at 39-33. Williston had five makes from beyond the arc in the first half.
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The Midgets (10-8, 11-8) re-established their lead after the first eight minutes of the second half at 49-48. It came from a 3-pointer from the corner, made by junior guard Tyrese Annace.
“I walk into the locker room at halftime and we have Alex Dvorak and Britton Cranston up on the board, drawing stuff out and communicating to the team what needs to be done,” Glasser said.
“As a coach, that is all I look for because those guys are the leaders and it is their team and they realize that something was going wrong and they wanted to fix it. For those guys to step up just says so much about their leadership and the skill that they possess not just on the court, but as individuals.”
By the final six minutes, both teams were in bonus and each did their best to take advantage from the foul line. Dickinson went to the line 24 times in the second half alone and shot over 70 percent.
“We try to be very aggressive on offense and that is kind of the key, Getting into the paint, getting to the rim and making them play defense, making sure they play in front of us,” Glasser said. “We have guards that are very quick and very skilled and good with the ball and we just try to take advantage of that.”
The Coyotes stayed close behind on the scoreboard, but would no longer take the lead. Dickinson found their groove with an aggressive style of offense, scoring 39 points in the second half.
Williston was desperate for four points to tie the game, but the Midgets held possession in the final seconds and would see the game out.
Dvorak put up 27 points and created two three-point plays and the one four-point play. Cranston scored 11 with all his shots coming from the free-throw line. Daley also had 11 points and seven rebounds.
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Their next match will be against Minot (15-2, 16-2), the top team in the WDA.
“It is going to come down to communicating, it is going to come down to execution and following the game plan,” Glasser said. “You got a team like Minot that was just ranked No.1 in the state and we have a chance, if we win, to possibly stay out of the play-in games for the WDA tournament. it's our last home game and it's going to mean a lot, so hopefully the boys will be ready to play.”
Box Score
| 1st Half | Second Half | Final | |
| Williston | 39 | 29 | 68 |
| Dickinson | 33 | 39 | 72 |
DICKINSON: Alex Dvorak 27, Britton Cranston, Isaac Daley 11, Damon Glasser 7, Tyrese Annace, Drew Biel 6, Elijah Paulicek 4; WILLISTON: Isiah St. Romain 18, Jayden Smith 15, Malaki Sik 12, Kadin Finders 10, Jayden Williams 9, Jacob Wilt 3, Alex Ewert 1
