Slow second half does in Dickinson against Blue Jays

Dickinson High raced out to a hot start-a three-pointer by Jayde Lawlar and a running layup by Gabby Jung on the Midgets' first two possessions-but couldn't sustain that upstart momentum for the rest of the game, eventually falling to Jamestown 47-26 Saturday afternoon at DHS gymnasium.

After the Blue Jays went on a mini-run of their own to counter the 5-0 Midgets start, pushing the lead to 13-5 with 6:55 left in the first half, Dickinson kept pace for those final minutes, and closed out the half strong, trailing 18-14.

But once Jamestown inbounded the ball to begin the final 18 minutes, the ball fell more times than not in the Blue Jays favor, who began to move the ball better, and subsequently hit more shots. They nearly doubled their first-half output with eight minutes to go in the game, and outscored the Midgets 29-12 in the second half.

"We did the same thing we did in the first. We didn't make many adjustments, we were only in there for about three minutes," Jamestown head coach Andy Skunberg said. "I just said to the girls, 'We're doing everything we need to do. Shots just aren't falling.' Second half, we forced some turnovers and got some easier shots. ... That was the difference in the game."

For stretches, the Midgets seemed to be making the right passes, taking the right shots and forcing turnovers to create extra possessions. The problem, though, was a fairly simple one. They just couldn't coax those shots into the basket.

"The last few games we've just been struggling to put the ball in the hole. I thought tonight we did a good job of being aggressive and taking it to the rim, but when we got to the line we couldn't make the free throws, either," said Dickinson High head coach James Hayden. "We just have to find ways to score the basketball. Obviously, it was pretty frustrating. First half, I thought we did some good things, forced them into turnovers, just comes back to scoring."

Jamestown shot nearly 37 percent from the floor compared to 23 percent for the Midgets, and had a balanced attack; four scored nine, one scored six and another scored five. They held a 16 to 9 assist advantage.

Lawlar, who netted the first basket of the game, finished with a game-high 10 points for the Midgets. Jung had seven and Peyton Selle scored six. She also had six rebounds to lead the team.

"We just needed to work more as a team and get the offense going better," Lawlar said. "We can play a lot better. It's just the little things-not the making the right pass, not mentally being there. We just need to try to do what we can to play better next time."

Jamestown 47, Dickinson 26

JHS: Megan Gaffaney 9, Courtney Peterson 9, Emily Reiten 9, Genna Bruns 9, Megan Larson 6, Chloe Dunn 5.

DHS: Jayde Lawlar 10, Gabrielle Jung 7, Peyton Selle 6, Jaycee Ludwig 2, Kelsey Privratsky 1.

Halftime: JHS 18, DHS 14. 3-pointers: JHS 5-24 (Bruns 2-5, Reiten 1-3, Gaffaney 1-2, Peterson 1-7, Alyssa Ukestad 0-3, Larson 0-2, Olivia Nahill 0-1), DHS 3-15 (Lawler 2-6, Jung 1-5, Sarah Dobitz 0-1, Lexi Jordheim 0-1, McKenna Weiler 0-1). Free throws: JHS 6-11, DHS 5-13. Total fouls: JHS 18, DHS 13. Rebounds: JHS 41 (Gaffaney 7, Dunn 7), DHS 28 (Selle 6). Assists: JHS 16 (Gaffaney 3), DHS 9 (Jordheim 3). Steals: JHS 13 (Gaffaney 5), DHS 9 (Megan Erickson 2). Blocks: JHS 0, DHS 1 (Jung 1). Turnovers: JHS 26, DHS 29.