Alex Wolf wasn't about to let his senior season end with another loss to Dickinson Trinity.
The Bowman County senior tipped a Titans' inbounds pass with 11 seconds left with his team ahead by three points, sank a game-clinching free throw and finished with a game-high 21 points to lift the Bulldogs to a thrilling 52-48 win in the championship game of the Region 7 tournament Thursday at the Knights of Columbus Activities Center.
Bowman County trailed by as many as eight points early in the fourth quarter.
"The team realized it was now or never," Wolf said.
The win means Bowman County will be making the trip to the Class B state tournament for the first time in its co-op. Bowman went last in 1981.
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The Bulldogs meet fourth-ranked, Region 5 champion Turtle Lake-Mercer at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Minot State University Dome.
Wolf finished 9 of 11 from the field and had seven points in the fourth quarter.
"He's had some big games for us the past two years," Ballard said. "He was really determined. He played a solid game."
Dickinson Trinity entered the contest with two wins over Bowman County this season. The Titans looked like they were on their way to No. 3 until the Bulldogs used a 6-0 run --sparked by a basket by Wolf -- to draw within two at45-43 with 5 minutes, 2 seconds remaining in the game.
Bowman County junior Brock Boos drove to the lane and scored a layup to get within one after Trinity junior Aaron Grinsteinner hit 1 of 2 from the free throw line. Wolf followed with another bucket, but Trinity junior Austin Fridrich answered with a shot off the glass to put the Titans up 48-47 with 2:44 to go.
Down by one, the Bulldogs scored on a shot in the paint by Wolf, got the ball back and Bowman County junior Tyler Fischer made a put-back, extending the lead to three with 48 seconds left. Fischer finished with 17 points and eight rebounds.
Trinity junior Robbie Morey, who battled foul trouble throughout the game, fouled out with 23 seconds remaining. Morey finished with a team-high 16 points in 23 minutes of action. With the deficit at three, the Titans were without their leading scorer.
The Titans had the ball with 11 seconds to go, but Alex Wolf tipped the inbounds pass and the ensuing struggle led Wolf to the free throw line where he drilled 1 of 2 to put the game away.
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"We had a tough time keeping them off the glass," Trinity coach Gregg Grinsteinner said. "Hats off to Bowman County; that was a great championship game."
The game was a seesaw battle in the first quarter, but Trinity was able to take a five-point lead into halftime. In third quarter, the Titans extended their lead to seven and a 3-point play by Brooks Thorson put Trinity (21-3) up by eight early in the fourth before the Bulldogs (20-5) rallied.
Along with Morey, Grinsteinner (12) and Fridrich (10) were also in double figures. Grinsteinner added 10 rebounds.
"It was a cleanly played game," Gregg Grinsteinner said. "Bowman County will represent the region very well."
BC 12 21 33 52
DT 13 26 40 48
BC: Alex Wolf 21, Tyler Fischer 17, Kenzie Robertson 6, Brock Boos 4, Tyson Harding 4.
DT: Robbie Morey 16, Aaron Grinsteinner 12, Austin Fridrich 10, Brooks Thorson 8, Erik Arnold 2.
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3-pointers: Morey 2, Thorson, Grinsteinner. Free throws: BC 6-12, DT 4-7. Total fouls: BC 13, DT 13. Fouled out: Morey. Rebounds: BC 20 (Fischer 8), DT 21 (Grinsteinner 10). Assists: BC 16 (Robertson 7), DT 9 (Jordan Selinger 4). Steals: BC 1 (Robertson), DT 5 (Selinger 3). Blocks: BC 3 (Fischer 2), DT 0. Turnovers: BC 9, DT 12.
Third place
Beach 72, Beulah 66
The Buccaneers (16-9) captured third-place honors by outscoring Beulah 24-15 in the fourth quarter.
Beach senior Jake Tescher had a game-high 15 points to lead four players in double figures. Justin Maus finished with 13, Austin Bagley and Nolan Niece each had 11 and Lance Dykins 10 for the Bucs, who shot 48 percent from the field.
Beulah (12-13) was led by Casey Duppong and Logan Kessler, both of whom tallied 14 points. Gabe Goetz and Andrew Just each had 12.
Beulah 16 39 51 66
Beach 17 32 48 72
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Beulah: Logan Kessler 14, Casey Duppong 14, Gabe Goetz 12, Andrew Just 12, Joshua Schank 8, Kasey Schmidt 6.
Beach: Jake Tescher 15, Justin Maus 13, Auston Bagley 11, Nolan Niece 11, Lance Dykins 10, Derek Weinreis 5, Jordan Tescher 4, Mark Goldberg 3.
3-pointers: Kessler 4, Goetz 4, Duppong, J. Tescher, Maus. Free throws: Beulah 3-8, Beach 16-25. Total fouls: Beulah 19, Beach 13. Fouled out: Weinreis. Rebounds: Beulah 39 (Just 11), Beach 26 (J. Tescher 5). Assists: Beulah 17 (Kessler 4), Beach 9 (J. Tescher 3). Steals: Beulah 8 (Duppong 3), Beach 20 (Maus 7). Blocks: Beulah 3 (Just 3), Beach 2 (J. Tescher, Dykins). Turnovers: Beulah 30, Beach 15.
