Dickinson Trinity girls basketball coach Alysia Barman said Friday's game against Bottineau looked like a season-opening match and she couldn't have said it any better.
Turnovers, miscommunication and poor shooting hampered both teams, but it was the Titans that came away with a 47-25 win in the Shootout on the Prairie at the Minot Municipal Auditorium.
The teams combined for 25 made field goals and the game's leading scorers - Trinity's Katelyn Grinsteinner and Jillian Stockert - finished with nine points. The Titans finished with more made free throws (11) than the Stars had successful field goals (10).
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Mike Kraft/MDN
Dickinson Trinity’s Alyson Schieno drives past a Bottineau defender during Friday’s game at Minot Municipal Auditorium.
"Our offense starts from our defense," Barman said. "That's really the only way we get going offensively."
Trinity opened the game on a 6-0 run that led to a 14-3 advantage at the end of the first quarter. Bottineau's offensive ineptitude was a combination of Trinity's full-court press and the Stars' inability to handle the basketball in the backcourt.
"It was frustrating," Bottineau coach Joe Bender said. "We practiced hard for the last two weeks and the girls looked good. Four out of five of our starters had never started a game before so I knew there would be some nerves. But they just didn't handle the pressure well."
Although Trinity's defense held Bottineau to 25 points - one point fewer than the Titans' total at halftime - Barman said her team's man-to-man defense needs to improve.
"We definitely broke down with a few of our different defenses," she said. "We have to be able to play man-to-man. I don't think we did a good job of that tonight. We need to be able to defend from one baseline to the other baseline."
Nine different Titans registered at least two points and Trinity never trailed in the contest. The Titans' defense held the Stars scoreless the first half of the third quarter and allowed just six points in the frame, eliminating any hopes Bottineau had at a comeback.
"It was the first game so we got all of our nerves out," Trinity junior guard Rachel Jahner said. "We didn't rebound as well in the first half, but we picked it up and got more aggressive as the game went on."
Stephanie Brendan and Katryna Hahn led the Stars with six points apiece.
"The best thing we can do is have a short memory," Bender said. "We can't dwell on how the game went, what the score was. We just got to look forward to what we need to do to get better and do a better job the next day."
Dickinson Trinity plays Des Lacs-Burlington today at 1 p.m. and Bottineau takes on Thompson at 4:30 p.m. Both games are at the Minot Municipal Auditorium.
Midway-Minto 54, Westhope-Newburg 39
The Midway-Minto defense limited Westhope-Newburg to just five points in the first quarter and 15 in the half in a 54-39 victory Friday at the Minot Municipal Auditorium.
Rachel Olson led the Mustangs with 15 points and Mackenzie Irwin chipped in 14.
M-M led by double-digits the majority of the contest. The Mustangs (1-0) made more free throws (10) than the Sioux (0-1) had field goals (9).
Hadlee Schell had a game-high 19 points for W-N.
The Mustangs play Kenmare today at 6:15 p.m. and the Sioux take on Park River-Fordville-Lankin.
Park River-Fordville-Lankin 54, Kenmare 37
The Park River-Fordville-Lankin girls basketball team jumped out to an early first-quarter lead and never looked back, defeating Kenmare 54-37 in the opening game of the Shootout on the Prairie at the Minot Municipal Auditorium on Friday.
Nine players scored for the Flyers, who led 20-5 after the first quarter and 30-13 at halftime. Whitney Carlson led PR-F-L (1-0) with 12 points and Morgan Porter and Brogan Novak added 11 and 10, respectively.
Kenmare (0-1) struggled shooting the ball, making just 14 field goals and shooting 23 percent (3-13) from the free throw line. Lexie Munson had 13 points to lead the Honkers.
The Flyers forced 29 turnovers and didn't allow Kenmare to score more than 15 points in any quarter.
PR-F-L plays Westhope-Newburg today at 2:45 p.m. and Kenmare plays Midway-Minto at 6:45 p.m. Both games are at the Minot Municipal Auditorium.
New Town 64, Des Lacs-Burlington 36
Gabbie Wilkinson and Jaye Two Bear each had a game-high 14 points for the New Town girls basketball team, who crushed Des Lacs-Burlington 64-36 on Friday at the Minot Municipal Auditorium.
The Eagles shook off a slow start and built a 44-16 lead at the half. New Town made 29 shots and went 13-for-18 from the free throw line.
New Town's defense limited the Lakers to six third-quarter points and the Eagles' deep bench kept DL-B far in their rear-view mirror.
Courtney Vogel led the Lakers with 12 points.
New Town plays Bishop Ryan tonight at 8 and DL-B takes on Dickinson Trinity at 1 p.m. Both games are at the Minot Municipal Auditorium.