Blue Jay girls heading to state, boys lose in 2OT

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Both Jamestown basketball teams played well enough to qualify for state, but only one will be making the trip.

The Blue Jay girls hit their free throws down the stretch to hold off the charging Mandan Bravettes 44-39 on Saturday in a state-qualifying game at the West Region tournament at the Bismarck Civic Center in Bismarck.

The Jamestown boys held strong through two overtimes but the Mandan Braves were able to escape with an 85-84 victory to keep the Blue Jay boys from joining the Jamestown girls in the state tournament.

The Blue Jay girls will open the state tournament – their 11th appearance – on Thursday at 1 p.m. in Fargo, while the boys concluded their season 10-12.

Girls

Jamestown 44, Mandan 39

There’s a reason team’s stress free-throw shooting all season long.

With a trip to the state tournament on the line the Jamestown girls’ basketball team went 7 of 8 from the stripe in the final 2 minutes, 45 seconds to punch their ticket to the state Class A tournament in Fargo.

Jamestown sophomore Kyra Dewald hit 3 of 4 from the line in the final 35.8 seconds to lift the Blue Jays to a 44-39 victory to qualify for their first state tournament since 2009.

Dewald, who finished with a team-high 11 points, helped the Blue Jays (11-11) jump out to a 31-14 lead when she hit a jumper with 14:45 to go, but the top-seeded Bravettes didn’t go away.

Mic Longtin, who led the team with 15.0 points per game this season, hit a floater a minute later to spark a 17-6 run to pull the Bravettes (15-7) to within two points (37-35) with just over three minutes to go.

Longtin, who finished with a game-high 12 points, scored 10 points in that run, including a triple with 4:10 to play to make it 37-32.

Melissa McMillan and Nike Schmitz combined to go 4 of 4 from the line with under three minutes to play to give the Blue Jays a four-point spread and Dewald closed it out to seal the victory. Schmitz, who grabbed a crucial defensive rebound with 10 seconds to go, finished with 10 points and McMillan ended the game with nine.

Jamestown dominated Mandan in the final 13 minutes of the first half, outscoring the top-seeded Mandan Bravettes 24-6 as the Blue Jays took a 27-14 lead into the break.

The Blue Jays, who outrebounded the Bravettes 22-11 in the first 18 minutes, used a 10-0 run to bury Mandan into an 11-point hole highlighted by a three from Melissa McMillan with 7:10 to go.

Kayla Thoele, after Jamestown trailed 8-3 in the first five minutes, hit a wide open layup from Shelby Eamon with 13:32 to go in the first to spark an 8-0 run capped off by a steal and lay in by Jade Lind at the 9:56 mark.

Schmitz led the Blue Jays in the first half with eight points, including a pair of free throws with 34.7 seconds to go in the half to put the Blue Jays up 13 going into the half.

Mandan’s Steph Pederson, who averaged 13.8 points per game, led the Bravettes with five points in the first half but she also had four fouls.

The senior guard played four minutes in the second half but almost immediately after knocking down two free throws, using an unorthodox one-handed shot, she fouled out with 14 minutes to go in the game.

Boys

Mandan 85, Jamestown 84 2OT

After going to overtime back on Dec. 10, it was only fitting for Jamestown and Mandan do it once again to decide which team was going to the state Class A boys’ basketball tournament.

But this time, one overtime wasn’t enough.

The Blue Jays and Braves, after ending regulation tied 65-65, were deadlocked at 75-all after the first overtime, but Mandan’s Devin Coyle scored five points the second OT to lift the Braves to an 85-84 victory to earn a spot in the state tournament.

Coyle, who finished with 38 points, hit eight three-pointers, including one with 2:25 to go in the second overtime to put Mandan up 80-77.

Zinke, who finished with 13 points, polished off a big three-point play with 45 seconds to go to put Mandan up 83-79 and Jamestown could never recover.

Danny Fischer led the Blue Jays with 25 points but was held scoreless in the final overtime session until he hit a three as time expired to pull the Blue Jays to with one point.

The Blue Jays held an 11-point lead at the half but Coyle hit a three right out of the gates in the second half to lead a 15-6 charge and pull the Braves to within two points (40-38).

Jamestown held on to the lead until 8:20 remaining when Coyle dropped in two to give the Braves their first lead (50-49) since the early minutes of the contest.

The Blue Jays surged back an 8-2 run, capped off by a Fischer triple with 6:26 to go, but Coyle, a 5-foot-11 junior, hit two threes and a pair of two-pointers, including one in the final seconds, to send the game into overtime.

Errin Collins, who finished with 13 points, scored eight points in the first overtime, including two triples, while Jordan Thoreson and Arron Benson had three apiece for the Blue Jays to send the game into a second overtime.

Nate Willer, who led the team in blocks and rebounds, hit a two with five seconds to go in the first overtime to knot it up 65-all.

Jamestown’s hot shooting from Friday carried over into the first half of Saturday’s game.

The Blue Jays hit 41.4 percent from the field, including three triples to take a 34-23 lead into the break.

Jordan Thoreson hit a layup and Fischer dropped a fade-away jumper to put Jamestown up 17-12.

The Blue Jays continued to build their lead with the help of their perimeter shooting.

Arron Benson drilled a three with 5:40 to go in the first half and Matt Johnson hit one of his own two minutes later to stretch Jamestown’s lead to 11.

Fischer, who went 5 of 6 from the line in the first half, hit a pair of free throws and Thoreson knocked down a midrange jumper with 50 seconds to go to send the Blue Jays into the break with some momentum.

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