Demons sweep Blue Jays in Bismarck

The Jamestown boys’ basketball team entered Friday’s match-up with Bismarck with a chance to end their skid at three games — matching their longest losing streak of the season.

Instead, the No. 2-ranked Bismarck Demons blew by the Blue Jays 72-59 to give JHS their longest winless drought of the season.

The Bismarck girls set up the boys to complete the sweep after defeating the Blue Jays 55-42 in the first game of Friday’s doubleheader in Bismarck.

Both Blue Jay teams round out the regular season on the road against Bismarck St. Mary’s on Tuesday.

Boys

Teams typically want to be at their best entering the postseason. The Blue Jay boys, however, are in must-win mode if they want to avoid entering the West Region tournament on their worst losing streak of the season.

Bismarck dealt Jamestown its fourth straight defeat on Friday after the Blue Jays opened the game with a 15-10 lead.

Danny Fischer hit a runner to give the Blue Jays (7-8 West Region, 9-9 overall) a five-point edge early in the first half, but for the remainder of the half it was all Demons.

Dexter Werner and Tyler Clairmont spearheaded a first-half rally that allowed the Demons (14-1 West, 16-2 overall) to take a 37-28 lead into the break.

Werner, who scored 16 in the first half, dropped nine in the second to give him a game-high 25 points to help the Demons extend their winning streak to seven games. Werner also had 11 boards for the double-double.

Clairmont, after scoring 10 in the first 18 minutes, finished with 12 in the game, while Ben Jolliffe had 10.

Danny Fischer led the Blue Jays with 20 points, while Ryan Schlenker had five rebounds.

Girls

The Jamestown girls were hoping for lightning to strike twice, but it wasn’t meant to be this time around.

After rallying from a nine-point halftime deficit to beat the Demons earlier this season, Jamestown was facing a similar test on Friday night.

The Blue Jays began the final 18 minutes of play with an eight-point hole to climb out of, and despite scoring the first eight points to open the half, Bismarck was able to hit the shots down the stretch to hang on to win.

Jamestown (6-9 West, 7-11 overall) never led, but they also never went away until the closing minutes.

Naomi Rust and Mackayla Feeney led the Demons (10-5 West, 11-6 overall) with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Rust hit a bucket to break the 30-all tie and Feeney hit one of her two three-pointers to build Bismarck’s lead to five.

The Blue Jays were topped by Kayla Thoele with 10 points, while Paige Peterson finished with eight points and seven rebounds. Billie Buchanan, who had six points, also had seven boards for Jamestown.

The Blue Jays struggled from the field all night, shooting just 28.1 percent from the field and 7.7 percent from behind the arc.

Girls

Bismarck 55, Jamestown 42

Jamestown 22 20 — 42

Bismarck 30 25 — 55

Jamestown — Mikayla Orr 6, Kyra Dewald 7, Jade Lind 2, Julie Fuchs 3, Paige Peterson 8, Kayla Thoele 10, Billie Buchanan 6. Totals: 16 FG 9-13 FT, Three-pointers: 1 (Fuchs), 41 Rebounds (Buchanan 7, Peterson 7), 6 Assists (Lind 4), 8 Steals (Lind 3), 1 Blocks, 18 Turnovers, 14 Fouls.

Bismarck — Rylee Meier 12, Alek Haugen 2, Mackayla Feeney 12, Keisha Englehardt 9, McKenzie Kiefer 7, Naomi Rust 13. Totals: 20 FG 10-11 FT, Three-pointers: 4 (Feeney 2, Meier, Kiefer), 39 Rebounds (Rust 8), 4 Assists (Feeney 2), 8 Steals (Englehardt 3), 15 Turnovers, 16 Fouls.

Records: Jamestown 6-9 West, 7-11; Bismarck 10-5 West, 11-6.

Boys

Bismarck 72, Jamestown 59

Jamestown 28 31 — 59

Bismarck 37 35 — 72

Jamestown — Danny Fischer 20, Ryan Schlenker 5. Arron Benson 2, Cody Benson 1, Dyllan Anderson 10, Nathan Willer 8, Jordan Thoreson 7, Tyler Krenz 6. Totals: 22 FG, 11-18 FT, Three-pointers: 4 (Fischer 2, Schlenker, Thoreson), 22 Rebounds (Schlenker 5), 8 Assists (Schlenker 3), 5 Steals (Schlenker 2), 1 Block (Schlenker), 12 Turnovers, 16 Fouls.

Bismarck — Tyler Schafer 9, Tyler Unruh 8, Ben Jolliffe 10, Troy Hausauer 2, Josh Siebel 4, Tyler Clairmont 12, Dexter Werner 25, James Iron Eyes 2. Totals: 27 FG, 13-18 FT, Three-pointers: 5 (Werner 2, Unruh, Schafer, Siebel), 37 Rebounds (Werner 11), 7 Assists (Werner 3), 9 Steals (Jollife 3, Werner 3), 4 Blocks (Werner 3), 13 Turnovers, 20 Fouls.

Records: Jamestown 7-8 West, 9-9; 14-1 West, 16-2.

Tags: sports, jays, basketball