P-B-K knocks off Ellendale for District 5 title
The two-time defending District 5 champion Ellendale Cardinals had the Pingree-Buchanan-Kensal Rebels on the ropes, but P-B-K senior guard Kelly Carlson wasn’t about to end her standout career without helping the Rebels earn a title of their own.By: Michael Savaloja, The Jamestown Sun
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The two-time defending District 5 champion Ellendale Cardinals had the Pingree-Buchanan-Kensal Rebels on the ropes, but P-B-K senior guard Kelly Carlson wasn’t about to end her standout career without helping the Rebels earn a title of their own.
After leading by as many as 10 points in the second period, Ellendale had cut the Rebels’ lead to just one midway through the fourth period in the championship game of District 5 girls’ basketball tournament at the Jamestown Civic Center on Monday.
But with 2 minutes, 51 seconds left, Carlson hit the three-pointer of her career to put the Rebels back out front by four (52-49), and they’d hang on from there to upset the No. 1-seeded Cardinals by the final of 62-52.
“It’s unbelievable. This has been our goal all year,” Carlson, the District 5 Senior Player of the Year, said. “We’ve played Ellendale two times already and lost to them, and we just came out and brought it.”
The term “brought it” might have been an understatement. After leading the Cards 26-22 at the half, the Rebels stormed the floor in the third going a perfect 6 of 6 from the field to expand their advantage to 38-30 three minutes in to the quarter. P-B-K shot a blistering 60 percent (15 of 25) in the second half.
“Their shooting percentage was unbelievable tonight. They just didn’t miss anything,” Ellendale coach Matt Herman said. “And, they never let us go on a run. I don’t think they let us have three baskets in a row all night long.
“I’ve just got to give coach (Cory) Mack and his kids credit. They played a whale of a game.”
After trading blows in the first period, Ellendale led 13-10 to start the second. P-B-K’s Morgan Thomas converted a three-point play and scored seven points in the first four minutes of the second to help the Rebels go up by four at the half. The turnovers began to mount for Ellendale in the second as they went into halftime with 12, and they weren’t exactly crisp at the free-throw line either, going 5 of 12 in the frame to leave seven crucial points out on the floor.
Thomas tossed in a game-high 19 points, as the Rebels got contributions from up and down its roster. Carlson finished with 16 points, while junior Amanda Beckley tossed in 15 and pulled down 13 rebounds.
“Everybody that we brought into the game helped to contribute, and that’s just kind of the way the tournament had been going,” Mack said. “Everyone’s been playing so well, and they’re totaling believing in themselves.”
The Rebels led 46-41 after three behind eight of Carlson’s 16 points. But Ellendale was able to muster one last charge in the fourth.
Ellendale sophomore Madilyn Bommersbach knocked in a pair of three-pointers to help cut the deficit to 50-49. But following a nice feed from Thomas to Shantel Albrecht in transition to make it 52-49 Rebels, Carlson’s three-point shot of the tourney followed.
“I don’t shoot much, really. I look to pass it,” Carlson said. “But right then I just thought it was the right time and I put it up and it was in.”
Ellendale, who shot just 16 of 57 from the field for 28 percent, was led by Bommersbach and sophomore Shayna Mertz with 15 points each. Mertz went 7 of 8 from the free-throw line and scored 11 in the second half, while Bommersbach knocked in 14 after the break.
“That was a great game,” Mack said. “Regardless of the outcome. That was just a great-played game.”
Ellendale (15-6) will take on South Border on Monday in the opening round of the Region 3 tournament in Napoleon.
“The sun will come up tomorrow,” Herman said. “I told the girls they played hard. The Rebels just played a little bit better tonight.”
P-B-K’s last district title came back in 2006. They’ll face Kidder County to open the regional.
The Lady Pirates defeated the Rebels 65-52 on Jan. 9.
“We’ve just got to keep bringing it. We can’t let up, because we know Kidder County is tough,” Carlson said. “We played them earlier in the season and they beat us, but we’re a whole different team.”
No. 3 BCN 60, No. 4 L-M-M 30
BCN senior sharpshooter Emily Albrecht didn’t score a point in the first half of Saturday’s 57-51 semifinal loss to the P-B-K Rebels.
She finished with 16 points in that one, after sinking three triples in the fourth period. Bison coach Randy Hooey knew he’d need that type of performance out of Albrecht right from the tip-off during Monday’s Region 3 qualifier vs. Litchville-Marion-Montpelier if the Bison wanted its season to continue.
Albrecht knew it, too.
“We had five goals at the beginning of the game, and No. 1 and No. 2 were to have a fast start,” Albrecht said. “So, I just knew I had to come out and play with intensity and just get it going.”
The 5-foot-8 guard nailed three three-pointers in the first half and scored 13 of her 16 points before the break, helping the Bison roll by 30 in what was the final game to be played by the Rebels of Litchville-Marion-Montpelier.
Albrecht knocked down two treys and scored 10 in the opening eight minutes, as the writing was on the wall early for L-M-M (3-18) as they trailed 21-3 after the first period. The Bison led 34-11 at the half. L-M-M committed 19 of its 25 turnovers in the game in the first 16 minutes and converted just 12 of 45 shots in the game for 27 percent.
The Bison scored 22 points off turnovers by the Rebels.
Albrecht ended the game with nine rebounds, helping the Bison out-board the Rebels 42-35. Senior Sydney Reimers also had a nice game for the Bison, also scoring 16 points and pulling in eight rebounds. Reimers scored eight points in each half.
The Rebels were paced with eight points each by senior Sydney Headland and sophomore Tasha Piehl. Headland also led the team in rebounding (10) in her final game.
BCN (10-12) rolls on to the Region 3 tournament where they’ll face Napoleon on their home court on Monday. Napoleon defeated BCN 70-47 on Feb. 14.
“Our goal is to make it past the first round, because we never have,” Albrecht said. “We just want to go out and play with some heart and just go get it.”
No. 5 LaMoure 48, No. 6 Central Prairie 34
LaMoure senior guard Tyla Aberle came up with what turned out to be the game-changing play with just under five minutes to go in the third period, helping the Loboes get into the Region 3 tournament with a 48-34 victory over the Firebirds.
Aberle picked up a steal, went the distance of the court, scored and was fouled, which changed the complexion of the game dramatically. The successful three-point conversion grew LaMoure’s lead from three points to six (28-22), and it also put Central Prairie junior sparkplug and main ball-handler Jordan Spitzer on the bench with her fourth foul with 4:41 left before the fourth.
“That gave us some big momentum offensively,” LaMoure coach Greg Stemen said. “(Aberle) did a good job and she finished with contact. I didn’t realize it was Spitzer’s fourth foul, so that was big because Spitzer’s a good player for them.”
LaMoure sophomore guard Abby Warcken drained a three-pointer with 17 seconds remaining in the quarter to give LaMoure an eight-point 35-27 advantage at the end of three, and Warcken and LaMoure senior Erika Armitage both connected from long range in the fourth to push LaMoure ahead by double digits.
Spitzer returned in the fourth, where she sank 3 of 5 at the line to end the game with eight points, five rebounds and two steals. But the damage from the third period was too much for the Firebirds to overcome.
“Our coach just said (at halftime) we were getting a lot of offensive rebounds and we needed to go up strong,” Aberle said. “We picked it up a little bit.”
The Loboes led just 23-18 at the half. The Firebirds committed eight of its 15 turnovers in the first half. Neither team shot great, but Central Prairie’s 12 of 50 shots for 24 percent wasn’t enough to get the job done.
“I think Central Prairie’s a well-coached team. They’ve gotten better all year, and it took a really good defensive effort on our part to give ourselves a chance to win,” Stemen said. “We had to be good defensively because we shot 30 percent, which we can do on any given night or worse. But I thought our girls did a really good job defensively.”
Aberle ended the night leading her team with 15 points and four steals. Armitage notched a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards.
Noelle Moser scored 13 to pace the Firebirds, as their season came to a close at 4-17.
LaMoure (8-14) will face District 6 champion Linton-HMB on Monday in the opening round of the Region 3 tourney.
“We just need to come out, play strong defense and keep our heads up,” Aberle said.
Stemen added, “We will certainly go into that tournament with no pressure on us.”
District 5 Girls’ Basketball Tournament
At Jamestown Civic Center
Monday’s Region 3 qualifiers
No. 3 Barnes County North 60, No. 4 Litchville-Marion-Montpelier 30
L-M-M 3 11 21 30
BCN 21 34 46 60
L-M-M — Tasha Piehl 8, Sydney Headland 8, Tanys Ulmer 7, Jacey Alber 4, Samantha Haakenson 2, Brenna Rodin 1. Totals: 12-45 FG, 6-11 FT, 21 Fouls (Rodin 5), 35 Rebounds (Headland 10), 4 Assists (Piehl 2), 25 Turnovers, 1 Block (Headland), 4 Steals (4 with 1). Three-pointers: (0-4).
BCN — Emily Albrecht 16, Sydney Reimers 16, Dacia Eberle 8, Lauren McMillan 7, SaraLi Petersen 6, Jenna Gullickson 5, Kayla Erker 2. Totals: 22-58 FG, 12-22 FT, 14 Fouls, 42 Rebounds (Albrecht 9), 10 Assists (Eberle 3, Petersen 3), 14 Turnovers, 1 Block (McMillan), 13 Steals (Eberle 3, Reimers 3). Three-pointers: (4-9) Albrecht 4.
Records: BCN 10-12; L-M-M 3-18.
No. 5 LaMoure 48, No. 6 Central Prairie 34
LaMoure 13 23 35 48
Central Prairie 6 23 27 34
LaMoure — Tyla Aberle 15, Erika Armitage 12, Abby Warcken 8, Mackenzie Bickford 7, Megan Good 3, Courtney Carlson 2, Talitha Hirschkorn 1. Totals: 17-56 FG, 11-19 FT, 15 Fouls, 42 Rebounds (Armitage 11), 4 Assists (Carlson 2), 11 Turnovers, 5 Steals (Aberle 4). Three-pointers: (3-14) Warcken 2, Armitage.
Central Prairie — Noelle Moser 13, Jordan Spitzer 8, Madi Moldenhauer 6, Courtney Heupel 5. Totals: 12-50 FG, 9-13 FT, 19 Fouls (Spitzer 5), 42 Rebounds (3 with 5), 6 Assists (Allison Ruff 2), 15 Turnovers, 2 Steals (Spitzer 2). Three-pointers: (1-8) Heupel.
Records: LaMoure 8-14; Central Prairie 4-17.
Championship
No. 2 Pingree-Buchanan-Kensal 62, No. 1 Ellendale 52
P-B-K 10 26 46 62
Ellendale 13 22 41 52
P-B-K — Morgan Thomas 19, Kelly 16, Amanda Beckley 15, Shantel Albrecht 8, Jenna Van Ray 2, Shelby Backer 2. Totals: 25-53 FG, 11-17 FT, 21 Fouls (Albrecht 5), 33 Rebounds (Beckley 13), 11 Assists (Thomas 4), 12 Turnovers, 13 Steals (Beckley 5). Three-pointers: (1-3) Carlson.
Ellendale — Madilyn Bommersbach 15, Shayna Mertz 15, Dacey Fuller 7, Mariah Gustafson 7, KaLee Hack 4, Rachel Herman 2, Brianna Vance 2. Totals: 16-57 FG, 15-25 FT, 18 Fouls (Herman 5), 46 Rebounds (3 with 6), 9 Assists (Bommersbach 3), 23 Turnovers, 1 Block (Mertz), 5 steals (5 with 1). Three-pointers: (5-16) Bommersbach 2, Gustafson 2, Fuller.
Records: P-B-K 12-10; Ellendale 15-6.
District 5 awards
All-district team: Emily Albrecht, BCN; Sydney Reimers, BCN; SaraLi Petersen, BCN; Kelly Carlson, P-B-K; Amanda Beckley, P-B-K; Mackenzie Bickford, LaMoure; Noelle Moser, Central Prairie; Shayna Mertz, Ellendale; Brianna Vance, Ellendale; Madilyn Bommersbach, Ellendale; Dacey Fuller, Ellendale; Tasha Piehl, L-M-M.
Senior Player of the Year: Kelly Carlson, P-B-K.
Coach of the Year: Matt Herman, Ellendale.
Sun sports writer Michael Savaloja can be reached at (701) 952-8461 or by email at mikes@jamestownsun.com
Tags: class b, sports, basketball
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