Imperials hang tough

Talk about it

The No. 3-ranked Napoleon Imperials had already defeated Carrington once this season, so the Imperials should have had no problem scooting past Carrington’s JV team at the Jamestown Civic Center on Saturday.

Well, not so fast.

The Cardinals were right in the thick of Saturday’s semifinal game of the Stutsman County Girls Basketball Tournament vs. the Imperials, until a 10-0 run by Napoleon to close out the opening half gave the Imperials the confidence they needed to finish the second half strong.

Napoleon led 32-22 at the break and coasted to a 60-46 victory, earning a rematch with Midkota in tonight’s championship game at 7:30.

“I knew they were going to be a good team. They’ve got some good varsity players on this JV team in (Kayla) Hochhalter and (Jacey) Engelhorn,” Napoleon coach Darcy Lehr said. “We had played them earlier this year and we knew they were good players. We knew we were going to have a battle tonight, I’m just glad we were able to make a run there to get that distance in the second half.

“We’re a team that looks to make runs like that with our pressure.”

Napoleon defeated Carrington’s varsity squad 61-50 back on Dec. 20 in Napoleon. Engelhorn, a 5-foot-7 junior, led the Cardinals in scoring that evening with 14 points.

Hochhalter opened the game’s scoring with a 3-pointer and scored 7 of her 14 points in the opening frame. The Cards knocked the Imperials on their heels a bit early, taking a quick 7-2 advantage after tipoff.

Tied 13-13 to start the second, and later tied at 22-22, 3-pointers by Napoleon’s Brianna Wolf and Kendra Weigel bookended a 10-0 run by the Imperials to close out the half. The run came, however, with Hochhalter on the bench, as the 5-10 junior picked up her second foul just 36 seconds into the second and sat the remainder of the half.

All-state performer Sheridon Dewald scored 12 of her game-high 20 points in the first half. She finished with a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds.

Dewald also went 6-for-6 at the free-throw line, helping the Imperials go a perfect 18 of 18 from the stripe in the game.

“Sheridon always finds a way to get her points,” Lehr said. “She’s very good at finishing around the basket, and on offense she really looks to assert herself.”

Carrington hit just 3 field goals in the third period, but they were all 3-pointers to cut the lead to 7 points (40-33) after three quarters. Engelhorn hit 2 of those treys and finished scoring 17.

But 10 unanswered points by the Imperials to start the final 8 minutes of play — highlighted by another Weigel 3-pointer — made sure Napoleon stayed perfect on the season at 6-0. Weigel finished with 11 points, 7 assists and 7 steals.

The two teams combined for 64 turnovers in the game. The Imperials committed 29 of those, which is something Lehr said can’t happen tonight against the Mustangs.

“We’re just going to try to play our game. Try to get fast breaks going, try to put good pressure on with that and hopefully turn the ball over less,” Lehr said. “That’s the big one. We’re a ranked team, so we’ve got to be ready to take everyone’s best shot.”

P-B-K 43, E-K/M 40

In a game that lacked spectacular shooting, P-B-K junior guard Morgan Thomas went a perfect 3-for-3 from 3-point range to help the red and black Rebels edge the black and yellow Rebels by three points in the first consolation game of the day.

P-B-K erased a 26-22 halftime deficit with a 6-0 run to start the second half, capped by a Shantel Albrecht jumper just 1 minute, 5 seconds into the third. Thomas later sank one of her three treys to tie the game at 34-34, which helped P-B-K take a 35-34 lead into the final 8 minutes of play.

Tied at 40 with just under 3 minutes in regulation, Thomas drilled one of two bonus attempts at the free-throw line to put P-B-K up for good. Critical turnovers by E-K/M in the final minute torpedoed their chances of winning.

Thomas paced P-B-K with 12 points, while her teammate Amanda Beckley scored 11. E-K/M was led by Kelsey Feist’s 12 points.

S. Border 55, C. Prairie 51

The Firebirds were unable to contain the 1-2 punch of junior Mustangs Kalli Scherbenske and Madison Schnabel in consolation game No. 2.

Scherbenske, a guard, found success all over the court, racking up 22 points, 10 rebounds and 7 steals, all game highs. Scherbenske’s effort was complemented with 15 points by the 5-foot-10 Schnabel.

Central Prairie was in command early, after a 3-pointer by junior guard Courtney Heupel helped to put the Firebirds out front 14-12 after period No. 1. But a 12-6 run by the Mustangs down the stretch in the second period put South Border ahead by one point, 26-25 at the break.

Scherbenske scored 6 of those 12 points during the Mustangs’ run and scored 15 of her 22 in the first 16 minutes of play.

South Border led 44-30 after three, but the Firebirds closed the gap late to trail by just 3 points at 54-51 with 30 seconds remaining in the game.

The Firebirds, however, were held off the scoreboard from there on out, as a Scherbenske foul shot gave the Mustangs all the cushion they’d need to win their second game of the season.

Central Prairie was led by Jordan Spitzer with 15 points and Madison Moldenhauer with 10.

Stutsman County Tournament

At Jamestown Civic Center

Saturday’s consolation round

No. 4 Pingree-Buchanan-Kensal 43,

No. 8 Edgeley-Kulm/Montpelier 40

E-K/M 9 26 34 40

P-B-K 10 22 35 43

E-K/M — Kelsey Feist 12, Olivia Anderson 8, Johanna Long 7, Mikaela Long 4, Hallie Anderson 4, Kelly Susa 4, Ashley Boom 1. Totals: 14-35 FG, 12-19 FT, 29 rebounds (H. Anderson 9), 20 fouls (O. Anderson), 13 assists (M. Long 4, H. Anderson 4), 25 turnovers, 8 blocks (O. Anderson 4), 14 steals (Feist 6). Three-pointers: (0-7).

P-B-K — Morgan Thomas 12, Amanda Beckley 11, Shantel Albrecht 9, Callie Neys 5, Jordan Thomas 3, Samantha Schmoker 2, Jenna Van Ray 1. Totals: 14-52 FG, 12-23 FT, 38 rebounds (Albrecht 9, Thomas 8), 20 fouls, 12 assists (Neys 3), 17 turnovers, 1 block (Albrecht), 14 steals (Thomas 4). Three-pointers: (3-4) Thomas 3.

Records: P-B-K 3-4; E-K/M 1-8.

No. 6 South Border 55,

No. 7 Central Prairie 51

South Border 12 26 44 55

Central Prairie 14 25 30 51

South Border — Kalli Scherbenske 22, Madison Schnabel 15, Morgan Schnabel 6, Raechelle Salzer 4, Olivia Weber 4, Blaire Schnabel 4. Totals: 26-54 FG, 3-11 FT, 32 rebounds (Weber 7), 19 fouls (Brooke Buchholz), 20 assists (Scherbenske 10), 18 turnovers, 4 blocks (4 with 1), 12 steals (Scherbenske 7). Three-pointers: (0-2).

Central Prairie — Jordan Spitzer 15, Madison Moldenhauer 10, Noelle Moser 8, Courtney Heupel 6, Jaycee Moldenhauer 4, Brooke Krapp 4, Lauren Moser 4. Totals: 18-45 FG, 13-18 FT, 31 rebounds (Moser 8), 14 fouls, 12 assists (Moser 4), 20 turnovers, 3 blocks (3 with 1), 8 steals (J. Moldenhauer 3). Three-pointers: (2-11) Heupel 1, Spitzer 1.

Records: South Border 2-4; Central Prairie 1-4.

Saturday’s semifinal

No. 1 Napoleon 60, No. 5 Carrington JV 46

Carrington JV 13 22 33 46

Napoleon 13 32 40 60

Carrington JV — Jacey Engelhorn 17, Kayla Hochhalter 14, Brooke Rosenau 13, Madison Wendel 2. Totals: 16-49 FG, 7-9 FT, 32 rebounds (Wendel 12), 22 Fouls (Hochhalter, Wendel), 13 assists (Lynzee Hagemeister 4), 35 turnovers, 6 blocks (Wendel 3), 11 steals (Engelhorn 3). Three-pointers: (7-20).

Napoleon — Sheridon Dewald 20, Mariah Jangula 16, Kendra Weigel 11, Brianna Wolf 5, Mikayla Young 3, Brenna Schmidt 3, Shania Gross 2. Totals: 19-59 FG, 18-18 FT, 43 rebounds (Dewald 11), 16 fouls (Gross), 16 assists (Weigel 7), 29 turnovers, 20 steals (Weigel 7). Three-pointers: (4-12) Weigel 3, Wolf 1.

Records: Napoleon 6-0.

Sun sports writer Michael Savaloja can be reached at (701) 952-8461 or by email at msavaloja@jamestownsun.com

Tags: sports, basketball