Jays pull away: Top Dickinson 69-59 in home finale

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John M. Steiner / The Sun Top, Jamestown’s Kyra Dewald (3) is defended by Dickinson’s Lillie Meduna during Thursday night’s game at the JHS gym.
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Billie Buchanan looks for room to shoot as Dickinson’s Meduna and Rachel Schroeder go straight up. The Blue Jays defeated the Midgets 69-59.

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Tied at 47 with 8 minutes, 4 seconds remaining in the game, Jamestown’s defense used its midcourt trap to turn up the heat.

The fourth-ranked Blue Jays scored eight of their 11 consecutive points off turnovers and held Dickinson without a field goal for the final 2:37 in a 69-59 West Region win Thursday at the JHS gym.

The victory was meaningless for the West Region tournament, which starts Thursday in Bismarck. Jamestown (13-3 region, 15-4 overall) was already locked into the No. 2 seed, while Dickinson (5-11, 7-12) had clinched the No. 7 seed.

The two teams looked to be pretty even, despite Jamestown leading for most of the game. But when Dickinson’s Sydney Gangl hit her fourth 3-pointer of the game to it at 47, Jamestown kicked it into high gear with help from standout guard Kyra Dewald, who poured in a game-high 27 points to go with nine steals.

“She knows how to guard and get us started,” Jamestown coach Andy Skunberg said. “Then we’ve got Paige (Peterson) with her long arms and if they throw it to the corner, they have to deal with (McKayla) Orr.”

Four steals at half court all led to points with Dewald four points leading the way. The run was coupled with a Miah Dabill 3-pointer from the left corner that put Jamestown up 58-47 with 4:15 remaining.

“Dewald made some plays for them,” Dickinson coach Dan Pender said. “She got some steals and they capitalized. Our kids battled and I’m proud of them.”

Skunberg said it was nice scoring points without having to set up the offense. The Midgets finished with 28 turnovers.

“That was definitely our spark,” he said. “We didn’t even have to run any offense. We just kept trapping.”

Erin Mullowney and Miah Dabill both finished with 10 points, each hitting a pair of 3-pointers for Jamestown, which held a 30-23 lead at halftime.

The Blue Jays led by as many as 12 in the first half at 30-18, but a 3-pointer from Gangl, along with two free throws by Riley Cooper, closed the lead going into halftime.

Offsetting Dewald was Dickinson forward Ali Moody, who dumped in 23 points. Gangl added 18.

Jamestown will meet No. 7 seed Bismarck St. Mary’s in the opening round of regionals, and Skunberg said he’s pleased the way his team is playing heading into the postseason.

“When you get the second seed in a tough WDA, you’ve got to love that,” he said. “Now the season is zero-zero.”

Dickinson 55, JHS 45

Dickinson found the pedal just as Jamestown ran out of gas.

The Midgets stayed aggressive and finished 10-of-14 from the free-throw line in the final 1 minute, 20 seconds despite a fierce rally from the Blue Jays in a 55-45 West Region victory Thursday at the JHS gym.

Jamestown falls into today’s play-in game at Turtle Mountain with a start time set for 7 p.m. The winner takes on Bismarck St. Mary’s in the opening round of the region tournament Thursday in Bismarck.

Jaden Kudrna was the only player in the contest to score in double figures with 19 points, but Dickinson coach John Wilson said it was his bench in the first half that he was most proud of.

“Our bench played the best they have all season,” Wilson said. “They really got us in a rhythm.”

Dickinson had a seemingly comfortable 28-12 lead at halftime, but the Blue Jays came out with a 12-2 run that featured 3-pointers from Ashton Johnson and McKade Kleinknecht.

“I loved our second-half effort,” Jamestown coach Kelley Kessler said. “Our movement was better and our awareness was better. That’s why we were successful.”

Dickinson didn’t score until the 12:47 mark of the second half, when standout Jordan Krieg hit a pair of free throws. And the Midgets didn’t hit their first field goal until Dylan Skabo scored with 9:41 to go in the game.

“(Jamestown) is a better team than when we played them before,” Wilson said. “They got some shots to go, and shooting is a confidence thing. You start to believe and that’s what happened.”

Dickinson, which made only six field goals in the second half, saw its nine-point lead cut to six when Johnson drilled another 3, this time from the top of the key. After Krieg made one field goal, Jamestown’s Landon Weiser hit a pair to get the Blue Jays to within five with 26.7 seconds remaining. Johnson and Ukestad led the Jamestown with eight points apiece.

But time ran out, and Dickinson secured the season sweep with a 5-of-6 effort from the line in the final 22 seconds.

Kessler said the Blue Jays (1-15 region, 2-17 overall) need to forget about the regular season.

“The play-in game is the first playoff game,” he said. “We need to go in fresh. The regular season means absolutely nothing. That’s the attitude we have to take in there.”

Dickinson 55, Jamestown 45

Dickinson 28 55

Jamestown 12 45

Dickinson: Jaden Kudrna 19, Mark Erickson 8, Dylan Skabo 7, Luke Herauf 6, Jordan Krieg 5, Levi Jordheim 4, Matt Becker 4, Alex Huschka 2. Totals 18-48 14-19 55

Jamestown: Tyler Ukestad 8, Ashton Johnson 8, Nick Fuchs 5, Lucas Keller 5, Brandon Wegner 4, David Hanson 4, McKade Kleinknecht 3, Austin Remmick 3, Alex McInnes 2, Landon Weiser 2, Scott Nelson 1. Totals 16-45 7-9 45

3-pointers: D 5-15 (Kudrna 3, Erickson 2), J 6-15 (Johnson 2, Kleinknecht, Keller, Remmick, Ukestad). Rebounds: D 20 (Krieg 9), J 30 (Johnson 6). Assists: D 9 (Skabo 8), J 5 (Johnson 3). Blocks: D 3 (Herauf 2), J 3 (Hanson 2). Steals: D 16 (Kudrna 5, Herauf 4), J 5 (Johnson 3). Fouls: D 13, J 19. Fouled out: D, Krieg. Turnovers: D 17, J 23.

Jamestown 69, Dickinson 59

Dickinson 23 59

Jamestown 30 69

Dickinson: Ali Moody 23, Sydney Gangl 18, Rachel Schroeder 8, Taylor Cooper 5, Riley Cooper 4, Meryl Kovacs 1. Totals 18-47 FG, 19-25 FT.

Jamestown: Kyra Dewald 27, Erin Mullowney 10, Miah Dabill 10, McKayla Orr 7, Billie Buchanan 7, Paige Peterson 6, Rebekah Horgan 2. Totals 24-69 FG, 16-22 FT.

3-pointers: D 4-13 (Gangl 4), J 5-17 (Mullowney 2, Dabill 2, Dewald). Rebounds: D 31 (Moody 11), J 25 (Orr 6). Assists: D 1 (Moody), J 6 (Orr 3). Blocks: 5 (T. Cooper 3), J 0. Steals: D 6 (Moody 2), J 19 (Dewald 9, Orr 5). Fouls: D 20, J 19. Fouled out: D, Gangl, T. Cooper. Turnovers: D 28, J 16.

Sun sportswriter Chris Aarhus can be reached at (701) 952-8462 or by email at caarhus@jamestownsun.com

Tags: sports, jays, basketball