JHS girls take opener, boys fall

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Victory No. 10 in a row didn’t exactly come easy for the No. 4-ranked Blue Jay girls basketball team in Bismarck on Thursday night.

But as they say, a win is a win.

After watching a 19-point lead completely evaporate in the second half against Bismarck St. Mary’s, the Jays dug in and held on to defeat the Saints 74-66 in the opening round of the West Region tournament inside the Bismarck Civic Center Exhibit Hall.

Jamestown advances to today’s semifinals, where they’ll face third-seeded Bismarck at 3:45 p.m. on the Bismarck Civic Center’s main floor. A win will lock the Blue Jays into next weekend’s state Class A tournament, which starts on Thursday in Bismarck.

The Blue Jay boys will be playing to keep their season alive today in loser-out play of the boys West Region tourney. The No. 8-seeded Jays fell to No. 1-seeded and No. 3-ranked St. Mary’s 56-37, and they’ll face No. 4-seeded Bismarck at 1 p.m.

JHS 74, St. Mary’s 66

With the second half just underway and the Blue Jays leading 39-20 — the largest lead either team would have in the game — it appeared as if win No. 3 over Bismarck St. Mary’s on the season was signed, sealed and delivered for the Jays.

But a remarkable comeback by the 5-win Saints changed all that. St. Mary’s used a 24-6 run to open the second 18 minutes and clawed all the way back from a 17-point halftime deficit (37-20) to take a 44-43 lead with 10 minutes left in the game.

Jamestown somehow, however, avoided the knockout blow.

Trailing the Saints 49-47, the Blue Jays’ Erin Mullowney stepped up and drilled a huge 3-pointer — her only three points of the game — which kicked off nine straight by Jamestown. Senior guard Kyra Dewald scored four in a row, and a put back by the Jays’ Billie Buchanan helped Jamestown rebuild a 56-49 advantage with six minutes to go.

The Saints would cut the score back down to two at 60-58. But Jamestown senior McKayla Orr would end all hope for St. Mary’s with six unanswered points, putting the Jays ahead for good at 66-58 with under two minutes to play.

Dewald, the state’s leading scorer, drilled three 3-pointers in the game and ended the night with a game-high 23 points. Junior Paige Peterson lived up to her double-double season average with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

Peterson posted a fine performance in the first half, scoring 15 of her 20 to help the Jays lead by 17 at the break. A total of eight of her 11 rebounds were on the offensive glass.

The Blue Jays didn’t get off to the quickest of starts, falling behind 7-0 to start the game. But an 11-2 Blue Jay run shortly thereafter changed all that and was the precursor to Jamestown’s dominant first half, where they forced the Saints into 12 of their 23 turnovers and held them under 30 percent from the field (8-of-27).

Orr also had a very solid game offensively, scoring 19 points. The Jays shot 45 percent from the floor, converting 25 of 56 shot attempts.

Sydney Miller (15 points), Rachel Power (13) and Dominique Giesen (13) led the Saints’ attack.

The Blue Jays have two wins over Bismarck this season, both coming during their 10-game winning streak.

St. Mary’s 56, JHS 37

Jamestown found itself in a 43-6 hole at the half, and a comeback wasn’t in the cards as they’d fall by 19 points after limiting the Saints to just 13 points over the second 18 minutes.

Darius Sparks drilled five 3-pointers and scored a game-high 22 points, helping the No. 3-ranked Saints to their ninth consecutive win. The Saints outrebounded the Jays 41-39, and committed eight fewer turnovers (22-14).

Jamestown’s Landon Weiser scored 11 points, while Austin Remmick connected from long range three times to finish with nine points for the Jays.

Jamestown (3-18) hasn’t caught many breaks all season and Thursday was no different. No. 5-seeded Mandan defeated No. 4-seeded Bismarck 56-54, which means the Jays will need to get by Bismarck today at 1 p.m. to keep their season alive.

Bismarck (12-7) has defeated the Jays twice this season, 52-23 and 80-37.

West Region Class A Basketball Tournament

At Bismarck

Boys

Bismarck St. Mary’s 56, Jamestown 37

Jamestown 6 31 — 37

St. Mary’s 43 13 — 56

Jamestown — Landon Weiser 11, Austin Remmick 9, Lucas Keller 4, Logan Anderson 4, Phil Manley 3, Nelson Scott 3, David Hanson 2, Alex McInnes 1. Totals: 12-44 FG, 9-14 FT, 7 steals (Hanson 2), 8 assists (McInnes 2, Keller 2), 2 blocks (Anderson 1, Nick Fuchs 1), 29 rebounds (Anderson 6), 22 turnovers, 14 fouls. 3-pointers: Remmick 3, Weiser 1.

St. Mary’s — Darius Sparks 22, Scott Nagel 10, Ben Weisbeck 7, Brian Obritsch 6, Trent Bohan 6, Grant Dvorak 3, Dan Neff 2. Totals: 20-61 FG, 10-15 FT, 19 steals (Bohan 6), 14 assists (Sparks 3, Bohan 3), 3 blocks (3 with 1), 41 rebounds (Nagel 13), 14 turnovers, 17 fouls. 3-pointers: Sparks 5, Dvorak 1.

Records: St. Mary’s 17-2; Jamestown 3-18.

Girls

Jamestown 74, St. Mary’s 66

St. Mary’s 20 46 — 66

Jamestown 37 37 — 74

St. Mary’s — Sydney Miller 15, Rachel Power 13, Dominique Giesen 13, Megan Hixson 9, Taylor Gendreau 8, Katelyn Schaffner 8. Totals: 23-52 FG, 14-22 FT, 37 rebounds (Schaffner 6), 25 fouls (Gendreau, Power), 8 assists (Power 3), 23 turnovers. 3-pointers: (6-18) Power 3, Miller 2, Hixson 1.

Jamestown — Kyra Dewald 23, Paige Peterson 20, McKayla Orr 19, Billie Buchanan 5, Erin Mullowney 3, Addie Eamon 2, Rebekah Horgan 1, Miah Dabill 1. Totals: 25-56 FG, 20-33 FT, 34 rebounds (Peterson 11), 18 fouls, 8 assists (3 with 2), 16 turnovers.

Records: Jamestown 16-4; St. Mary’s 5-14.

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

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