Demons sweep Jays

The Bismarck High girls cooled off the Blue Jays Saturday night in a showdown between two of the top teams in the state.

The Demons completed the sweep in the boys’ game, despite another solid outing on the road by the Jay against another top team from the West.

Bismarck 67, Jamestown 55

The third-ranked Demons held off a second-half run by the No. 4 Blue Jays and slowly pulled away, snapping Jamestown’s eight-game winning streak. It was the first loss for the Jays since Dec. 12.

The streak did not go down easily, after a ragged first half, the Blue Jays rode senior Kristi Meikle’s hot hand in the second half.

Meikle scored all 21 of her points in the final 18 minutes after sitting nearly the entire opening half with two early fouls.

A deep three by Meikle brought the Blue Jays to within one at 38-39 after they trailed by as many as 11 (29-18) early in the second half. On the ensuing JHS possession, Meikle scored and was fouled. She buried the free throw to level it at 41-all with seven minutes and change still to play.

The Demons got a three from senior standout Sarah Feeney on their next possession, starting a 15-4 run that put the game out of reach. Carlie Buechler, another senior, knocked down a three-pointer three minutes later that pushed the lead up to 11 at 56-45.

Feeney was one of four Bismarck (8-1 West Region, 9-3) players in double figures with 17 points. They were led by senior Kelsey Sigl, who scored 18 points and had six rebounds.

Meikle’s 21 led the Blue Jays, who lost just their second region game (6-2) and first on the road. Amber Ramlo poured in 18 for the Jays, 10 coming before halftime. The Blue Jays started slow, trailing 13-4 early. They scored nine straight points to get even at 13-13, but scored just five more points the rest of the half.

Blue Jay star Morgan Dale had a rare off night with just five points. She did have team-highs in rebounds (6) and assists (6).

Bismarck 70, Jamestown 67

It was another tough road loss against a strong West team for the JHS boys.

The Blue Jays rallied out of an 11-point second-half deficit and had a chance to tie on the game’s last shot, but came up just short after a similar loss to Mandan on Tuesday.

Down 44-33 early in the second half, the Blue Jays chipped away with their second straight strong second half.

Still trailing 51-43, the Jays put together a 10-4 run, capped by Andrew Peterson’s three to make it a 2-point game at 57-55 with five minutes remaining.

They completed the comeback less than three minutes later when Peterson buried a jumper that tied it at 62-62 with 2:19 left in the regulation.

The Demons (6-3, 7-5) scored the next five points to go up 67-62, but the Blue Jays answered again, getting a bucket from Tim Smith and two free throws from Andrew Koehn to make it 67-66 with 30 seconds left.

Two free throws by Jake Miller and one by Peterson made it 69-67 Bismarck. Nick Joliffe made one of two at the stripe to make it 70-67 with 11 seconds left. The Blue Jays had one last chance to tie it, but Smith’s three was off the mark as time expired.

Peterson, Jordan Piatz and Smith were all in double figures for the Blue Jays with 19, 16 and 11, respectively. They started fast, taking an early 13-7 lead, highlighted by a pair of threes from Piatz and Andrew Koehn.

Bismarck rallied with an 11-0 late in the half and bumped the lead up to 10 (31-21), but a three at the horn from Piatz brought the Jays (2-6, 5-6) back within 36-31 at the break.

Brian Sinner added eight for the Jays, Koehn seven and Brett Sinner six.

The Blue Jays have a week off before Turtle Mountain comes to town on Saturday night.

Girls

Bismarck 67, Jamestown 55

Jamestown 18 37 — 55

Bismarck 24 43 — 67

Jamestown — Amber Ramlo 18, Morgan Dale 5, Kristi Meikle 21, Kara Wahl 5, Brooke Winson 6. Totals: 23-51 FG, Three-pointers: 5-16 (Meikle 4, Winson 1), 4-6 FT, 29 Rebounds (Dale 6), 24 Turnovers.

Bismarck — Liz Assel 10, Abby Hruby 8, Carlie Buechler 14, Sarah Feeney 17, Kelsey Sigl 18. Totals: 22-48 FG, Three-pointers: 5-9 (Feeney 2, Buechler 2, L.Assel), 18-21 FT, 27 Rebounds (Sigl 6), 17 Turnovers.

Records: Bismarck 8-1 West Region, 9-3 overall; Jamestown 6-2 West Region, 8-3 overall.

Boys

Bismarck 70, Jamestown 67

Jamestown 31 36 — 67

Bismarck 36 34 — 70

Jamestown — Andrew Peterson 19, Jordan Piatz 16, Tim Smith 11, Brian Sinner 8, Brett Sinner 6, Andrew Koehn 7. 25 FG, Three-pointers: Piatz 3, Peterson 2, Koehn 2, 12-17 FT, 11 Turnovers.

Bismarck — Austin Gunderson 4, Nick Joliffe 8, Jake Miller 9, Esley Thorton 17, Jordan Pintar 3, Caley Fox 7, Jalen Finley 14, Dexter Werner 6. Totals: 29 FG, Three-pointers: Finley 2, Miller, Pintar, 8-13 FT, 16 Turnovers.

Records: Bismarck 7-5 overall, 6-3 West Region; Jamestown 2-6 West Region, 5-6 overall.

Sun sports writer Dave Selvig can be reached at (701) 952-8460 or by e-mail at daves@jamestownsun.com

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