Kaitlyn Schimke isn't asked to do a whole lot of scoring, but that doesn't mean she can't step up in big-time spots.
The senior Ellendale guard buried a dagger from 3-point land in overtime against the Carrington Cardinals at the Jamestown Civic Center on Friday. It was only her second field goal during semifinal night of the Stutsman County girls basketball tournament, but Ellendale used it to hold on and defeat the defending tourney champs 44-43 in OT.
Ellendale faces Medina-Pingree-Buchanan in tonight's championship at 6:30.
"It was pretty exciting," Schimke said. "It feels pretty good to be playing in the championship tomorrow night."
The game was tied at 38 at the end of regulation and the see-saw battle was just waiting for a big shot to put the game away. Schimke's 3-ball from the right wing came with just 1 minute, 22 seconds left to play and gave the Cardinals all the cushion they'd need leading 44-40.
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Ellendale's 5-foot-11 standout Isabel Wedell scored a game-high 18 points and pulled in nine rebounds in the victory. Wedell appears to be all-systems-go after a broken leg last December kept her sidelined for a majority of her junior year.
Schimke and Wedell are the only two seniors on Ellendale's roster this year. The southern Cardinals improved to 2-2 with the victory.
"Last year with Isabel going down it really caused a lot of our girls to grow, and it's awesome to see that our other senior leader stepped up and hit a big one for us," Ellendale coach Rachel Land said. "That shot was huge."
Missed shots, especially a few bunnies in the fourth period, doomed Carrington. The northern Cardinals shot under 30 percent in the game, but Carrington coach Andy Braaten said games like the one his team played on Friday are important.
"It was good for both our teams to play in a close game, because that just builds character for the rest of the year," Braaten said. "I liked our kids' character, and we've got a tough one tomorrow again."
The Cardinals fell to 3-1 and will face Edgeley-Kulm-Montpelier today at 5 for third place. Maara Nelson (13 points) and Haley Hewitt (12) each hit double figures in scoring for the Cardinals.
"Hand it to Ellendale," Braaten said. "We know that girl they have in the post there (Wedell) is a pretty good player. But, hey, we held them to 44 points with an overtime.
"That's pretty good 'D' but we've got to knock down some shots."
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"Carrington, you have to give them credit," Land added. "Our girls came to fight."
Land's plan for today's matchup against the Thunder seems fairly simple. M-P-B forced E-K-M into 26 turnovers during its semifinal victory.
"Stay focused," Land said.
Stutsman County Invitational Girls Basketball Tournament
At Jamestown Civic Center
Friday's semifinals
Ellendale 44, Carrington 43 OT
Ellendale 5 21 30 38 44
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Carrington 14 19 28 38 43
Ellendale-Isabel Wedell 18, Alyssa Nishek 10, Brooke Boehm 7, Kaitlyn Schimke 5, Kennedy Schimke 2, Macy Young 2. Totals: 17-42 FG, 3-pointers: 2-7 (Nishek, Schimke), 8-11 FT, 29 Rebounds (Wedell 9), 13 Fouls (Boehm), 6 Assists, 23 Turnovers, 11 Steals (Kaitlyn Schimke 6).
Carrington-Maara Nelson 13, Haley Hewitt 12, Ann Endres 9, Kauri Hochhalter 5, Carmen Pederson 2, Gracie Page 2. Totals: 16-54 FG, 3-pointers: 2-17 (Endres 2), 9-16 FT, 37 Rebounds (Hochhalter 11), 13 Fouls (Hochhalter), 7 Assists, 20 Turnovers, 2 Blocks, 13 Steals.
Records: Ellendale 2-2; Carrington 3-1.
