Bre Oettle pushes Jays through to final day of WDA tournament

BISMARCK — Breanna Oettle wasn't ready to say goodbye to the Bismarck Events Center.

Thanks to the 16 points she dropped Friday evening, she doesn't have to.

Oettle, a senior for the Jamestown High School girls basketball team, helped guide her team to a 55-40 win over Dickinson in the loser-out game of the West Region Tournament. The second-round win extended the Jays' season at least one more day.

Jamestown will face off against Bismarck High in Saturday's 11 a.m. state qualifier.

"This was a tough one," JHS head coach Andy Skunberg said in an interview with the PSP Network. "We knew it was going to be a grind, it's WDAs. We had to be resilient. Nothing was really falling, and nothing was really working but we found a way at the end to kind of get to a 15-point game.

"It was a hard-fought game," he said. "We made day three, that's the goal."

It was a low-scoring affair in the opening five minutes, but the Jays' offense held tough. Oettle capped off an 8-0 run to make it 11-2 midway through the first. The Midgets turned the tables and went on a seven-minute, 10-0 to regain the lead but despite their best efforts, they couldn't keep Oettle at bay.

Oettle anchored the Jays' 16-7 run late in the opening half. The senior scored 14 points to lead all scorers through the first. Oettle nabbed three boards and was 5-of-6 from the floor. From long range, she buried three of her four-attempted shots.

Oettle's hot hand bumped the Jays' overall shooting percentage to 40% but without her stats, the team only hit five of their 19 attempted shots. Teagan Bosche and Walter both hit 3s in the opening half while Katie Falk's work on the inside gave her three points to end the first. Ella Falk scored four in the first half.

The Jays led 27-19 at the halfway point but Dickinson began the second with a 5-0 run and Jamestown only scored one point through the first seven minutes of play. The Midgets' scoring run stretched to nine points to knot things up at 28. Blue Jay shooter, Rylee Joseph, finally got her team back scoring with a deep 3-pointer to push the Jays ahead by three.

Joseph's three-pointer was the catalyst for the Blue Jays' offense in the second half. The Jays went on a 24-12 run to end it.

After a slow start, Falk notched 15 points in the second half. The senior went 4-of-5 from the stripe to clinch the win. Katie Falk ended the night with 10 points and nine boards. Haylie Hakanson contributed another nine rebounds and put one point on the books. Of the Jays' 21 offensive rebounds, 14 of them came in the second half.

It was a good end to a must-win game but Skunberg and his crew know they will have to pick it up if they want to advance to next week's state tourney.

"Day three is always fun," Skunberg said. "We've got to take care of the ball, they know they are going to press us but if we can take care of the ball, we can make it a game."

Jamestown 55, Dickinson 40

JHS 27 28 — 55

DHS 19 21 — 40

JHS — Ella Falk 19, Breanna Oettle 16, Katie Falk 10, Teagan Bosche 3, Rylee Joseph 3, Jada Walter 3, Haylie Hakanson 1. Totals: 16 FG, 14-20 FT, 48 rebounds, 11 fouls, 6 assists, 16 turnovers, 2 steals. 3-pointers: Oettle 3, E. Falk 3, Walter 1, Bosche 1, Joseph 1.

DHS — Sadie Stevenson 12, Emily Ash 10, Baylee Berg 7, Lauren Selle 4, Cecilia Homiston 4, Jazmin Barry 3. Totals: 16 FG, 5-6 FT, 35 rebounds, 19 fouls, 2 assists, 13 turnovers, 3 steals. 3-pointers: Ash 2, Berg 1.

Contributed / Western Dakota Association