Region 3 girls basketball is going to be dealing with Medina/Pingree-Buchanan's Allison Thomas for a long time.
The dual-threat freshman can both shoot and defend, but if given the choice the Thunder's 5-foot-6 guard said she'd prefer to lean on her defensive skillset to create scoring opportunities.
Medina/Pingree-Buchanan toppled Hankinson 57-30 during the UJ Shootout at Harold Newman Arena on Saturday behind 16 points and 12 steals from Thomas to improve to 2-0.
"I think I enjoy defending and getting all those steals so much because it's just a good way to get points very easily with those layups," said Thomas, who also hit a pair of 3-pointers. "And, since I'm not the tallest, it's really helpful to get those when you're not having the greatest shooting game."
ADVERTISEMENT
Hankinson (0-2) struggled to advance the basketball against the Thunder's full-court defense from the get-go, falling behind 15-4 after one quarter. The Thunder forced 20 Pirates' turnovers by the half, two quarters in which Hankinson was only afforded eight total shots from the field.
MPB led 28-14 at the break.
"We've been putting a lot of pressure on our defense in practice and have really been working on attacking the basket, too, when we got those fast breaks off the defense," said MPB senior guard Brittany Reister, who finished with six points and five steals. "We just really wanted to put the pressure on them today because we knew they were a little bit bigger, so we knew that we could probably beat them on the defensive side."
Leading 42-18 after three quarters, Hankinson was able to put together an 8-0 run to start the final eight minutes against a younger Thunder lineup, before MPB rifled off nine straight -- highlighted by a Lilly Bohl 3-pointer -- to run away with the victory. Hankinson was led by 5-8 forward Aslyn Foertsch with 13 points and 10 rebounds and 5-10 center Kya Mauch with nine points and 11 boards.
Thomas, finally in high school, has returned to MPB's starting lineup this season joined by Reister, sophomore guard Bohl, junior forward Ryleigh Martin and senior forward Gracie Gunderson. The Thunder finished last season fourth at the Region 3 tournament at 16-8 but lost key seniors Megan Moser and Gracie Bohl to graduation.
ADVERTISEMENT
Moser (women's volleyball) and Bohl (basketball) are both currently playing college athletics at the University of Jamestown. Bohl has played in nine games as a true freshman for 6-4 Jimmie women's basketball.
"It's all about the teamwork," Thomas said. "My team does a good job at keeping me open and screening me to help me get open."
The Thunder began the season on Dec. 17 with a 47-43 victory over Maple Valley and has 16 days to prepare to face Griggs-Midkota in Glenfield on Jan. 4.
"We just gotta really bring the heat at practice next week," Reister said. "Keep up the intensity so we can just continue to keep getting better and better."
-- Midway/Minto boys basketball opened the shootout with an 84-61 victory over Napoleon/Gackle-Streeter. The Mustangs' senior guard William Schuster scored 34 points.
-- Lisbon girls basketball improved to 2-0 with a 47-43 victory over Napoleon/Gackle-Streeter in game 2. Junior guard Asha Sweet scored 14 points for the Broncos.
-- Senior Jayden Rath scored 21 points to help Kidder County boys basketball edge Hankinson 67-61, after 6-1 senior teammate Jonah Harter exited the game with a left ankle injury.
Payton Cauthon (15 points) and Luke Rath (11) also hit double figures in scoring for the Wolves. Cauthon buried three of KC's five 3-pointers -- Jayden Rath scored the other two.
ADVERTISEMENT
Kaden Kelly led Hankinson with 20 points. Senior Austin Bladow added 16 for the 0-2 Pirates. The Wolves improved to 2-1 and are at Flasher on Monday.
-- Central Cass boys basketball defeated Barnes County North 79-19. Joshua Dixon led 12 Squirrels in scoring with 15 points.
-- Edgeley/Kulm/Montpelier girls took down Enderling 38-27. The Rebels' Kiara Jangula scored a game-high 12 points.
-- Stories on Langdon/Edmore/Munich girls basketball upsetting No. 1 Kindred and Northern Cass girls slipping past Kidder County can be found at www.jamestownsun.com.
UJ SHOOTOUT
AT HAROLD NEWMAN ARENA
Medina/Pingree-Buchanan 57, Hankinson 30
HAN 4 10 4 12 -- 30
ADVERTISEMENT
MPB 15 13 14 15 -- 57
HAN -- Ashlyn Foertsch 13, Kya Mauch 9, Sadie Keller 4, Tenley Evans 2, Mackenzie Schmidt 1, Hannah Lingen 1. Totals: 9-24 FG, 0-2 3-pointers, 12-17 FT, 38 rebounds (Mauch 11, Foertsch 10), 39 Turnovers, 16 fouls.
MPB -- Allison Thomas 16, Lilly Bohl 7, Ryleigh Martin 7, Brittany Reister 6, Gracie Gunderson 6, Briallen Thu 5, Kelsey Vandebergh 4, Isabel Schmidt 2, Abigail Reich 2, Kalen Kinzell 2. Totals: 25-74 FG, 3-15 3-pointers (Thomas 2, Bohl), 4-8 FT, 34 Rebounds (Reister 6, Vandegergh 5), 9 Turnovers, 16 fouls, 23 steals (Thomas 12, Reister 5).
Records: MPG 2-0. Hankinson 0-2.
SCORES
BOYS
Midway/Minto 84, Napoleon-GS 61
Kidder County 67, Hankinson 61
ADVERTISEMENT
Central Cass 79, Barnes Co. North 19
GIRLS
10:40 a.m.: Lisbon 47, Napoleon-GS 43
12:20 p.m.: Medina/PB 57, Hankinson 30
3:40 p.m.: Langdon/EM 44, Kindred 43
5:20 p.m.: Northern Cass 52, Kidder County 48
8:40 p.m.: Edgeley/KM 38, Enderlin 27
