Sports
Stars get two district wins, fall to Bishop Ryan
Tyler Ohmann
01/24/2012
The Bottineau Stars handled both the Drake-Anamoose Raiders (71-19) and the Dunseith Dragons (47-24), but could not handle third-ranked Bishop Ryan (57-40) in three games this past week.
First the Stars hosted their second District 12 game last Tuesday against Drake-Anamoose. Unlike the first the Stars were able to win this one against a lowly Lady Raiders squad 71-19.
The Stars leaped out to a 16-point lead after the first quarter and piled on after that, including 24 points in the third quarter.
Whitney Brandvold and Heidi Artz led the Stars offensive charge with 12 points each.
Artz also dished out seven assists, had six steals and grabbed five rebounds in the win.
Junior McKenzie Jensen was the only other Star in double figures, she had 10 points to go with six rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Katryna Hahn and Trista Bjerk each had eight points.
The Stars’ week continued with a 47-24 win over Dunseith on the road on Friday night.
Again Bottineau jumped out early and kept the heat on to get a 23-point victory.
Artz again played well for the Stars leading the offense with 12 points, eight steals, six rebounds and five assists.
Also in double figures for the Stars was freshman guard Stephanie Brenden, who had 10 points in the win.
The final contest of the week for the Stars came when they hosted the third-ranked Bishop Ryan Lions on Saturday night. The Lions ended the Stars’ two-game streak with a 57-40 win.
The undefeated Lions came out roaring in the first quarter to take a 21-5 lead at one point.
“I thought we played really well against them except in the first quarter,” said Stars Head Coach Mike Forsberg. “We got down 21-5, and then we had to face that deficit the entire game.”
“That came from not taking away their two big girls early. I don’t think we were tough enough on them inside,” Forsberg added.
The Stars did play with the Lions from there on out, and stayed within one point of each point totals, but the shots weren’t falling for Bottineau in the first half, and they fell behind.
“We just have to learn that against these good teams when we aren’t hitting, we can’t let them get a lead on us,” Forsberg said. “That way we don’t have to battle back so hard all the time.”
Artz again was the leading scorer for Bottineau as she dropped 15 points on the Lions. She also added five assists and four rebounds.
Defensively senior Whitney Page had seven steals and grabbed four rebounds.
“We made it tougher for them in the second half by forcing them to turn it over,” Forsberg said. “Unfortunately we didn’t hit from the outside and we got a little tired and sloppy.”
“Against good teams you can’t do that,” Forsberg added.
Though the Stars lost, Forsberg was fairly happy with how the Stars played with one of the best teams in the state.
“I did like the way we competed,” Forsberg said. “I liked the way we got good looks at the hoop and weren’t afraid to shoot them, and I liked the way we adjusted defensively.”
After a 2-1 week, Bottineau now sits at 6-6 overall and 2-1 in District 12 play.
They will continue their district competition in Rugby on Tuesday as the first part of a girls/boys double header. Following that they will play a non-district, non-region game in Grafton on Saturday.