Sports

Stars get revenge on Honkers

By Tyler Ohmann

02/21/2012

Two non-district wins including a 69-38 win over Kenmare on senior night closed out the regular season for the Bottineau Stars.

The wins pushed the Stars to a record of 10-9 in the regular season.

Bottineau began the week with a 67-25 blowout of region foe Des Lacs-Burlington in Des Lacs on Monday evening.

After a close opening quarter Bottineau turned up both the offense and defensive intensity to outscore the Lakers 55-14 in the remaining three quarters.

Junior Katryna Hahn led the way for the Stars with 18 points, six rebounds and three steals.

Also with solid nights were seniors Heidi Artz (12 points, four assists, four steals) and Whitney Page (11 points, nine rebounds).

The Stars closed out the regular season with a 69-38 home win over Kenmare on senior night.

Bottineau jumped ahead early leading 21-5 after the first quarter and never looked back. The Stars used a full court press and forced several turnovers including 15 steals as a team.

The win was especially meaningful, seeing as the Honkers were the team that defeated many of the same girls on the court during the volleyball season at the Region 6 tournament.

“Sweet revenge, those are the best words to describe it,” said senior Trista Bjerk of the win over the Honkers. “It was a nice one to end on.”

Page was the leading scorer for the Stars with 18 points. She also grabbed a team-high eight boards and three steals.

Sophomore Danielle McDonald added 17 points and six rebounds, while Hahn had 13 points and Artz finished with 10 points and four steals.

Bjerk finished with six assists and one three-point basket in the win, which would be the final game at home for the seniors.

“We were kind of talking about it in the locker room, but it hasn’t sunk in it,” Bjerk said. “Nobody has cried yet, but will when it is actually our last game.”

The Stars finished as the fourth-seed in the district standings and will open the District 12 tournament against fifth-seeded Dunseith on Friday in Towner.
Bottineau is looking forward to the post season.

“We definitely get really excited when it comes to tournament time,” Bjerk said. “We get pumped, jacked up and we really want to work hard all four days next week.”

The top four teams from the District 11 tournament advance to the Region 6 tournament beginning on Monday, March 5 in Minot.