Sports

Stars fall in district opener

By Bottineau Courant Staff

01/22/2013

Despite improvement the Bottineau Stars fell in a pair of road games this past weekend. First the Stars lost 55-40 at the hands of the Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood Mavericks, and then fell 46-42 to Towner-Granville-Upham in their district opener.

The Mavericks downed the Stars last Monday night as they jumped out to an early lead. Turnovers again plagued the Stars as they had 27 giveaways in the loss.

Only two Bottineau players managed to score in double figures. Juniors Courtney Gallagher (13 points) and Danielle McDonald (12 points) had strong performances offensively.

McDonald, who was playing in her first game this season, also added a team-best 11 rebounds, for a double-double. She also had four steals.

Shania Brackenbury led the Mavericks with 13 points.

Thursday went much better for the Stars as they opened their District 11 season in Towner against the Titans.

Bottineau stuck with the Titans through the first half, trailing by only a basket at halftime. However, the Titans made a run in the third quarter to take an eight point lead heading into the final frame. The Stars made a valiant comeback, scoring a game-high 15 points in the final quarter, but TGU stood strong and wound up with a 46-42 win.

Again Bottineau had 27 turnovers, but also forced 19 of their own.

Scoring was balanced throughout the lineup with McDonald again getting a double-double with team-bests in rebounds (14) and points (11). Also contributing for the Stars were sophomore Stephanie Brenden (10 rebounds, six points) and senior Whitney Brandvold (eight points).

Three TGU players were in double figures, and were led by Mattie Schmitt’s 16 points. McKenna Thompson added 11, while Delrae Latendresse had 10 to lead the Titans to a win.

The two losses dropped the Stars to 2-6 overall and 0-1 in district play.

Bottineau continues it’s trek through district play this week with games at Drake-Anamoose on Tuesday and at home against Dunseith at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night. They also play at Bishop Ryan at 6 p.m. on Saturday.