Sports

Jacks best Mikinocks, fall to MonDak opponents

By Tyler Ohmann

02/12/2013

The return of sophomore and leading scorer Jayden McMillin boosted the Dakota College at Bottineau (DCB) Lumberjacks to a win over Turtle Mountain Community College (TMCC) this past Wednesday evening.

However, the Jacks did fall short against two tough MonDak opponents as well during the week. One was an 83-75 overtime loss to North Dakota State College of Science (NDSCS) on Monday, where the Jacks didn’t have McMillin. The other was a 71-59 loss to Williston State College last Thursday.
First, in Monday’s loss to NDSCS the Jacks narrowly fell to the Wildcats in overtime. Both teams played back-and-forth basketball and the game was tied at halftime, as well as at the end of regulation.

However, the Wildcats had a little more gas left in overtime and finished the game strong with an eight-point victory.

The Wildcats had four players in double figures and six players with at least three baskets in the win.

DCB was led by Kristoff Walker’s 29 points off the bench. The freshman also added seven assists and six steals.

Also in double figures for the Jacks were freshman Dashomoe McCarty with 12 points and Billy Engel and Marquis Thomas, who each had 10 points.

The loss was the third straight for the Jacks, all of them against MonDak opponents.

However, on Wednesday the Jacks were able to turn it around in a non-conference matchup with the nearby TMCC Mikinocks.

Walker again boosted the play of the Jacks in the game dropping a game-high 34 points, dishing out five assists and garnering two steals, one that led to a dunk, which brought the crowd to their feet.

“Over the course of the last two weeks Kristoff (Walker) has played at an extremely high level,” stated Jacks head coach Cory Fehringer. “ His ability to attack the rim, create his own shot and distribute the basketball has been impressive as a coach. As coaches we can always be critical but he has done a superb job of improving down the stretch.”

At times the Jacks had leads in the teens in the game and finished with an 11-point win, staving off a late attack from the Mikinocks.

A big help in building the Jacks lead, especially in the first half was sophomore Tyler Storseth, who had 17 points, including four threes.

“I’m kind of streaky, and once I hit one, I feel like I can hit the next one,” Storseth said. “Once I get on a streak I guess it just goes.”

His coach noticed the play of the team gets better when Storseth is on.

“Whenever Tyler (Storseth) knocks down perimeter shots, we seem to play inspired basketball,” Fehringer stated. “He allowed us to separate early and is always a threat to go on a run. Outside of hitting shots, Tyler does a good job of playing physical defense and rebounding.”

The win over the Mikinocks was huge according to Storseth.

“It was huge to get a win, because we’ve been on a losing streak the past couple of games, and that’s not how we wanted it to go,” Storseth said. “We got a win under our belt, that gets the confidence up, and we can go in and compete hard, and try to get W’s.”

Perhaps the biggest reason the Jacks were able to beat TMCC, a win that was revenge from a 74-60 loss to the Mikinocks on Jan. 23, was the fact that McMillin returned to the lineup.

The big man from down under had 19 points, and perhaps more importantly seven rebounds.

“Having Jayden (McMillin) back for us is huge, he brings in another level of confidence,” Ferhringer said. “When you have another scorer, another rebounder, which we lack in the rebounding department, makes the game a lot easier.”

“It really simplifies what we do,” Fehringer added.

However, with McMillin out, Fehringer said that a lot of other players had to step up, which he believes will help down the stretch.

“When we lost Jayden some guys really stepped up,” Fehringer said. “We may have lost games without Jadyen, but we found guys that could get more comfortable and confident to help us out, and down the stretch that will be huge for us.”

Following the win the Jacks hoped to travel to Williston and knock off the 20-7 Tetons.

However, it wasn’t quite meant to be as the Jacks fell behind by seven at the half, and then dropped further behind, scoring below 60 points for the contest in a 71-59 loss.

Walker, who had been playing strongly for the Jacks didn’t quite have his touch on as he went 5-for-16 from the field. He had 14 points.

McCarty again played solid minutes for the Jacks in the loss. He finished with seven boards and six points.

However, again leading the way for the Jacks was McMillin, who was an efficient 8-for-9 from the field and had a team-best 18 points.

The losses this week drop the Jacks to 0-6 in MonDak play. Overall they are 9-15.

DCB hopes to turn things around with a big win against Bismarck State College, as they host the Mystics at 8 p.m. on Thursday.

The game is also a tribute game to Terry Charnholm, as well as the return of former BHS basketballer Justin McCloud.