Sports
Jacks drop a pair, bounce back with big win on Sunday
Tyler Ohmann
02/19/2013
The Dakota College at Bottineau Lumberjacks basketball team swallowed a couple of tough losses this past week, but rebounded with a big win over Concordia JV last Sunday.
On Thursday the Jacks week took a dip down as they had a poor outing in a 105-86 loss to visiting Bismarck State College (BSC).
“Our offense did not execute properly and neither did our defense,” said Jacks head coach Cory Fehringer. “Although we put up 86, it’s because Bismarck put so many possessions in the game.”
Justin McCloud headed up a Mystics offense with 26 points. Six Mystics scored in double figures in the win.
Four Jacks had double figures in scoring: Kristoff Walker (24), Tyler Storseth (18), Roybell Baez (15) and Marquis Thomas (13).
Fehringer wasn’t happy with the Jacks’ defense on the day.
“Defensively we had a strategy and philosophy going into it, and I didn’t do my job to prepare our guys the right way, because it didn’t show today,” Fehringer said. “Given up as many open shots and giving up 27 offensive rebounds, you’re never going to win.”
“That’s not what we intended on doing, but clearly I did a poor job of preparing us, if that was the outcome,” Fehringer added.
Fehringer knows that this was just the beginning of a tough stretch ahead.
“In college basketball you don’t have any days off, and when you are playing with a young group, and a group who hasn’t had a whole lot of success, they don’t understand how important each day is,” Fehringer said. “Right now we have to grasp the concept right away, that every day is an important day for us to improve and get better and sharpen up.”
The loss came off the heels of tough losses to good teams and a strong win against Turtle Mountain last Wednesday, which had Fehringer optimistic.
“I thought we had it with a tough loss at Wahpeton, a close game at Williston State, a win at Turtle Mountain, I thought we were starting to get it together,” Fehringer said. “But tonight clearly showed us in the heat of the moment things aren’t going to go our way, because we aren’t focused like we should be.”
The grind continued for the Jacks as they dropped a third straight game with a loss to Jamestown JV 74-64.
DCB was without leading scorer Jayden McMillin in the game as he was out with a possible concussion.
Fehringer stated that the team had played better, winning every statistical category aside from free throws. Every Jacks player had at least 10 minutes, and nobody had more than 30 in the game.
The loss was a bit disheartening as the Jacks beat the Jimmies 80-72 on Nov. 9.
However, the Jacks answered a few of their question marks with a strong 85-81 victory over Concordia JV on Sunday afternoon.
DCB fell 16 points behind the Cobbers midway through the second half, but then a couple big threes from Storseth sparked a comeback. Thomas began getting put backs, Walker, Billy Engel and company played themselves back in it.
The Jacks tied the game at 81 late. With under a minute on the clock the defense made a big time stop.
Walker took the ball on offense and broke the tie with a drive to the hoop and a made layup despite getting fouled.
Walker finished with 24 points, five assists and four rebounds to go along with his game-winner.
“Kristoff (Walker ) did a good job of being aggressive on both ends, distributed the ball on key plays, and kept the pressure up on ball handlers,” Fehringer stated.
Storseth added 17 points, including a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the arc. Engel had a strong performance as well with 11 points and three assists.
“It doesn’t matter how hard you work right now, because a lot of teams are working hard,” Fehringer said. “It’s not about working hard, it’s about how well can you execute while you’re working hard down the stretch in February.”
DCB is currently 11-17 overall on the season. They also played last night in Bismarck against United Tribes Technical College, but scores and stats were unavailable by press time.
The Jacks play again this week at 8 p.m. on Wednesday against Lake Region in Devils Lake, and then again at 8 p.m. at home on Sunday against Williston State.