Sports

Ladyjacks earn right to host region tournament

By Tyler Ohmann

02/26/2013

The Dakota College at Bottineau (DCB) Ladyjacks earned the job as hosts of the Region XIII playoffs with a win over United Tribes Technical College (UTTC) last Monday in Bismarck.

However, DCB fell in two other contests against tough MonDak opponents. The Ladyjacks fell on Wednesday to the Lake Region Lady Royals and then on Sunday evening to conference champion Williston State.

First on Monday the Ladyjacks beat the Thunderbirds 81-71 to earn the right to host the region tournament.

Jackie Miller scored 25 points as four Ladyjacks finished in double figures in the win. Dominique Staten added 16 points, while Jordyn Sondrol had a career game with 15 points and 20 rebounds.

Sophomore Josie Degagne added 11 points and four assists.

“We got the team effort we needed in our biggest game of the year to this point,” stated Ladyjacks head coach Wayne Johnson. “It was really nice to see four players in double figure scoring.”

The win means that the Ladyjacks will host the Region XIII Tournament beginning on Sunday March, 3 with a game between UTTC and Gogebic Community College (GCC). The winner of that contest will play at 7 p.m., on March 4 against DCB for the region title.

Whoever wins the title advances to play in the District F title game in Nebraska on March 9.
The week wasn’t all wins for the Ladyjacks, but the losses they had were against good teams according to Johnson.

That began with a 71-57 loss to Lake Region on Wednesday in Devils Lake.

The Lady Royals opened up an early lead and made it a 15-point halftime lead. Despite at strong second-half effort from the Ladyajacks Lake Region won.

“I was really pleased with the effort of our ladies tonight, in spite of us taking the loss,” Johnson stated.

DCB was without leading scorer Jackie Miller, who was battling an illness.

Degagne picked up the scoring load for the Ladyjacks with 22 points. Sondrol again came up big on the boards with her second straight game with 20 rebounds.

However, it was just a few things that seperated DCB and Lake Region according to Johnson.

“With the exception of the last ten minutes of the first half, we more than held our own against a very good Lake Region team,” Johnson stated. “We lost their shooters in transition during that stretch.  Other than that, and the fact they got too many second shots, I was much more pleased with our defensive effort than our last meeting. Offensively I thought we had some good looks and did a decent job of handling their pressure.”

DCB suffered another loss on Sunday at home against Williston State in an 86-63 loss to the Tetons.

The Tetons were the top team in the MonDak Conference this season, and Johnson was happy with how DCB handled them, despite their distinct size advantage.

“Very good effort by the Jacks tonight but they are just too tough a match up for us. Not only do they have great size, but they are also very fine players,” Johnson stated. “They are very deservedly the MonDak Conference champions. I was pleased with how we battled for the full 40 minutes.”

DCB trailed by just 11 at halftime, but the Tetons came out strong and finished with a 49 percent shooting night, including 46 percent from three. They also held the rebound advantage 53-32.

“We got off to a nice start but just couldn’t continue to defend their size,” Johnson stated. “We did have a lot of positives in the game, the most pleasing to me was that we only turned the ball over 13 times.”

DeGagne again had strong offensive game with 25 points and three assists. Miller added 12 points and five boards in the loss.

DCB also welcomed the sight of point guard Shakira Walker’s return. It was her first action after being sidelined by injury on Jan. 17 against Bismarck State College.

“It was great to see Shakira back in action. She needs to kick a little rust off but her being back in the lineup is a huge factor in our upcoming region play,” Johnson stated. “In spite of the loss, I thought it was a good final regular season effort for our sophomores.”

DCB concluded the regular season with an 11-19 overall record and a 2-8 record in the MonDak.

The game between the winner of GCC/UTTC will play DCB at 7 p.m., on Monday, March 4 for the Region XIII title.

The winner advances to the District F Title game on the road, and if they were to win that game, they would advance to NJCAA Nationals that begin on March 19 in East Peoria, Ill.