Sports

Stars close regular season on hot streak

By Tyler Ohmann

02/26/2013

The Bottineau Stars improved their winning streak to three in a row with wins over Des Lacs-Burlington and Kenmare this past week.
On top of that the Stars received the good news that they’ll be the fifth seed at the District 11 Tournament in Dunseith that starts on Thursday, March 1.

“The last four games, we’ve probably been averaging only about 10 turnovers per game,” said Stars head coach Joe Bender about the recent upswing. “It’s been going extremely well, and I think the girls are just getting a little more comfortable.”

The Stars earned their second victory in a row with a 43-40 win over DLB last Monday in Bottineau.
Bottineau clung to a three-point lead from halftime all the way to the end, as the Lakers proved to be a worthy foe.

However, on senior night, it was a junior who caught fire for the Stars. Danielle McDonald hit several threes including three in the first half to score a game-high 17 points.

Stephanie Brenden added eight and senior Katryna Hahn finished with six points.

“They are getting used to my coaching style, and we’re also just getting better as far as end of the season, peaking at the right time, everybody is good to go,” Bender said.

The Stars won their second game of the week and third in a row on Friday in Kenmare.

Bottineau, who was without senior Katryna Hahn, who injured her knee off the court earlier in the week, and is out for the season, used some tenacious defense to knock off the Honkers 45-36.

The two teams battled back and forth, and were tied after the first quarter. The Honkers gobbled up the upper hand and took a four-point lead into halftime.

However, the Stars opened up a lead in the third quarter, and didn’t look back from there.

Senior Whitney Brandvold stepped up inside for the Stars with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Brenden added 13 points and nine boards in the win.

However, it was a couple other players, who stepped up in Hahn’s absence that also had Bender happy.

“Rachael (Fix) had to play about 75 percent of the game, and she had to guard Monson (from Kenmare), and held her to one of her season lows, so she stepped up and played unbelievable last night,” Bender said. “Megan Saville has been playing good, so the girls are ready to step up and are pretty eager, so I think we’re going to be all right.”

The pair of wins pushed the Stars overall record to  7-12.

Bottineau’s 3-4 mark in District 11 play made them the No. 5 seed, and will play fourth-seeded Dunseith in Dunseith at approximately 4:30 p.m. on Friday.

“In the first round with Dunseith, I think we match up well against them,” Bender said. “We’re peaking at the right time, and they’re struggling a little bit, but it’s in Dunseith, so they’ll have a big home crowd.”

“The girls are eager to play,” Bender added.

A win would likely pit the Stars against top seeded Velva on Saturday at approximately 6 p.m., a loss would have the Stars play at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Bender believes the Stars should be able to find success in the tournament.

“I think we’re sitting good going into districts,” Bender said. “The girl’s are excited.”