Sports

Ladyjacks Knighted in national qualifying game

By Tyler Ohmann

03/12/2013

The season, career and a title run came to an end for Dakota College at Bottineau’s sophomore class last Sunday at the District F National Qualifier game in North Platte, Neb.

That is because the Ladyjacks fell 64-40 to the North Platte Knights as they had one of their toughest outings shooting all season.

“What a tough way for the season to come to an end,” stated Ladyjacks head coach Wayne Johnson. “We certainly played hard but struggled offensively with our poorest shooting game of the season.”

“A shooting performance of 23 percent is not going to win any games, let alone a game vs. a good team this late in tournament play,” Johnson added.

Both the Knights and Ladyjacks struggled early on and DCB led 6-5 approximately seven minutes into the game.

However, that would be the last lead they would see as the Knights took over and went on a big run to close the first half with a 30-16 lead.

A 2-for-22 performance from three point range hurt DCB.

“We couldn’t find our stroke from the three point line and that’s a key shot in our offensive system,” stated Johnson. “Jordyn (Sondrol) hit two threes late in the second half and that was the extent of our long range offense.”

The Ladyjacks attempted a comeback in the second half, but the shots never fell.

“We got ourselves back in the game mid-way through the second half but then finished the last six minutes scoring only three points,” Johnson statd. “It was a disappointing end to the season but certainly cannot take away from this team’s success of winning the Region XIII title.”

Sophomore Jackie Miller led the Ladyjacks in scoring with 13 points. Fellow sophomores Shakira Walker and Sondrol each had eight points in the losing effort. Sondrol also added 14 rebounds.

Walker had a team-best five assists.

For those three sophomores and fellow sophomores Josie DeGagne and Megan Green, the game marked their last as Ladyjacks.

“We had a great group of sophomores and it’s hard to see them go.  They have meant so much to our program for these last two years and they will be very difficult to replace,” Johnson stated. “In spite of their disappointment today, I believe they will look back at their careers as being a huge, successful part of Ladyjack history. Thank you ladies.”

Miller ended her career as the Region XIII MVP and an All-MonDak and All-Region first-teamer. DeGagne was also on the All-Region team as well as second team All-MonDak.

Freshman returning for DCB next season will be Leah Parizek, Tiffany Bradford, Dominque Staten, McKenzie Bickford, Taylor Ward and Leigha Schmaltz.

The Ladyjacks finished with a 12-20 record overall on the season.