Sports

Stars clinch third seed with win

By Tyler Ohmann

02/18/2014

The Bottineau Stars won yet another close game this past week as they closed out the District 11 regular season with a 41-38 victory over Sawyer.

The victory over the Flashes earned the Stars the third-seed in the upcoming district tournament.

“It really  meant a lot, because the past few years we’ve been in the bottom of the bracket,” said senior guard Rachael Fix. “To come out and get the win, and get third was pretty awesome.”

Fix and the rest of Bottineau’s team played solid defense in the narrow three-point win over the Flashes.

Stephanie Brenden contributed on both sides of the court for the Stars as well. The junior finished with a team-best 14 points, and also added five steals, five rebounds and four assists.

Danielle McDonald, a senior, added 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Fellow senior Courtney Gallagher added four steals for the Stars in the big win.

The win was the fifth in district competition for the Stars. Three of those wins came by less than three points, which Fix said can only help the Stars’ confidence heading into the tournament.

“It is pretty even throughout our district, so there is going to be close games, but we’ve been in a lot of close games, so I’m hoping that will help us win all of them,” Fix said.

The Stars will start their tournament with a match up against Dunseith at approximately 7:30 p.m. in the final game of the opening day on Feb. 28 in Rugby.

Bottineau beat Dunseith 50-47 back on Jan. 24 in Dunseith.

“Coming in third, we match up with Dunseith, and that will be a tough game,” Fix said. “But we’ve been working hard this whole season, so I hope we can come out on top.”

The Stars have one more game on their schedule, a senior night game at home against Kenmare on Friday to prepare for the tough district grind. Bottineau also played last night against Des Lacs-Burlington in Burlington, but scores and stats were unavailable by press time.

“I’m hoping we come away with a win on senior night against Kenmare, and come away with some momentum going into districts,” Fix said. “Our goal is to make it to regionals, because we came out short last year, and we need to use the momentum to get there.”

Bottineau is 9-8 overall this season and they are 2-1 so far against District 12 opponents, who they would play in the Region 6 tournament if they advance.