Sports
Titans, Dragons get revenge on Sioux at districts
Bottineau Courant Staff
02/18/2014
To say that the District 11 Tournament did not go the way that Westhope-Newburg (WN) wanted it to would be an understatement.
The Sioux, who were the third-seed entering the tournament, were certainly one of the favorites to advance to regions, if not a favorite to challenge Rugby in the championship game.
However, those goals were interrupted from the start.
It all began last Thursday as the Sioux were upset by Towner-Granville-Upham (TGU) 62-54 in the opening round.
The Titans went on to upset Drake-Anamoose in round two, and guaranteed themselves a spot in the Region 6 Tournament.
TGU’s victory over the Sioux also avenged an earlier loss to WN in the regular season and a playoff loss to the Sioux in football this past fall.
The Sioux had the momentum early and led by three after one quarter, but the Titans took it back with a 20-point second quarter to go up 36-27 at halftime.
Though the Sioux made comeback efforts throughout the second half, the Titans did just enough to hold on to a win.
Senior Luke Bacon held his own in the middle for TGU and scored 24 points to lead his team to the win.
His counterpart, Hunter Braaten led all scorers with 28 points and also had a team-best 11 rebounds. Sixteen of his 28 points came from the free throw line, as he slashed to the basket throughout the contest.
Senior Ethan Miller finished with eight points and eight rebounds, both below season averages. Chance Kitzman added nine points and seven rebounds in the loss.
Braaten and the Sioux put themselves in contention for a coveted region spot with a second-round win over Sawyer 58-41.
The Sioux victory was never really in doubt as they led 17-8 in the first quarter.
Braaten again did most of his damage from the free throw line as he hit 12 shots from the charity stripe, and finished with 26 points. He also added 12 rebounds.
Kitzman had 11 points and 15 rebounds for a double-double, and Miller hit double digits with 10 points.
However, there would be one more obstacle for the Sioux to overcome if they wished to make it to regions—the Dunseith Dragons.
Early on it looked like the Sioux would run themselves straight to the region tournament as they took as 17-4 lead after one quarter, and Braaten scored 14 of the WN’s 17 points. The quarter was sloppy as both teams turned the ball over several times.
The Sioux maintained an eight-point lead at halftime, but the Dragons cleaned up their game and started making shots in the second half.
By the end of the third quarter the Sioux lead was shrunk to four points, and in the fourth quarter Dunseith took the game over.
The Dragons out scored the Sioux 22-10 in the final quarter to earn the victory.
Trace Azure led the Dragons with 22 points.
Braaten led all scorers with 25 points, but it was not enough to send his team on. Kitzman added 14 points.
The Sioux’s promising season ended in the loss, and the finished the season with a 15-7 overall record.
Notes:
- A couple of good pieces of news for the Sioux were that Braaten and Miller were both named to the All-District team. Even better, Braaten was named Senior Athlete of the Year for District 11. He finished the season by averaging 26.5 points and almost seven rebounds per game.