Twenty years from now, when members of the Starkweather-Munich and New Rockford-Sheyenne basketball teams gather for their school reunions and discuss the third-place game of the 2010 Region 4 tournament, the word defense will certainly not enter into the conversation.
That’s because there was no defense.
There was also little need for a shot clock in this game, which was highlighted by the absence of personal fouls.
In a refreshing game of basketball, with nothing really on the line, history will always show that New Rockford-Sheyenne got the better of the Magic Storm 72-65 as the two teams closed the season.
The Magic Storm and Rockets displayed schoolyard ball in the first two periods as the two teams combined for 75 field goal attempts, with both teams connecting on 16 of those attempts.
Six of the field goal attempts by the Magic Storm came from beyond the arc, which allowed S-M to take a 39-33 lead into the halftime break.
But, a 26-9 scoring spurt in the third period gave the lead to the Rockets for good.
“The first half we were going to let (S-M) have their dunks and enjoy the game,” NR-S coach Ivan Hurst said. “The second half we were going to do what we had to do to win the game.”
That this game had little at stake was made evident early in the game when Starkweather-Munich’s Travis Beck misfired on a breakaway dunk attempt just 90 seconds into the game.
Beck, who will play football this fall at North Dakota State University, missed a second dunk attempt in the closing minutes of the game and fell hard to the floor.
Just how little defense was utilized in the game?
Consider the fact the two teams combined for 143 field goal attempts in the game and both shot better than 40 percent. The Rockets finished with 43.6 percent (34-78), while the Magic Storm converted on 27 of 65 shots for 41.5 percent.
Both teams were whistled for just one foul in the contest.
Brett Allmaras led the way for the Rockets with a game-high 27 points. He finished 23 points shy of 1,000 in his career at NR-S. Stephen Guler also finished in double figures for the Rockets as the junior scored 14 points.
S-M 22 17 9 17 – 65
NR-S 21 12 26 13 – 72
S-M (65): Ben Tohm 16, Blake Klein 12, Travis Beck 11, Mitchell Wirth 8, Lance Logie 5, Ryan Hoffman 4, Trevor Darling 3, Matthew Kitsch 3, Brandon Hoffman 3.
NR-S (72): Brett Allmaras 27, Stephen Guler 14, Dalton Weber 8, Jordan Seiler 8, Shane Stafford 7, Austin Langley 4, Andrew Schafer 4.
3-pointers: S-M 10 (Tohm 4, Wirth 1, Logie 1, Darling 1, Beck 1, Kitch 1, B. Hoffman 1), NR-S 4 (Guler 2, Stafford 1, Allmaras 1). Rebounds: S-M 39 (Allmaras 14), NR-S 46 (Beck 7, R. Hoffman 7). Fouls: S-M 1, NR-S 1. Fouled out: none. Assists: S-M 14 (Beck 4), NR-S 11 (Guler 3). Steals: S-M 2 (Beck 1, B. Hoffman 1), NR-S 10 (Guler 5). Blocked shots: S-M 5 (Beck 2, B. Hoffman 2), NR-S 2 (Seiler 1, Schafer 1). Turnovers: S-M 15, NR-S 6.
