LRSC basketball player and Devils Lake native Torri Fee follows through on a three-point shot. (Photo by Mojo Hill)
CANDO — Outside of the Dane Hagler fanfare, the Lake Region State College basketball teams both recorded wins Wednesday night over Jamestown JV at North Star Public School.
Both victories came ahead of a big conference slate against North Dakota State College of Science on Sunday.
Women fight through sluggish three quarters, pull away late
Through most of the first three quarters, the LRSC women (13-9) played some of their ugliest basketball of the season. They eventually pulled away to win, 78-48.
“We preach defense, and we kind of brought it in the second half,” Royals head coach Colden Hutton said. “Putting our effort in there and trying to get as close to 40 minutes as we can, especially defensively — and we put probably 25 minutes together defensively. But we’ve got to keep getting closer to that 40 range. But proud of us, and how we responded out of halftime. We’re usually not a second-half team, but tonight we were.”
It was almost two minutes into the game before either team scored. It was almost four minutes before Jamestown scored.
The Jimmies, though, finished the first quarter on a 9-0 run to take a 19-14 lead. They made only two deuces in the quarter but landed five triples.
Scoring was a real grind for the Royals, who then went the first three minutes of the second quarter without any points. Playing in Cando, the change of scenery had them out of sorts.
“Shorter court. Smaller three-point line. So, I mean, everything’s tighter,” Hutton said. “We’re used to playing on the three-point line, but now on the three-point line is two feet in. And so just being able to get our spacing, know that we can shoot from deeper on this court and just being able to do that — but then also, getting stops helps us get into transition, which ultimately opens up our offense.”
Lara Graham hit two triples as part of an 8-0 run that sent LRSC ahead. The Royals still never found a rhythm in the first half. Jamestown’s six-foot center, Alex Ham, scored 10 in the second quarter as the Jimmies inched ahead, 34-32, by halftime.
Jamestown went 7-for-20 from three-point range in the first half. The Jimmies only made 6-of-15 two-point field goals. But LRSC wasn’t much better, shooting 13-for-39 in the first half, including 3-for-15 from three.
Each team missed six field goals to open the second half before any points were scored. The Royals’ leading scorer in particular, Zoie Austin, was missing shots she usually makes.
At 6:46 in the third quarter — over four minutes in— Austin scored the first points of the second half.
Austin’s resurgence fueled the Royals’ eventual turnaround. She started getting to the rim and scored 10 points in the third quarter. She finished with a game-high 22.
“She’s a hooper,” Hutton said. “And she’s really good at just letting things go. So the first half, obviously struggled a little bit, struggling getting downhill, had a couple turnovers. But second half, just came back with a better mindset and was able to push through that and really come out and be our leading scorer tonight.”
At the same time, Jamestown’s early luck landing threes wore out. The Jimmies went just 3-for-21 from beyond the arc in the second half. Without much extra offensive prowess to fall back on, they struggled. Jamestown didn’t score in the third quarter until the 3:18 mark, and didn’t have a field goal until 2:15.
A three-pointer by Sydney Schwabe ballooned LRSC’s lead to double digits. Schwabe didn’t start on Wednesday due to sickness, but she had seven points in the second half to finish with nine.
“She’s been super sick, so she missed practice yesterday and everything,” Hutton said. “But she played really good minutes. Just her facilitating, and what she does for us offensively, facilitating and running our offense, but also being able to stretch the floor and shoot for us, too. She’s a big, key piece for us.”
The Royals exploded for 27 points in the fourth quarter. Torri Fee led the way with four triples off the bench. Graham added her third triple to finish with 13 points.
It took three minutes and 25 seconds for Jamestown to score in the fourth quarter. Outside of their three-point shooting, the Jimmies made just one field goal in the entire second half.
LRSC got back in the win column before a big conference game this Sunday against second-place NDSCS (17-3, 4-1). The Royals will be back in the Devils Lake Sports Center at 1 p.m. Sunday. They lost 73-59 to Science on Jan. 8.
“Huge one for us,” Hutton said. “I mean, we go win that one, we have a chance to host a home playoff game. And that’s what we’re here for. Try to get that one or two seed for us. But we’ve got to guard a little bit different. Maggie [Westling] just got National Player of the Week for all of NJCAA. So we’ve got our test for us. It’s going to be fun, being able to guard her. We’re switching things up on how we guard her from the first time, so hopefully we can limit her. We’re not going to shut her down, but hopefully we can limit her and come on top on Sunday.”
Men’s team provides support around Hagler to take down Jimmies
Wednesday was a special occasion for Hagler, but it was ultimately a team win on North Star’s home floor.
The Royals (10-14) won 99-75. After trailing 7-4 early on, they led the rest of the way. Jamestown made it a little close for comfort late in the first half, but LRSC turned in a well-rounded effort to end a four-game losing streak.
“We kind of had that lull at the end of the first half. They went on a 15-2 run to kind of cut our 19-point lead,” Royals head coach Jared Marshall said. “But I liked how we came out, set the tone early in the first half, and then the second half, we set the tone again and we didn’t really let up, which was great to see.”
Dalen Leftbear scored 12 in the first half, while Jeremiah Johnson and Remy Davis Warrington each had eight.
A 16-4 LRSC run made it 42-25.
Isaac Snell led the Jimmies with 18 in the first half. Jamestown scored the final six points of the half, cutting the lead to 48-42.
A Cooper Adams triple helped ignite a 7-0 Royals run early in the second half, and LRSC led by double digits for the duration.
“I think it’s just their overall energy,” Marshall said of the shift. “It also helps we made a couple threes during the stretch in the second half. … That’s kind of been our M.O. this year. If we can just eliminate those three, five-minute stretches where we’re just not any good or we’re not making shots, we’ll be a really good team.”
Jamestown only had six players total, and one of its leading scorers in the first half got into foul trouble early in the second.
Johnson had a big game off the bench for the Royals. He scored 10 in the second half to finish with a team-high 18.
Jazayah Gates added eight points on two triples in the second half. Ashton Munro scored four in each half.
LRSC’s bench might not be as deep as it was at the beginning of the season, largely due to injuries, but the core eight did their jobs Wednesday night.
“I thought those three [bench] guys, especially in the first half … kind of came in and ballooned it to 12 or 14,” Marshall said. “Jeremiah’s had a couple rough games, and him having a big night tonight, kind of getting back to what he does, that was huge for us.”
Leftbear finished tied with Davis Warrington for second on the team, scoring 16 points, while Hagler was next with 13.
The Royals enter Sunday still looking for their first conference win. They have a tough task with first-place NDSCS (19-3, 4-1) coming to Devils Lake for a 3 p.m. matchup. LRSC lost to Science 118-75 on Jan. 8.
“If we can guard the three-point line like this, and we’ve got to do a better job rebounding. We didn’t do a great job of that tonight,” Marshall said. “If we don’t do a good job on those guys on Sunday, then we’re going to be in trouble. But our biggest thing is it’s not about what anybody else is doing. … When we’re playing hard and when we’re playing with energy, we can play with anybody.”
