The Lake Region State College basketball teams, after having last weekend’s games postponed, went on the road to face Dakota College at Bottineau on Wednesday.
The women continued their winning ways with their ninth straight victory, while the men lost their second straight. Both teams shot better than they did last week, but only the women’s team emerged victorious.
The lady Royals saw vastly improved shooting in their 77-57 win over the Jacks. Their 77 points were their second-highest total for a game this season. In last Wednesday’s 55-43 win over Bismarck State College, head coach Ryan Clark credited their defensive effort while admitting he’d like to see better shooting. The Royals made just 31.6% of their field goals and 19.2% of their free throws.
But in their latest victory, they landed 43.3% of their field goals and 57.9% of their free throws. DCB made only 29% of its field goals.
Kyla Fitzgerald was far and away the star for the Royals in this one. She led the scoring with a whopping 32 points. She’s only averaging 8.7 points per game on the season — with Kelsey Crossan leading at 10.8 — but Wednesday saw the kind of breakout that a team needs in order to maintain the kind of winning streak LRSC has going. Different hero, same result.
Fitzgerald made 17 of her points in a pivotal third quarter that saw the Royals run away with the game. They were outscored 20-19 in the second quarter, making their lead 38-30 at halftime. But a 23-12 third quarter sealed the deal, with Fitzgerald carrying the weight by scoring nearly all of those points herself. Of the remaining six points, four came on a pair of baskets by Anisah Wolf, who finished with 11 points total. She was the only Royal besides Fitzgerald to reach double digits. Crossan scored the third-most with nine.
The Royals’ nine-game winning streak has catapulted them to third place in the Mon-Dak Athletic Conference. Once a 3-6 team, they’re now 12-6 overall and 5-4 in conference play. The Jacks are in fifth place at 9-10 (3-7).
The LRSC men, meanwhile, haven’t been able to turn their season around quite like the women have. Though they had a three-game winning streak coming into last week, they’ve now lost their last two.
They did, like the women’s team, have an improved overall shooting effort. They went from 50 points and a 30.5 field goal percentage last week to 69 and 41% this week, respectively. There wasn’t just one star for the Royals, either; Ginuwine Tropnas led with 14 points, while Blessed Barhayiga, Harrison Raynor and Noah Bonick each had 13. It was a well-rounded offensive effort that just didn’t get enough support defensively, with LRSC letting too many big shots go unguarded.
The Royals actually had a better shooting percentage than the Jacks, but DCB made 14 three-pointers compared to LRSC’s seven. The Jacks also converted 17 free throws, as opposed to the Royals’ 12. The teams had an equal amount of defensive rebounds with 33.
LRSC stands in seventh place out of eight teams in the Mon-Dak Athletic Conference at 6-12 (2-7). DCB is in third at 14-5 (6-4). The Royals at least showed they could compete with a team stronger than them record-wise, but they couldn’t do quite enough for an upset.
Both Royals teams will be back in action on Sunday at home against United Tribes Technical College. The women will look to bring their winning streak to an even 10 at 1 p.m., while the men will look to get back in the win column at 3 p.m.
Joseph “Mojo” Hill is a reporter covering Lake Region sports for the Devils Lake Journal. Contact him on Twitter @mojohill22 or at jhill@devilslakejournal.com for any tips, questions or story ideas.
