Dorvan McKay (11) / Photos by Noah Clooten
FORT TOTTEN — Four Winds/Minnewaukan is back in town.
The Indians’ boys’ basketball team, in its home opener on Saturday, displayed the growing pains that come with a young roster trying to fill the shoes of stars like Deng Deng and Dalen Leftbear. Though they won their season opener on the road, they took a 68-56 loss to Wahpeton (1-1) on Saturday to fall to 1-1 on the young season.
“They were two of the best,” Indians head coach Rick Smith said of Deng and Leftbear. “Especially on the defensive end.”
FW/M turned the ball over 21 times after committing 25 turnovers in its first game.
“That’s just too much. It’s too many,” Smith said. “We can’t give good teams second-chance, third-chance opportunities like that… I don’t think I’ve ever had a team average 20 turnovers. It’s just unacceptable, and you lose games that way.”
Junior Marial Deng, despite a slow first half, led FW/M with 11 points. Sophomore Joran Lohnes had nine, while junior Jonte Delorme and freshman Sonny Alberts each had eight. The team was without senior Ron McKay, who’s down with a foot injury.
“That really set us back, because we were really counting on him to have a big year,” Smith said. “And he’s such a leader for us. And not having Keilan Longie back yet, so these young guys are having to play.”
The Indians went 18-of-29 from the free throw line. The Huskies only went 7-of-16 from the free throw line.
“We got to the foul line a lot,” Smith said. “We just can’t average 20 turnovers.”
It took two minutes and 40 seconds for either team to score a field goal. FW/M took three separate trips to the free throw line and went 1-of-2 each time. Lohnes scored the first bucket to make it 5-0.
Wahpeton turned the ball over six times in the first four minutes. The Huskies didn’t score until 3:29 in the first quarter, shortly following a three-pointer by Deng that made it 10-0. It was Deng’s first shot attempt of the game.
But Wahpeton, trailing FW/M 12-4, went on a 10-0 run to climb into the lead. Football star Treyton Mauch landed a three to get the Huskies close. An attempted pass from Tyler Black Jr. to Deng was intercepted and run back for a layup, and then a triple put Wahpeton ahead 14-12.
“They’ve just gotta slow down a little bit and see who’s open,” Smith said. “It was just pressure tonight. I don’t think I’ve gotten pressed in 30 years. And tonight they were pressing us, and other teams are gonna pick up on it. And if we don’t fix it, it’s gonna be a long season.”
It was all knotted up at 14-14 after the first quarter. Wahpeton missed a chance to take the lead with two free throws, but its offense explosion towards the end of the period made it a game.
The teams traded threes to start the second quarter. Alberts put the Indians ahead, but Wahpeton scored four straight to go up 20-17. Deng took his second shot attempt and missed a triple this time.
Down 24-20, FW/M went on a 6-0 run to catapult back in front. Alberts was fouled near the rim, but he missed the and-one. Wahpeton responded with a five-point play, landing a three and converting both free throws after a foul.
Senior Dorvan McKay scored his first points, and Lohnes converted a pair of free throws to give the Indians a slight 30-29 edge at halftime.
Lohnes was FW/M’s scoring leader at halftime with seven points. Alberts had six, all in the second quarter. Deng, who put up 29 in the season opener, only had three at the half. The Indians had numerous trips to the free throw line, but only saw mixed results at 13-of-21.
“Sonny, we told him in the locker room, ‘Just be patient,’” Smith said. “He’s a great passer. He was catching the ball and just letting it go, and that’s not like Sonny… I think Joran was probably the player of the game. I thought he played extremely, extremely well. Crashed the offensive boards and got some easy buckets, and played his tail off.”
The Indians seemed to regain some control in the opening minutes of the second half. Delorme chipped in with three points, building the lead to 34-29.
The Huskies didn’t score until 5:20 on a three by Mauch. But the basket spiraled into a rapid nine points and an 11-0 run. FW/M turned it over on consecutive possessions and gave up freebie layups to let Wahpeton soar ahead 40-34.
“We got a little lead, a very slight lead, and then they went on a run where we just kept turning the damn ball over. And I had to use most of my timeouts,” Smith said. “We’re not thinking very well. We’re not making good decisions. And then they just outworked us.”
The Indians held ground for the rest of the quarter, keeping it within a 47-44 margin heading into the fourth. They still struggled to get any game-changing offensive performances, but nine different players contributed to the points column.
Wahpeton missed a layup to open the fourth quarter, and Deng hit a massive three to tie it up at 47 apiece.
Deng scored eight in the second half to finish in double digits.
“Marial is one of our young leaders,” Smith said. “He has to be. He’s our only starter returning.”
The Indians turned it right back over, though, and Wahpeton took advantage to go ahead 51-47. FW/M trailed the rest of the way, unable to get into enough of a scoring groove to strike back.
The Huskies ran away with it in the final few minutes. Mauch finished with 19 points for Wahpeton after making another three. It was only in the game’s final stretch that the lead reached double digits.
But the damage was done.
“They didn’t know what kind of intensity they were gonna get, what kind of physicality they were gonna get,” Smith said. “And I thought they beat us, outworked us. We can’t have that.”
Next up, the Indians travel to the Minot State Dome for games against Dickinson Trinity and Beulah on Dec. 27 and 28.
