Turnovers, transitions aid Night Hawks in victory

Turnovers plagued the Titans in the opening quarter. They made three shots and had few more opportunities, as the Night Hawks kept stealing the ball or blocking passes. Hettinger-Scranton led 14-6 after one quarter.

"When we turn the ball over, they are lightning quick in transition," Dickinson Trinity head coach Carter Fong said. "They, as well as anyone, have the athletes who can turn turnovers into points. Early in the game that was huge and that's a big reason we trailed there at the half."

Dickinson Trinity was down 25-18 at the half, but a three pointer from Josie Glaser kicked off a 17-point third quarter for the Titans.

Following the shot from the arc, Glaser completed a three point play and sunk another free throw by quarters end. She scored seven of her 18 points in the third.

Freshman forward Abbey Kubas scored 14 for the Titans. Senior guard Megan Krebs followed with six points and junior guard/forward Alexa Walby earned five.

"At halftime, we talked all about (Hettinger-Scranton junior guard) Abbie Kludt and how to provide help to stop her," Fong said. "Well, that allowed the kickout to their shooters on the perimeter. We wanted to make them prove that they could knock down those shots."

Night Hawks senior Molly Holt proved that they could.

With the game tied at 38 in the early moments of the fourth quarter, Holt drained two consecutive three-pointers, giving her team a 44-38 lead.

A three from sophomore Alyssa Andress and another from Holt rounded out the three-pointers for Hettinger-Scranton, all of which came in the final frame.

"When we weren't getting the threes, we weren't moving the basketball," Night Hawks head coach Kelly Pierce said. "We needed to get to the third side of the floor. And then we felt like we could get a lot of the shots we wanted."

The Titans (7-7, 2-3 Region 7) defense did succeed in shutting down Kludt, though.

Kludt scored 17 points on the night, 12 of which came in the first half. She scored one basket with one minute gone in the third quarter, which would be her last. However, she did add three free throws, helping the Night Hawks (10-3, 3-1 Region 7) go 13-for-17 from the foul line.

Holt scored 11 of her 15 points in the second half and freshman Sam Oase scored 10 of her 14 points in the latter half of the game.

"That's what I always look at as a sign of a good team," Pierce said. "If the team can take away what we want to do, but we can still gut out a win, that's what I like to see."

With the win, Hettinger-Scranton extends its win streak to three games and overall record to 10-3.

"I think each team made some good adjustments throughout the game," Fong said. "I think they hit a couple more big shots down the stretch when they needed them and that ended up being the difference."

Hettinger-Scranton 57, Dickinson Trinity 50

HS 14 11 11 21

DT 6 12 17 15

HS: Abbie Kludt 17, Molly Holt 15, Sam Oase 14, Alyssa Andress 9, Callie Anderson 2.

DT: Josie Glaser 18, Abbey Kubas 14, Megan Krebs 6, Alexa Walby 5, Bre Tessier 3, Masy Kuntz 2, Jordie McNeilly 2.

3-pointers: HS 4 (Holt 3), DT 5 (Glaser 4). Free throws: HS 13-17, DT 3-9. Total fouls: HS 12, DT 15. Technical fouls: DT, Kubas. Records: HS 10-3 (Region 7 3-1), DT 7-7 (Region 7 2-3).