"It was a tale of two halves": DHS girls basketball falls flat in second half against Bismarck

Sitting with a lead at the halftime break, the Midgets quickly had their advantage wrestled away, losing to Bismarck High 57-37 on Thursday, Jan. 23 from DHS Gym.

Dickinson committed 34 turnovers and gave up 10 offensive rebounds, six of which came in the second half.

"It was a tale of two halves," Dickinson head coach James Hayden said. "We came out with a ton of intensity. Every single possession in that first half mattered for us. And then in the second half, we got a little bit lazy and you can tell that [Bismarck's] game plan coming out in the second half was that pressure aspect. They forced us into a lot of lazy passes and bad turnovers and they capitalized."

The Midgets played full court man-to-man defense for much of the opening half. After a made basket or the ball was inbounded, a Dickinson defender would be draped on the Bismarck ball handler dribbling up the court.

Their man-to-man defense was equally as intense in the half court, limiting the amount of decent looks inside. Even while briefly switching to a zone defense, Dickinson still forced Bismarck many low percentage from the outside.

The Midgets' hounding pressure enabled them to build a nine-point advantage twice in the first half.

After a strong left-handed drive to the basket, sophomore guard Peyton Selle gave Dickinson a 17-8 lead following a nifty right-handed finish at the rim.

Bismarck closed deficit to three before an out of bounds play resulted in an easy two for senior forward Kelsey Privratsky, pushing their lead back to nine, 27-18.

A couple feet behind the line, Bismarck junior guard Mady Mosolf buried deep 3-pointer with seconds remaining in the first half as Dickinson carried a 27-21 lead at the half.

"Our defensive effort and intensity was incredible," Hayden said. "To hold a team like that to 21 points in the first half, the defensive pressure was great."

However in a flash, Bismarck roared out of the locker room, ripping off massive runs, rocketing by the orange and white, and seizing control of the game.

Bismarck scored the first seven points of the half after Mosolf nailed a corner 3-pointer, giving the Demons their first lead since scoring the game's opening basket.

While Selle and sophomore forward Audrey Rodakowski had their shots from inside the paint roll off the rim on one side of the floor, Bismarck's run ballooned to 12-0 following a 3-pointer and a hook shot off of an offensive rebound from junior forward Hannah Golus.

Selle broke the surge with a bucket inside, but by that point, the momentum was all one-sided as Bismarck went on another 7-0 run.

"We made some shots in the second half, which obviously is going to help, but the biggest thing is that we caught, we faced and didn't let them pressure us," Bismarck head coach Bill Shelter said. "In the second half, we played a little bit better tempo to start and made some shots because of it."

Matching Dickinson's first half pressure, the Demons pushed their advantage into double figures by trapping the Midgets, causing multiple 10-second violations.

Their defense in the half court was equally as intense as Dickinson often turned the ball over after ball handlers picked up their dribble and delivered poor passes.

The Midgets got as close as 44-35, but Bismarck ended matters with an 11-0 run following a basket inside by sophomore forward Olivia Dickinson.

Mosolf led all scores with 16 points while Golus chipped in 12 points.

Junior guard Gabby Jung led the Midgets with 14 points. Selle added 10 points and nine rebounds.

"There's a million of things we can take away for sure," Hayden said. "The first half I think proves to our team who we are. We can compete with anybody as long as we play like that for 36 minutes. It's just the consistency has to be there. I told the girls our effort tonight was unbelievable. It was a great effort all the way around. The problem we have to solve as coaches is figuring out ways that we can not turn the basketball over. If we can collective find ways to take care of the basketball, we are going to be alright going down the stretch."

Bismarck High 57, Dickinson High 37

B: Mady Mosolf 16, Hannah Golus 12, Megan Henderson 10, Olivia Dickerson 8, Dani Korsmo 4, Cadee Ryckman 3, Mak Maher 2, Maddy Steckler 2.

D: Gabby Jung 14, Peyton Selle 10, McKenna Weiler 3, Audrey Rodakowski 3, Kendryn Bullinger 3, Madi Lindley 2.

Halftime: D 27, B 21. 3-pointers: B 5 (Mosolf 4), D 4 (Jung 2). Free throws: B 8-,17 D 11-17. Total fouls: B 18, D 18. Fouled out: 1 (B: Dickerson). Rebounds: B 33 (Ryckman 10), D 41 (Selle 9). Assists: B 0, D 2 (Jung 1, Bullinger 1). Steals: B 14 (Golus 4), D 9 (Jung 3). Blocks: B 1 (Ryckman 1), D 2 (Jung 2). Turnovers: B 23, D 34. Records: B 8-6 (Region 7 6-5), D 4-9 (Region 7 3-8).