Advertisement

Blue Jays outlast Braves, clinch No. 4 seed at WDA tournament

Feb. 23—The last scoring play at Jerry Meyer Arena did not go at all how the Blue Jays planned but that's when Jamestown High School head girls basketball coach Andy Skunberg is glad he has seasoned players like Hunter Petersen and Annie Nabwe on his team.

Jamestown and Mandan were tied at 65 with 19.2 seconds left to play in the Jays' last regular-season game of the season, when Ella Falk inbounded the ball to Katie Trumbauer who then found Petersen who dished out an underhanded pass out to Nabwe who laid it in for two.

"It was not how the play was supposed to go at all but Katie (Trumbauer) was passing me the ball and found an opening," Petersen said. "I saw (Nabwe) right at my peripheral and I just went for it.

"I am confident in Annie at the rim, she's really strong. It was so exciting — it was like — yes!"

The Jays rode out the final 10.4 seconds to defeat Mandan 67-65 to bring their regular season record to 11-7 and 12-7 overall,

The win secured the No. 4 seed for the Jays heading into next week's Regional Tournament. Jamestown will face fifth-seeded Bismark Legacy in their quarterfinal tilt on Mar. 3 at the Bismarck Events Center.

Jamestown swept the Sabers during the regular season.

"It feels good going into WDAs on a little bit on a win streak," Skunberg said. "Hopefully that gives us a little bit of confidence because no everyone's record is 0-0, we throw out the last 21 games and we all start fresh."

While it was a win for the Jays, the game was perhaps a little closer than the Jays would have liked.

From the opening tip, the Jays were speedy in their delivery, putting together a 14-4 run early in the first half.

McKenna Johnson, a 6-foot-2 freshman for the Braves recorded all four points before her second personal foul forced Mandan head coach Shaun Henderson to bench his prime offensive threat.

A couple of bobbled passes and bricks lobbed at the basket kept scoring to a minimum until Hunter Petersen launched a three-pointer to make it a 17-6 Blue Jay game. Rylee Joseph extended the Jays' lead to 15 points, with a deep shot that came from behind the arc.

The Braves went more than six minutes without landing a field goal but a couple of key plays from Mya Sheldon and Morgan Sheldon switched the momentum.

Mya's trey from the left pocket was followed by a pair of buckets from Morgan, which cut the Jays' lead to eight.

Harper Harris joined in the scoring fun hitting three from beyond the arc to help put the visitors up 24-23. Defensively, the Braves got in the Jays' grills for the full 94 feet, causing a lot of problems on the offensive end for the home team.

In the last eight minutes of play, Jamestown was held to 11 total points coming off shots from Katie Falk, Katie Trumbauer, Ella Falk and Annie Nabwe. The Falk duo led the Jays in total first-half scoring with seven points each.

Katie was key under the hoop, nabbing seven boards against the Braves' press. Nabwe only managed four points but managed to grab 12 rebounds.

A 6-0 run by Morgan Sheldon retook the lead for the Braves, putting them up by one with less than three minutes off the clock. Sheldon dropped in another pair of buckets to make it 42-41 Braves.

"Credit Mandan," Skunberg said. "They didn't give up and they hit shots, they hit transition shots, got turnovers and they got us flustered a little bit and they battled back.

"We knew it would be a close game. It was the first time."

Where Mandan got lucky was at the charity stripe where on six straight possessions they went to the line. Five of the personal foul calls were and-ones. The Braves were 11-14 at the line while the Jays were 6-17.

Jamestown regained its rhythm in the last few minutes of the game, keeping the game to within six points. Nabwe notched a double-double for the Jays recording 12 points and 17 rebounds while Katie hopped up to grab 12 boards and 13 points.

Petersen said while the game was nerve-wracking at certain points, the Jays just had to slow down their pace of play in order to stay composed and avoid turnovers down the stretch.

Staying composed is a feat the Jays will likely need to adapt come West Region Tournament time.

"It was nerve-wracking but I love how hard we work for each other Petersen said. "We encourage each other all the time and with our chemistry, we know each other's strengths and weaknesses. I love playing with everyone."

J

HS — Falk 13, 12 Annie Nabwe 12, 17 reb, Joseph 12 points, Ella 13, 9 rebounds, 6-14,.

MAN — 10-14 FT,

Jamestown 67, Mandan 65

MAN 30 35 — 65

JHS 32 35 — 67

MAN — Morgan Sheldon 24, McKenna Johnson 10, Harper Harris 9, Piper Harris 8, Mya Sheldon 5, Jordan Toman 4, Hailey Markel 3, Faith Eberle 2. Totals: 25 FG, 11-14 FT, 16 fouls. 3-pointers: H. Harris 3, P. Harris 1, Mya Sheldon.

JHS — Katie Falk 13, Ella Falk 13, Annie Nabwe 12, Rylee Joseph 12, Petersen 9, Trumbauer 6, Teagan Bosche 2.