Bowman County gnarls Eagles, 68-27, remain perfect at 13-0

Jan. 31—SOUTH HEART — It would be a tough task for any team, but hosting the number-one-ranked Bowman County Bulldogs on Tuesday, Jan. 30 turned out to be just another link in the chain as the visitors remained perfect at 13-0 and extended their Division B/Region 3-District 5 record to 6-0 via a 68-27 score. Bowman County was relentless all game, pressuring on defense and converting those plays into transition baskets, while creating havoc in the backcourt and stifling the home-standing South Heart Eagles and dropping them to 2-12, overall.

"We want to be the best team we can, come the district tournament, and Bowman County's going to do that to you; there's a reason they're number-one in the state: They're loaded with athletes, they're an exciting, electric team and they're well-coached," South Heart head basketball coach Erik Klein said. "So, we're going to take some of the positives we saw tonight and add that onto the next game and the next practice, and we're going to keep building."

SHHS was limited to single-digit scoring in three-of-four quarters in the matchup, as the Bulldogs raced to a 25-4 lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back. At the halftime break, the Bulldogs were up by a commanding 39-15 advantage as senior guard Bohden Duffield paced the team with 12 first-half points. His brother, Bishop, contributed 7, along with senior guard Nate Dix, while classmate Kyler Paulson came off the bench to score the same total over the opening 16 minutes of play.

"We don't know any other way than to play hard, and if we're not going to play hard that's a disservice for all the people that are here supporting us and for those kids that are injured and can't play," BCHS head coach Ronnie Stewart said. "We need to play as hard as we can at all times."

For South Heart (1-4 in District 5), freshman sensation Garrett Bargmann had 7 of his team-high 15 points in the first half, and he added two more of his trio of 3-pointers in the second half, but no other Eagle player managed to get into double-digits on the night.

But the Bulldogs weren't finished, as they kept on the pressure coming out of the break and scored another 17 in the third quarter and 12 more in the final frame. Bohden Duffield added another trey on his way to a game-high 23 points, while Bishop notched another 7 for his double-digit total of 14. Meanwhile, Dix ended up close to double-figures with 9 — along with Paulson — and the 'Dawgs sank 5-of-9 from the free-throw line during the contest.

"We know, too, the more quality competition that we play, the opportunities to be able to do what we want are going to slim down a little bit, so we need to stay focused to capitalize on those opportunities," Stewart said. "We know that every team is going to give us their best effort, and that's what we want; just because of the fact that — on-paper — we're number-one that any team is going to bow down to us."

Next-up for South Heart will be a trip to Flasher on Friday, Feb. 2, while the Bulldogs will host Beach the same evening.

For more information about prep basketball in North Dakota, please keep reading your Dickinson Press and/or visit the websites at

https://ndhsaanow.com/teams/basketball-boys

and

https://ndhsaanow.com/teams/basketball-girls

.