Destiny strikes for Bowman County

Feb. 24—DICKINSON — Third-time (or the third quarter to be exact) turned out to be the charm.

The #1-seeded Bowman County Bulldogs dug their way to a win in the Region 7 Class B girls tournament at the Knights of Columbus Activities Center on Thursday, Feb. 23 to advance to the state tourney for the first time in 15 years.

The region's Class B Senior Athlete of the Year, Ellie Powell, delivered 14 points, and had a solid defensive game with 14 rebounds. But her sophomore teammate Raegan Honeyman — who scored a game-high 24 points — not only kept the Bulldogs in the contest, but provided solid play in the key and low-post to cement her future at the school (regardless of what happens when the Bulldogs get seeded in the state tourney at Minot). Honeyman brought the fans to their feet every time she sank a shot.

"It's a crazy feeling, I don't know; it's just a lot of emotions right now that come with it," Honeyman said. "(Ellie) got into foul trouble early in the first quarter, so I had to come to play."

With the win, Powell expressed her own level of satisfaction while recognizing the job isn't quite yet finished as the state tournament approaches on Mar. 2 at the Minot State Dome in Minot.

"This game was definitely a dogfight and we knew that coming in that they were going to give us everything they had and we knew we just had to give it more," Powell said. "It was a fight until the end and we just came out on top.

"We definitely have a lot of business to complete; we've reached our goal but we need to set a new goal at state since we haven't been there in 15 years. We just have to do what we need to do as a team and play together."

When you sit in the stands during a high-school playoff game, regardless of the sport, you're there for what MIGHT happen. And when it does? The goosebumps raise and the sweat breaks out; you lose control of yourself. The sounds, excitement and enjoyment soak through the layers of clothing and into your marrow ... because it feels that good.

Grant County/Mott-Regent came into the Region 7 Class B final game versus Bowman County with the best of goals: winning — and they did (if you're a GCMR fan) in the first half.

As far as fear and concern could be addressed, the GCMR "Wildfire-Coyotes" — still an awesome mascot idea — dealt with that in the first 16 minutes of the game. They beat back the #1-seed with grit, determination and heart to push the matter throughout the entire first half.

The score at the end of the first quarter was 12-14, and for all the right reasons. Two ties and a lead-change make for a good opening period, and there would be way more than that in the subsequent 24 minutes. From the moment the opening quarter was under way, GCMR was feeling it.

And who doesn't love an underdog?

The teams alternated scores in the opening seconds of the second quarter as well, but Bowman County put together a 7-0 run later at the 3:22 mark that opened some distance with their Region 7 rivals, and the pressure built. For the remainder of the half, GCMR kept the pressure on, scoring on a 7-2 run to close out the half at 28-26 ... tight as a tick.

Scores? Almost even. Rebounds? Even at 18. Assists? 6-4 advantage in favor of the Bulldogs. Honestly, even free-throws were pretty close.

But, when a set of teams come out of the locker rooms at the half, you never know what's gonna happen.

From the beginning of the second half onward, destiny struck for Bowman County, and they offered up a third quarter for the (WDA) ages.

Zoey Heid, who had a hard-working first-half for GCMR with 5 points and 3 rebounds — helped pace teammates Ameerah Rosin and Anna Schatz (also with 5 points in a team-effort, exceeded only by Samantha Greff's 8 first-half total) to help stay even, and scored the opening trey of the second half for GCMR.

But when the floodgates opened for the Bulldogs, they broke open the spigot in that crucial third quarter with a 25-13 advantage that Bulldog fans will remember for some time.

The Bulldogs went on an 11-5 run in the opening minutes of the third — with 6 coming from Powell that completely changed the dynamic of the game. Schatz sank 5 points for GCMR to keep it close, but Bowman County would not be denied.

A 9-1 run in the latter stages of the third quarter proved to be the difference, as the Bulldogs took a 48-36 advantage with 1:35 left in the period, and they extended that lead on a 3-pointer from Sophia Headley with less than a minute left to play in the 3rd.

With a 53-39 lead in the first seconds of the fourth, it was all she wrote ... and "she" happened to be Bowman County's Powell and Julie Sarsland, who scored 9 down the stretch to add to Powell's production.

There were numerous individual honors in the game, with Bowman County's Powell nailing down player of the year for Region 7 — for the season — and head coach Jaci Mrnak being named coach of the year. As the team heads to Minot for the state title ... all bets are off.

"We're not finished yet, we've got a lot of business to finish here this next week and prepare for the next level," Mrnak said. "Since 2008, we've not been back to state, so we're going to savor this moment, we're going to enjoy it and we're going to celebrate it and we're going to be very excited."

Bowman County also sank the all-important fourth-quarter free-throws that come when a team is playing from behind, shooting 7-of-10 from the charity stripe in the final period and were 10-of-16 for the game. In the end, GCMR forced the Bulldogs into 20 turnovers, but Bowman held an advantage on the boards, 37-32, and shot 56-percent from the field, compared to 32-percent for GCMR.

Grant County/Mott-Region head coach Sara Seidler was proud of the way her team performed in the tight, first-half struggle, and said she is looking forward to improving on an already strong showing for the first year of the area's co-op.

"It wasn't a lack of heart or hustle, because they were still giving it their all and fighting as much as they could to stay in the game," Seidler said. "They've been like that all season long. We're a smaller group, but these girls they fight hard and always give it all they can all the time and that's every coach's dream."

In other action in the third-place game, Beulah took home the win in a 57-53 contest that was close throughout. Taking a slim, 27-26 advantage into the locker room, the Miners were able to break the contest open with a 16-9 third quarter that proved to be the difference, and outlasted the Bearcats the rest of the way on the strength of a game-high 24 points from Harys Beauchamp and 13 more from Shea Barron. Kaley Schatz contributed 17 for the Bearcats, and Cassidy Christensen added another 13 in the game.

In post-game honors, the All-Region 7 Girls Team was announced, and featured Bowman County's Jaci Fischer, Powell and Anna Schatz and Kaley Schatz, along with Hannah Frank, Mickelynn Walker, Annabel Scheeler, Laela Jensen, Beauchamp, Greff, Taylor Christensen, Jenna Koppelsloen, Mikenna Brunmeier andTyra Feldman.

"All those girls on the All-Region Team, they deserve it," Mrnak said. "They're great players and they played well all season and I'm very proud of Ellie for getting the Senior Athlete of the Year; she deserves it."