E/K-M girls' hoops survive battle in 45-34 win over Linton/HMB

Feb. 10—JAMESTOWN — The Edgeley/Kulm-Montpelier Rebels pulled away late in a 45-34 win over Linton/Hazelton-Moffit-Braddock on Saturday, Feb. 10, at The Jamestown Civic Center in the District 2 tournament.

"I just told them that I was really proud of them because it was a tie game in the fourth quarter," Rebels head coach Rory Entzi said. "So, for us to come out and accomplish, win, whatever you want to say, that's important. I mean, we've got some kids that have some experience so I think that helped a little but no, it's kind of a little bit speechless, I ain't gonna lie but I told them I was proud of them. I thought we played really well. We chart possessions and in the fourth quarter we executed down the stretch."

The teams went back and forth throughout the first quarter as the Rebels went into the second up 10-8. The Rebels (17-4) pushed the lead out to 19-10 early in the second quarter before the Lions were able to get it down to 19-14. The Rebels scored to make it 21-14 before the Lions responded with a bucket of their own to cut the deficit to 21-16 at the half.

During the first half, the Rebels ran their offense primarily through Mataeya Mathern as the University of North Dakota bound senior had nine of the team's 21 points. The Lions were running their offense through Jersey Vogel as she had eight of their 16 points.

The Lions (15-6) broke the seal on the basket in the second half early in the third quarter as Brooklyn Schumacher hit a three to cut the deficit to 21-19. The teams traded runs throughout the remainder of the quarter as the game went into the fourth quarter tied at 27.

"I think honestly what turned the game around was just our team coming together," Mathern said. "We were calm and we all pitched in and we came together as one, which is what our coach preaches every day, when we face adversity, we gotta come together and that's what we did."

The Lions took a 29-27 lead midway through the fourth before the Rebels tied it up at the stripe and retook the lead at 30-29. That started a 15-5 run that saw the Rebels pull away and get the 11 point win.

"Honestly, I think they changed defenses well and I just think we were exhausted," Lions head coach Michael Schirado said. "I think we were fatigued and they didn't do anything that we didn't expect them to do. We had good looks, we just missed some shots and we were tired. I wish I could've subbed a little more and those things but we still had good looks down the stretch there and I was proud of just the effort there and even how we executed and sometimes you just miss shots at the end of a game."

The Rebels look to win the District 2 championship at 7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 12, when they take on the winner of the game between LaMoure/Litchville-Marion and Kidder County.

L/HMB 34, E/K-M 45

L/HMB: 8 8 11 7 — 38

E/K-M: 10 11 6 18 — 45

Points leaders:

L/HMB: Jersey Vogel 10, Emma Weiser 8, Amber McCrory 8, Allie Dockter 5

E/K-M: Mataeya Mathern 19, Abby Mathern 8, Jaelyn Bertsch 7

Assists leaders:

L/HMB: Dockter 1, Vogel 1

E/K-M: Libby Mathern 4, Betsy Huber 2, M. Mathern 1, Bertsch 1

Leading rebounders:

L/HMB: Weiser 5, Schumacher 5, Dockter 4, Avery Vandervorst 3, McCrory 2

E/K-M: L. Mathern 11, Grace Irey 7, M. Mathern 5

Full Bracket is Below:

Play in-game:

#9 South Border 68 at #8 Ellendale 76

First Round 2/9:

#8 Ellendale 51 at #1 Edgeley/Kulm-Montpelier 84

#5 Napoleon/Gackle-Streeter 40 at #4 Linton-HMB 54

#7 Medina/Pingree-Buchanan 30 at #2 LaMoure/Litchville-Marion 60

#6 Strasburg-Zeeland 26 at #3 Kidder County 54

Second Round 2/10:

#8 Ellendale 40 at #5 Napoleon/Gackle-Streeter 56

#7 Medina/Pingree-Buchanan 44 at #6 Strasburg-Zeeland 26

#4 Linton/Hazelton-Moffit-Braddock 34 at #1 Edgeley/Kulm-Montpelier 54

#3 Kidder County at #2 LaMoure/Litchville-Marion, 7:30 p.m.