Killdeer upends New England in non-division, early-season matchup

Dec. 8—KILLDEER — The regions might be a little different, but the teams remain the same, as Killdeer played host to the New England Tigers (1-1) and sent them to their first loss of the 2023-24 calendar in a non-divisional matchup on Thursday, Dec. 7 with a resounding 62-42 victory that extended the Cowboys' record to 2-1. KHS had two players in double-figures — junior guard Abby Hardersen and sophomore standout Mickellyn Walker with 14 each — and a big second-quarter advantage proved to be too much for the Tigers to claw back into the game.

The first quarter was tight at 14-13 as sophomore forward Morgan Smith and junior center Lainey Kucera each poured in 4 points to pace Killdeer, while Tiger senior forward Sophie Olsonawski notched 6 and sophomore forward Kaillie Dinius notched 5 to keep matters close for New England, early-on.

But the breakout came for Killdeer in the second quarter as the Cowboys limited New England to only 8 points and Hardersen ripped off 7, which included a timely 3-pointer that was joined by another crucial tre from senior guard Josey Anderson to give the Cowboys a 32-21 halftime lead.

Killdeer pushed their advantage in the third quarter on 7 more from Hardersen and 3-pointers from Andersen and Walker, but Spanish exchange-student Noa Sancho responded with 6 of her 8 second-half points to try and keep New England in the game.

But Walker came alive for the Cowboys in the fourth period to score 7 points, which also included an important 3-pointer, and KHS scored 15 total to close out the game at 62-42. Olsonawski scored 6 of her game-high 17 points in the final eight minutes, but no other Tiger ended up in double-figures in the game. Dinius and Sancho each had 8 for the Tigers and Andersen combined with Kucera to score 16 — 8 each — for the home-team.

Next-up for Killdeer will be a Saturday, Dec. 9 matchup with Divide County at 34 p.m. — also non-divisional with Divide being in Division B-Region 4-District 7 — while New England will travel to Garrison on the same day for a 3 p.m. start time as well.

For more information about girls' prep basketball in North Dakota, please keep reading The Dickinson Press and/or visit the website at

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

.