No. 7 Valley City girls basketball upsets No. 2 Bottineau in first Division A state quarterfinal
Feb. 29—MINOT — The Valley City girls basketball team had the lead in Thursday's North Dakota Division A state quarterfinal game against No. 2 Bottineau for just nine minutes.
But the No. 7 Hi-Liners had the lead when they needed it. Sophomore Dacota Potratz hit a short jumper with 21 seconds left to take a 62-61 lead over the Stars en route to a 64-61 victory.
"That's her move," Valley City coach Jimmy Howard said. "I thought about calling a timeout. When she got to the high post area, I knew what was coming. She shoots that shot really well, but I thought we'd have a good chance at an offensive rebound on the backside with Katie Burchill, so I let them play that out. Worked out in our benefit, and a shot that Cota has shot probably thousands of times."
Valley City expanded its lead after a scramble for the ball at halfcourt led to a Bottineau foul and Valley City free throws. Bottineau coach Michael Vandal tried to call a timeout during the scramble but didn't get one.
Tesa Olson hit both of her free throws, giving Valley City the win. The 19-7 Hi-Liners advance to the semifinals Friday in its first state appearance since 2014.
"We have a very gritty, tough group," Howard said. "We know that defense is what has gotten us here. We got the stops we needed at the end, made them uncomfortable. Got a couple of turnovers and were able to execute on the offensive end to get enough points to get (it) done."
The Hi-Liners will play No. 3 Devils Lake in the first semifinal at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Minot State Dome.
"We've never been in this position before," Drew Potratz said. "I've never even been on the bench in this position before, so this is super exciting for my senior year. Me and Tesa have been playing together forever, and it's just so fun. I'm so excited."
Olson led Valley City with 16 points, and Katie Burchill had a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds — seven of them coming on the offensive glass. Greta Goven ended with 12 points and nine rebounds.
The Hi-Liners shot 38.3% in the win and didn't connect on a three-pointer. Valley City tallied 14 steals in the win.
"We knew it wasn't going to be easy," Vandal said. "They just outworked us. We didn't make the plays, and they did."
Bottineau (22-3) was led by Hallie Nero, who ended with 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Kylie Simpson has 14 points, nine of them coming in the second half, and Kyra Beckman had 12 points and seven rebounds.
Beckman passed 1,000 career points in the game.
"She'd much rather have the win," Vandal said.
For Valley City, the win means "everything," Howard said.
"It's huge for our program," he continued. "It's huge for our school. Not been in the state tournament for 10 years, and now winning a game at the state tournament. I was with the team 10 years ago. We didn't win. We went 0-2, so getting that first win — it means everything to these girls. I just think it's very special."
