Shiloh slips by Titans in 61-55 shootout
Feb. 14—DICKINSON — After a nailbiting, 61-55 loss to Division A-Region 4 rivals Shiloh Christian on Tuesday, Feb. 13, Trinity's record dropped to 11-6 overall and 3-2 in the region with a pair of games awaiting later in the week. Tuesday's game was a thrill-ride all the way through and featured a seesaw set of circumstances, not-to-mention a game-high 24 points from senior guard Jake Shobe.
The first quarter ended at 13-10, Shiloh, with Shobe dropping in a 3-pointer and a pair of extra field goals for 7 points, while the Skyhawks used solid outside shooting to take the lead. But the second quarter was a barnburner for THS as freshman phenom Landon Knote dropped a pair of 3s through the iron and Shobe continued his impressive performance with 7 more points. Junior forward Kaden Ham added 4 more to the total as Trinity took a 29-20 lead into the locker rooms at the half.
The Titans took advantage of a 9-3 run to open the period and closed it with a resounding 10-2 run, with Knote's treys punctuating each session, while Shiloh Christian was left flagging on a single-digit, 7-point frame.
Coming out of the break, the teams traded body-blows throughout the third-quarter and the Skyhawks' outside-shooting took control on a trio of treys and 13 points from Wyatt Westin that helped the visitors post a 29-point quarter and take a 44-40 lead. Trinity responded with 4 from Shobe and 5 from Cade Fitterer's inside-game to keep the contest close heading into the final eight minutes.
As THS opened the period with a 6-2 run — helped by solid points-in-the-paint from senior forward Ty Dassinger — Shiloh Christian took advantage of a 9-2 run of their own. Early foul-trouble put a kink in the home-team's flow, as the Skyhawks headed to the free-throw line to convert 6-of-11 shots down the stretch.
"When you see the ball go through the hoop, mentally the basket gets bigger and that's what happened with Shiloh in the third quarter when the Westin kid hit a couple shots early on; it really got their whole team going," Trinity head basketball coach Gregg Grinsteinner said. "It also got them into the flow of the game and they started going hard and attacking the rim and got to the free-throw line or shot layups or a kick-out 3 and it seemed like everything we had to get we had to work our tail off and we had an opportunity to finish, we didn't."
Shobe scored his final 6 points in the frame, but the Titans were outscored, 17-15, which sealed the win for Shiloh Christian (14-5, 4-1), with Westin scoring a team-high 20 points.
"The biggest thing I saw is in the first half we executed on both ends of the floor, but in the second half — especially in the fourth quarter — we got down there and made a couple runs, but every time we needed to make a play, we didn't and they did and that was the difference in the game," Grinsteinner said. "We had opportunities and chances, we had good shots inside we didn't finish and we had a block-out we didn't make. And give them credit: They practice as well, and they made the plays and it was a matter of who was going to make the most plays in the end and they made the most plays in the fourth quarter."
After heading to Watford City on Thursday, Trinity will host Bowman County on Feb. 16.
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
.
