Trinity tripped-up by Shiloh, 68-60, on the road

Jan. 31—SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA — With a tough road-loss to Shiloh Christian on Tuesday, Jan. 30, the Trinity Titans fell to 9-7 overall and 2-2 in Division A-Region 4, while in other area action New England chipped away the rust and earned a 49-32 home-win over Mandaree to break a two-game losing skid.

Shiloh Christian jumped all over THS in the first quarter and opened up a 24-12 lead, but the Titans never gave up and clawed back to within 6 points at the half at a 36-30 deficit. Senior guard Ava Jahner kept matters close with 5 points and junior forward Bella Kovash knocked down a 3-pointer for the visitors, but sophomore guard Annabel Scheeler again was key for Trinity, scoring 11 first-half points to help them get back into the game and outscore their hosts, 18-12 in the eight minutes before the break.

"Shiloh really came out fast in the first quarter," Trinity head girls basketball coach Jared Scheeler said. "It was 16-2 at the 4-minute mark and I can't remember the last time we gave up that many points in four minutes; they just couldn't miss.

He added, "We settled down toward the end of the first quarter, played solid defense in the second quarter and went on a nice run to finish the half down 36-30."

Coming out of the locker rooms, eighth-grader Kambree Fleck scored 4, and Annabel Scheeler added 4 more to her total and in the final frame came away with another 10 of her game-high 25 points — which included a pair 3-pointers in the second half — and Kovash added 4 second-half points to her near-double-digit total of 9.

While Trinity outscored the home-team, 18-16, in the final frame, it proved insufficient to needs, and now the Titans will get ready to host Bismarck St. Mary's in a non-district matchup on Thursday, Feb. 1 at the Knights of Columbus Activities Center at 4:30 p.m., with the boys game to follow.

"Once we settled in and learned how to navigate their pressure defense we played good offensive basketball," Scheeler said. "It was a great learning experience to face that pressure, because we learned how to take care of the ball."

He added, "Annabel played pretty aggressively by taking the ball to the basket. When a 5'5" guard makes eight layups in a game, that's a good thing."

Trinity actually outshot the Skyhawks from the field, 55% to 53.7%, but fared only 5-of-11 from the free-throw line. Individually, Nevaeh Tormaschy led the way in rebounds with 5 and Kovash dished a game-high 6 assists while snagging 3 steals.

New England improved to 7-10 overall with the win over non-district Mandaree (8-9 overall), and now will get ready to face Hettinger-Scranton in a crucial, Region 3-District 5 matchup on Thursday, Feb. 1. The Tigers posted a 15-12, first-quarter lead on the way to a 21-16 advantage at the half on the strength of senior guard Sophie Olsonawski's 11 points in the opening 16 minutes of play.

In addition, NEHS held the Warriors to single-digits in the second and fourth quarters to outlast Mandaree, as Olsonawaski added 4 more to her game-high 15 points in the final 16 minutes. While New England converted 7-of-12 from the charity-stripe — including 4-of-4 in the second half for sophomore guard Carly Wolf — the Tigers came alive in the final frame as Sophie's sister, Meadow, dropped in a pair of treys and the home-team outscored the visitors, 18-6, down the stretch to take the victory.

Wolf ended up with 13 points, while sophomore guard Emma Olsonawski joined her sisters on the scoresheet with 9.

Despite double-digit production from a trio of Raiders, Richardton-Taylor fell to 3-11 overall after a home-defeat to non-district Wilton-Wing on Tuesday, Jan. 30 after a brutal opening quarter, but RTHS was able to chip-away at the score and almost upend the 12-2 Miners.

After falling behind to a 16-8 deficit after 8 minutes, the Raiders poured in 16 points before the break and close the gap to 29-24. Chase Christensen ripped off 14 first-half points in the effort, on his way to a team-high 18.

In the second half, Caisen Dohrmann went to town, scoring 8 of his double-digit 12 points, and added 13 rebounds to keep the home-team in the game. Christensen added 4 more to his total in the closing quarter and Matthew Aune dropped in a trey along with Marcus Cuevas and Kane Rivinius, who scored 6 of his 10 points in the second half.

Next-up for Richardton-Taylor will be a visit from Beach on Feb. 9.

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

.