ND Class B state girls basketball: Beach stays undefeated to top Central Cass for state crown

MINOT, N.D. - Perfect.

That's the only word needed to describe the undefeated Beach girls basketball team this season after it beat Central Cass 66-57 to capture the North Dakota Class B state championship Saturday at the Minot State University Dome.

It's Beach's third title after winning back-to-back championships in 1989-90.

Junior Emily Hardy sealed the win with 30 seconds left as she stole a Squirrels pass on her end of the court and then made an easy layup to cement the final score.

"It was kind of reassuring because I felt we had the game finally under control," Hardy said.

With Beach (26-0) up by six points and less than a minute left to play, junior Abby Weinreis and Hardy picked up two steals that took precious seconds off the clock.

Brittney Dietz scored a team-high 20 points and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Hardy scored 18 points and junior Weinreis added 14 points.

"It's all exciting, but without my team, I couldn't be anywhere today," Dietz said.

Midway through the fourth, it appeared for a few minutes that Hardy - the Buccaneers' second-leading scorer and leader in almost ever other category - was out after she fell to the floor and grabbed her right knee with 5 minutes, 30 seconds left.

She quickly came back though.

Beach head coach Bob Waldal said he had to rally the troops, remembering that the team lost to Dickinson Trinity in the Region 7 tournament semifinals last year after Hardy went down to injury.

"We got off Emily off the floor and I said, 'Let's win this for Emily,'" Waldal said.

After Hardy left, junior Jill Rising stepped up and converted a three-point play with 5:05 left after she was fouled by Central Cass sophomore Courtney Dixon on the way to the basket. The ensuing free throw gave Beach a 55-48 lead - its largest in the game up to that point.

"They are just a solid multi-dimensional team," Central Cass head coach Barb Kraft said. "Everybody can score and shoot, and that makes it a tough defensive matchup."

CC 13 29 40 57

B 16 29 45 66

CC: Kraft 26, Breske 11, Gegelman 9, Dixon 7, Voss 4.

B: Dietz 20, Hardy 18, Weinreis 14, Rising 8, Dolyniuk 6.

All-Tournament team

Brittney Dietz, Beach (MVP)

Shauna Long, Standing Rock

Eli Benz, Kidder County

Whitney Sponsler, Thompson

Taylor Kraft, Central Cass

Katie King, Kenmare

Abby Weinreis, Beach

Emily Hardy, Beach

Emily Thompson, Carrington

Bailey Hornberger, Beach, and Courtney Dixon, Central Cass (tie).

Third place

Carrington 84, Standing Rock 54

Sierra Rosenau had 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead Carrington to an 84-54 win over Standing Rock on Saturday in the third-place game at the North Dakota girls Class B basketball tournament.

Rosenau was 8-for-10 from the field and dished out five of the Cardinals' 20 assists.

Carrington (24-3) outscored the Warriors 30-11 in the third quarter to take charge. It shot 50 percent from the field, while Standing Rock (20-7) struggled at 34 percent.

Kali Kurtz and Emily Thompson had 16 points apiece and Noelle Braaten added 10.

The Cardinals owned a 48-28 rebounding advantage.

Shauna Long paced the Warriors with 18 points and five assists. Ryan White Bull had 10 points.

C 16 38 68 84

SR 18 26 37 54

C: Ingebretson 3, Scherr 7, Rosenau 20, Carr 2, Kurtz 16, Braaten 10, Roundy 4, Thompson 16, Harrington 4, Barton 2.

SR: Four Swords 2, American Horse 4, S. Long 18, Agard 8, M. Long 2, Bachmeier 2, White Bull 10, Demery 8.

Fifth place

Kenmare 64, Stanley 44

Macie Harris had six 3-pointers and 22 points to lead Kenmare to a win over Stanley in the fifth-place game.

Harris hit 8 of 13 shots from the field and dished out 5 assists for the Honkers (22-6). Joining her in double figures were Katie King with 20 points and Alexis Munson and Chelsey Zietz with 10 points apiece.

King made 9 of 14 shots from the field and grabbed a game-high 5 rebounds. Munson had 2 3-pointers.

Kenmare shot 59 percent from the field. It led 40-13 at halftime.

Stanley (21-6) did not have a 3-pointer. It got 12 points from Bailey Hornberger.

S 7 13 29 44

K 22 40 53 64

S: Ra. Mehus 8, Re. Mehus 9, Kuster 4, Hornberger 12, Meyer 2, C. Pappa 5, J. Pappa 4.

K: Harris 22, Munson 10, Zietz 10, Lemere 2, King 20.

Seventh place

Kidder County 71, Thompson 55

After two close losses, Kidder County turned things around Saturday to beat Thompson in the seventh-place game.

Eli Benz led the way with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists for the Pirates (24-3), whose two loses were by a combined 3 points. Kidder County was the 2009 champion.

The Pirates led 26-25 at the half but pulled away in the final two quarters. The team outshot Thompson 50 percent to 35 percent.

Shalee Martin chipped in 16 points and 10 rebounds as the Pirates outrebounded the Tommies 53-25.

Whitney Sponsler led Thompson (18-10) in scoring for the third straight game with 18 points. McKenna DeMoe added 15.

T 7 25 35 55

KC 13 26 41 71

T: Hegg 1, Weber 4, Brorby 4, DeMoe 15, Broyles 3, S. Galegher 7, Sponsler 18.

KC: A. Rangeloff 1, Ziesch 10, Benz 31, Kahl 7, Dockter 2, Scherbenske 4, Martin 16.

Jason Adkins is a writer for the Dickinson Press, which is owned by Forum Communications Co.