Mar 4, 2024
The Dawson Community College Buccaneers season ended on Sunday afternoon in the Region XIII Championship Game. The North Dakota State College of Science Wildcats beat them for the third time 90-70. The Wildcats are 31-1 on the year. Their only loss was to Dawson back in November. They will advance to the District Championship Game with a chance to qualify for Nationals. Dawson finished the season with a 25-7 record.
"My heart hurts right now," explained Dawson Coach Joe Peterson. "I hurt for these special sophomores we have that have given so much to our program, school and community. I so badly wanted them to have the experience of winning the region and playing in a district championship for a chance at Hutch. I'm sad that this season is over. I was hoping for a few more weeks with this group of guys. I didn't want it to end. They are special players and special people."
The first half looked like this championship game was poised to be a great one, similar to the other three meetings between these heavyweights when it came down to the final minutes. There were four ties and two lead changes in the first half. Seth Amunrud connected from long range twice to give Dawson a 6-2 lead in the opening minutes, but Benjamin Fort caught fire later on, connecting four times from long range in the first half to score 12 points. Dawson forced nine turnovers in the half and scored 13 points off those turnovers. They also collected 10 offensive rebounds, though they only managed to score 3 second chance points. 7'2 Calvin Sisk really impacted the game on the defensive end for NDSCS by blocking three shots in the opening twenty minutes and affecting many others. He also pulled down 6 rebounds. The half ended with an emphatic dunk from Sisk as NDSCS broke the press of Dawson and capitalized. That gave them a narrow 39-34 advantage heading into the break.
In the second half, the Wildcats defense really tightened up, holding Dawson scoreless for the first five minutes. NDSCS went on an 18-3 run to take control of the game. Fort scored 14 points again in the second half, but this time it wasn't by hitting 3-pointers, it was by driving to the basket and getting to the free throw line. Dawson mounted several runs to cut into the lead, but could never get it back to single digits. The Wildcats answered every run. Even though Dawson only turned it over ten times in the game, their shots wouldn't fall. Dawson shot 26% from the field in the second half and 31% for the game.
Peterson continued, "You have to give NDSCS credit. They played tougher defensively in that second half than any team I've seen in a long, long time. They are old and mature, and knew what they needed to do to take care of business. They don't ever beat themselves. They are as well coached as any team you will ever play. I hope they can keep winning and make a run at Nationals."
NDSCS's Benjamin Fort finished with a game high 28 points and Peyton Newbern had 21 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists.
Jordan Jasper led Dawson with 19 points and Seth Amunrud had 18 points. Demetric Kindle also scored in double figures with 12 points.