Region XIII Championship Game Preview
As the #1 seed in the Region XIII Tournament, Dawson will be hosting the Region Championship Game on Sunday at 4:00 pm. The last time Dawson hosted the championship was four years ago when they beat North Dakota State College of Science. This time around they will be facing a tough Williston State College team.
Williston is 23-7 on the season and beat Dawson back on February 23rd 105-92. Dawson won their first two matchups 91-72 and 102-79. Williston has won 7 of their last 8 games overall. The Bucs are 28-3 overall and have won 15 of their last 16 games.
The Bucs are ranked #22 in two of the Junior College national polls and #17 in the media poll. They are #1 in the country in scoring with 3,174 and #2 in wins with 28. They also rank in the top ten in scoring average (102.4), field goals made (1182), field goal percentage (51%), 3 point field goals made (292), offensive efficiency (1.2), net efficiency (0.258), steals (13.4) and turnovers forced (20.1). The Buccaneers lead the Mon-Dak Conference in eight statistical categories and were 2nd in six others.
Seth Amunrud and Justin Asi have led the way for Dawson. Amunrud was the 3rd leading scorer in the conference at 21.4 points per game and the 15th leading scorer in the nation. He had the highest 3-point percentage in the conference and the 9th best in the country at 48%. He also led the conference in steals and ranks 8th nationally with 83. Asi averaged 20.4 points in conference games and pulled down 7.8 rebounds per game. He is the 5th highest scorer and has the 5th highest 3 point percentage (40.1%). Jordan Jasper is the third leading scorer with 15 points per game.
The Tetons are 5th nationally in points per game (96.5) and 10th in field goal percentage (50%). Sophomore Rex Stirling leads them in scoring (18.1 ppg) and rebounding (10.2 rpg). He ranks 4th in the conference in scoring, 1st in rebounding, and 4th in field goal percentage (57.5%). Stirling is the best offensive rebounder in the country with 5.1 per game and the 10th best rebounder overall. Josiah McDonald has come on strong in conference play, averaging 17.4 points and 5.2 rebounds. Former Buccaneer Demetric Kindle is their third leading scorer at 11.6 points per game.
The winner of Sunday's Region XIII Championship Game will get the opportunity to host the North Central District Championship Game on Saturday, March 15th vs. the winner of Region XI (Iowa). The district winner gets the coveted automatic berth in the NJCAA Division I National Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas. The only other time in Dawson's 67 year history that they qualified for nationals was in 2021.
