Bucs Capture Region XIII Championship
For the fourth time in the past six years, the Dawson Buccaneers captured the Region XIII Championship. It looked like they would run away with as they raced out to a 55-34 half-time lead, but the #2 seed Williston State College Tetons came back strong in the second half to make it close before Dawson prevailed 93-89 in Glendive on Sunday afternoon. The win bumps Dawson's record to 29-3 on the season. It was the 3rd time in 4 games that Dawson beat Williston. The #22 ranked Buccaneers will host #3 ranked Indian Hills Community College on Saturday at 6:00 pm in the North Central District Championship. The winner will get an automatic bid to the NJCAA Division I National Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas.
"We came out ready and played an almost flawless first half," shared Dawson Coach Joe Peterson. "But you have to give Williston credit. They didn't back down and didn't give up. They came at us strong and gave themselves a chance at the end. I'm proud that we stayed strong and different guys had the chance to step up and make the plays to win. Our depth has been a huge key all year long and it was no different tonight. After a great regular season and a great conference season, it feels good to get that reward and to get a chance to keep playing. It is one of those special seasons that you just don't want to end."
Justin Asi got the Bucs going early, scoring the first nine points. Brandon Hymes added a free throw and then Seth Amunrud scored the next seven points to put Dawson up 17- 9. With four minutes to go in the half, Dawson was up 40-30. The Bucs closed out the half on a 15-4 run. The run started with a 3-pointer from Kur Maler. It ended with a dunk from Jordan Jasper after an Anson Johnson blocked shot and an assist from Amunrud. Then Amunrud stole the ball on the Tetons next possession and made a lay-up to head to the locker room with the 21 point advantage. Amunrud led the way in the first half with 14 points. Asi contributed 13 and Maler added 11. Dawson forced 14 Teton turnovers and scored 21 points off those turnovers. They also shot 52% from the field and 53% from the 3-point line and only turned it over 5 times. Rex Stirling led Williston with 12 points.
The lead stayed between 14-20 for the first thirteen minutes of the second half before Williston made their push. After a steal and dunk from Dawson's Ade Onaleye, Williston went on a 19-6 run. At the beginning of the run, Williston forced turnovers on four of the next five possessions. Richard Massey made three 3-pointers during the run. The last one pulled the visitors within three points at 83-80. Williston couldn't score on their last three possessions and Justin Asi finally broke Dawson's drought with a putback after an offensive rebound with two minutes left. Amunrud made seven free throws down the stretch to ice the game.
In the final twenty minutes, Dawson turned it over eleven times in the second half compared to only five for Williston. Dawson only shot 35% from the field in the second half and was 0-9 from 3-point range.
The final stats proved to be very even as Dawson had slight advantages in field goal percentages (45% to 43%), rebounding (39-37), turnovers forced (19-16), points off turnovers (26-20) and points in the paint (50-42).
Seth Amunrud was named the Region XIII Tournament MVP. He finished with a game high 22 points and 7 rebounds. Justin Asi had 19 points and 8 rebounds. Kur Maler scored 13 points.
Rex Stirling led the Tetons with 19 points and 15 rebounds. Four others Tetons reached double figures.
Dawson has won 16 of their last 17 games. Dawson and Indian Hills have squared off three other times in the district championship game. Indian Hills won 92-65 in 2020 and 115-99 in 2022 in Iowa. Dawson beat Indian Hills 68-67 in 2021 and qualified for the NJCAA National Tournament for the first time in program history.
