JAMESTOWN, N.D. - There was no way that the Jamestown College seniors were going to allow a repeat of last season.
"After last year, losing in the semis, we reminded ourselves before the game what that felt like," Jimmie senior forward Jordan Olson said. "We didn't want to have any opportunities to say what if?"
Olson hit a pair of three-pointers in a game-turning second-half run as No. 17-ranked Jamestown College defeated Black Hills State on Wednesday night at the Civic Center in the semifinals of the Dakota Athletic Conference tournament.
"The guys really wanted to get through this round," Jimmies coach Jeff Trumbauer said. "They're hungry to win another championship."
They'll get their chance on Sunday, as the DAC regular-season champions will host Minot State in the title game. The Beavers handled Valley City State 95-80 in Wednesday's other semifinal.
Once again, the young Yellow Jackets battled the veteran Jimmies most of the night, leading for most of the first 15 minutes and taking a six-point lead early in the second half.
"When it was close at halftime, we knew we had to come out and throw a good punch right away and build a lead," said Olson, who had a double double with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
But Black Hills State landed the first punch of the half, using a 12-3 run to turn a 45-42 deficit into a 54-48 advantage with 14:50 remaining.
"In the first half, we struggled a little bit," Trumbauer said. "They did a nice job with their motion. We lost track of some things. We were not seeing the basketball. Their dribble penetration bothered us. They got to the line 11 times and made all 11."
After a Jimmie timeout, the tide began to turn when Olson hit 1-of-2 3-pointers in a 17-3 run that turned a six-point deficit into a 65-57 advantage.
The Jimmies also turned up the intensity on defense. They held the Yellow Jackets to four field goals in a stretch of nearly 13 minutes. During that stretch, Andy Bachmeier and Jake Holen also hit big threes. By the time it was over, the run reached 34-9 and JC had an 82-63 lead with two minutes left.
"It looked like we lost focus as a team," Yellow Jackets coach Paul Sather said.
The Jimmies shot 48.5 percent (32-of-66) from the field and outrebounded Black Hills 38-27, a stat that Sather pointed out.
Forrest Dorr led the Yellow Jackets (16-14) with 19 points, hitting 6-of-8 shots from the field and 5-of-5 from the line. Clay Pottorff hit 4-of-6 three-pointers and finished with 14.
Along with Olson, Kyle Iverson also had a double-double for the Jimmies with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Jake Holen finished with 17 points. He broke the school's single-season scoring record. Holen has 643 points this season, eclipsing Beau Hensel's 637 in 2001-02.
Posted in Local on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 11:00 pm
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