You may think that I chose that headline purely as a pun because of West Fargo Sheyenne's mascot. I'm not going to deny that I had it in mind before the game, but make no mistake - it was a trampling. Discussing it without piling on the young men & women from Grand Forks will be a challenge, but I'm going to try & do just that!
The double header started in unconventional fashion, with the fellas taking the court first. I'm not privy to why the departure from the norm was taken but I kind of like it. The fans showed up for the 5:45 scheduled tip and it seemed like many of them stayed for game two.
It's all the better because the change didn't seem to affect the home teams performance one iota.
The leader of the pack was Sheyenne's Christian Kuntz, whose silky smooth shot was on full display in the first half. "Only" 12 of his 25 first half points came off three point shots but each time he pulled up, it looked like the ball was going through the hoop. That helped the Mustangs jump out to a 21 - 4 lead which ballooned into 44 - 17 by the end of the first half that saw six other players put up points.
They only slightly took their foot of the pedal in the second half. Kuntz scored another seven but the offense that pushed the lead to 74 - 50 came from many of the same sources. 32 of Central's 50 came from big man Chris Demuth, who did it from inside and out.
30 minutes after the buzzer sounded, the ladies were on the court for the tip. The Mustang fans who stayed for the encore were not disappointed.
A whopping 12 different players scored for Sheyenne which factors into the fact that the leading scorers were Maggie Manson (13), Yasmina Dokara (12), Paige Johnson (10) & Brittani Husuth (10). It was a 35 point game that became a 64 pointer by the end and could have been even more lopsided. Inexplicably the game never went into a running clock situation but Sheyenne went deep into their bench & treated the three point line like a nemesis, mercifully!
For Sheyenne it was record shattering margin of victory that rewrote the record by 11 points. The 44 turnovers that they managed was also one of the best defensive performances in the school's short history. Like I said, it was a great encore for the home fans to stay and see.
So those are the facts, now see the fun!
Players of the Game
Guys
Christian Kuntz
Gals
This one is less obvious. Every player for the Mustangs made a good play. Each of them contributed to the victory. Because it's a game of points I'll go with the leading scorer but each of them deserves to feel good about themselves for their play last night!
Maggie Manson
Photos of the Game
Guys
Gals
To see the full galleries from each game, click the pics!