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Majettes basketball shows fight, falls 62-54 to Century

Jimmy Lafakis/MDN Minot High senior forward Lauren McLean (20) goes up for a layup during the first half of Tuesday's game against Bismarck Century. The Patriots earned a 62-54 victory over the Majettes.

The Minot High School girls basketball team was determined to make the Bismarck Century Patriots uncomfortable. When the going got tough, the Patriots found ways to hit difficult outside shots.

The Majettes (5-6, 5-6 WDA) used a mix of press and zone defenses in their 62-54 loss against the Patriots (10-1, 9-1 WDA). Although Century committed 16 turnovers, those timely buckets down the stretch paved the path to victory.

“We had to mix things up a little bit more tonight,” Minot High head coach Jason Schwarz said. “(Century) got comfortable with whatever it was we were playing. Actually, we did really well with our zone late in the game there. Yeah, they hit a couple of shots, but we were getting on them a little bit better than we were in the first half.”

Early on, the Majettes drove to the basket to create plenty of scoring opportunities and drew fouls. In the first few minutes, Minot’s extended defense limited Century’s offensive rhythm.

With Century standout and NCAA Division I commit Lauren Ware continuing to rehab from ACL surgery, the Patriots lacked a true post presence. Even still, the Patriots presented plenty of problems.

“They have so many people,” Schwarz said of the Patriots. “They have so many weapons. It’s hard to contain all of them, and they made it extremely difficult for us to score. We had to really work for everything offensively. We haven’t had a game like that yet.”

Minot trailed 32-26 at the intermission. With 12:27 remaining in the second half, Minot senior guard Paige Rosencrans found a magic touch.

Rosencrans received the ball in the left corner and fired a 3-pointer. The ball glanced off the side of the backboard and dropped straight through the hoop.

Although the shot gave the Majettes a 40-38 lead, Century fought back. The Majettes continued to pound the ball down low, but the Patriots’ inside-out game eventually clinched the narrow victory.

“Those are the looks we want,” Schwarz said. “We’re getting to the rim, and we’re getting close shots. We’ve just got to find a way to get them into the bottom of the net.”

Minot senior guard Allie Nelson scored a game-high 20 points. Century freshman forward Logan Nissley countered with a team-high of 19.

Both teams shot at least 40% from beyond the arc. The Majettes shared the wealth for those open looks and finished with an 11-9 assist advantage.

“We’re in it,” eighth-grade guard Avery Lunde said. “We’re there, and we’re with every team. We’ve realized we play defense very well. We know we’re there.”

Minot will take some time off before traveling to Bismarck High (7-4, 6-4 WDA) for a 6 p.m. game next Tuesday. Bismarck won 48-47 on Jan. 9 in Minot.

“We just continue to work hard,” Schwarz said. “That and our defense keeps us in every game. Our emphasis to our team is to play hard, play smart, and play together. I think we showed that we did that tonight.”

Jimmy Lafakis covers Minot High School sports and Class B high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @JJLII30.

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