TDA girls edge Mitchell Christian

It was a wild final two minutes between the Mitchell Christian girls’ basketball team and Tripp-Delmont/Armour on Thursday.

But when the buzzer sounded, the Nighthawks came away with a 40-36 victory over MCHS, their first of the year.

“We needed this one really bad,” TDA coach Brian Jones said. “We hadn’t won a game all year but we are very competitive. We probably don’t know how to do it down the stretch, but we did it (Thursday).”

The win gives TDA a 1-7 record and gives MCHS its second straight loss. The Eagles are 4-3 on the year.

MCHS coach Jackie Van Laecken said the game did not go her team’s way.

“Win some, lose some and we just get better each game from here on out,” she said. “I’m happy for TDA getting their win, and I thought we still played tough.”

Julie Mingo made four 3-pointers for TDA and finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. Kelli Batterman followed with 12 points.

Alexa Van Laecken and Katelyn Held each had nine points for MCHS. Held added 10 rebounds.

The game was tied at 36 in the fourth quarter when Batterman gave TDA a two-point lead with 2:10 left with a jumper from the free-throw line.

MCHS was not able to convert on its next possession, but got the ball back on a jump ball.

However, Alexa Van Laecken lost control of the ball, but the Eagles got it right back on a TDA turnover. The sequence of plays ran the clock down to 32 seconds left, which concluded with an Alexa Van Laecken missed 3-pointer.

From that point, MCHS started to foul.

But Jessica Sandau missed the front-end of a one-and-one, and on the rebound, TDA was able to get the ball back on another jump ball.

Becca Glanzer sent TDA’s Hannah Just to the line with 24.4 seconds left, but she missed the front-end of a one-and-one.

Mitchell Christian got the rebound and on the ensuing possession, Brittany Zoss missed the game-tying shot. Held went up for the offensive rebound, but Batterman battled to get the ball away from her.

Batterman got the pass off to Just, who seemed to have an open path for a layup before Alexa Van Laecken fouled her from behind.

The officials called an intentional foul with 3.3 seconds left. Just made one of the free throws and TDA got the ball back because of the intentional foul call.

Mingo made a free throw with 1.8 seconds left to seal the 40-36 victory.

“We kind of got a couple of things that went the other way on us,” Jackie Van Laecken said. “It kind of turned the tide for them, and that’s just the way it ended.”

The Eagles were held to 15 made field goals in the game, including one 3-pointer. In the second quarter, MCHS made one field goal. From the free-throw line, MCHS made five of 16 attempts.

“The last couple of games we have been off on our shooting and shooting cold, and (Thursday) was another one of those nights,” Jackie Van Laecken said. “So we have to really work on our shooting some more and they will eventually fall.”

TDA had 15 field goals made, five of which were 3-pointers.

Tripp-Delmont/Armour plays Monday at Dakota Christian in New Holland. Mitchell Christian plays at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Freeman against Freeman Academy.

TRIPP-DELMONT/ARMOUR 40,

MITCHELL CHRISTIAN 36

MCHS (4-3)

Alexa Van Laecken 3 2-8 9, Becca Glanzer 2 0-2 4, Katelyn Held 4 1-2 9, Brittany Zoss 1 0-0 2, Emily Reynen 4 0-0 8, Ellie Bleeker 0 2-2 2, Ashley Glanzer 1 0-2 2. Totals 14 5-16 36.

TDA (1-7)

Julie Mingo 5 0-2 14, LaNae Fuerst 2 0-0 4, Kelli Batterman 5 2-2 12, Jessica Sandau 1 1-2 4, Hannah Just 2 2-3 6, Andrea Soulek 0 0-0 0, Morgan Polreis 0 0-0 0, Becca Brown 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 5-9 40.

3-point goals: TDA 5 (Mingo 4, Sandau 1), MCHS 1 (Van Laecken 1); Rebounds: MCHS 28 (Held 10), TDA 20 (Mingo 7); Assists: TDA 12 (Fuerst, Just 3), MCHS 10 (Zoss 5), Steals: MCHS 12 (Zoss 5), TDA 8 (Mingo, Batterman 2); Turnovers: MCHS 9, TDA 14; Fouls: TDA 13, MCHS 14; Fouled out: None.

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