The Jamestown College baseball team opens its season tonight at the Metrodome in Minneapolis with a late-night doubleheader.

The 23rd-ranked Jimmies take on Division III Bethel College (Minn.) out of the MIAC, with the twinbill starting at 9:45 p.m.

The Jimmies are coming off a 32-20 season and second trip to the NAIA World Series. They return a strong nucleus of players and have been tabbed as the team to beat in the Dakota Athletic Conference by the league’s coaches.

Coach Tom Hager enters his 10th season with six returning position players, two starting pitchers and four bullpen members back, plus another strong stable of newcomers from a top recruiting class.

The Jimmies are scheduled to play Midland Lutheran in Fremont, Neb. on Saturday and Sunday, but weather forecasts are not promising. They play 10 games in six days in Florida, beginning March 8.

Hazelton-Moffit-Braddock standout Samantha Fettig has been nominated for the 2009 McDonald’s All American Girls’ High School Basketball team.
Fettig hes helped lead the Tigers to a 15-7 record so far this season. The Tigers reached the semifinals of the Region 3 tournament before falling to Kidder County. H-M-B will takes on Linton in the third-place game on Thursday night. She is one of 1,000 high school basketball players nationwide to be nominated.
The 6-foot senior averaged 14.3 points and 8.8 rebounds per game last season along with 37 assists, 15 blocks and 55 steals while helping the Tigers to a fourth-place finish at the state Class B tournament.
From the field of nominees, 24 athletes will be chosen later this month to compete in the boys’ 2009 McDonald’s All American Game in Miami, which will air live on ESPN.
 

The Jamestown High School boys’ basketball team will host a West Region play-in game on Friday night.

The Blue Jays will square off with Turtle Mountain at 7 p.m. at the JHS gym with the winner earning the No. 8 seed in the regional tournament and an opening-round game with Mandan.

Jamestown (7-11) swept Turtle Mountain (0-19) during the regular season, winning 73-52 in Belcourt and 71-53 at home.

Ranked 20th in the latest NAIA Division II women’s basketball poll, Jamestown College figures to be squarely on the bubble.

Teams ranked in the top 20 in the final poll are generally considered to have a good chance at earning an at-large berth into the national tournament if they fail to win their way in with an automatic bid.

So it would seem the Jimmies are in good shape heading into the conference tournament semifinals.

But …

The final poll is next week, just before the national tournament brackets are released. A loss in the semifinals, even to a top-10 team like Black Hills State, could drop them a few spots in the final poll. That could make a big difference.

The Jimmies seem to have built a national tournament resume, to borrow a term from the Bracketology gurus. They have been ranked in the top 25 all season, as high as No. 4. They have 20 wins. They have several wins against top 25 teams and several against teams that have been ranked in the top 25.

Northwestern (Iowa) has a 21-7 record to JC’s 20-8. The Jimmies beat the Red Raiders. The Jimmies lost 55-50 to Hastings (Neb.), which is 22-6 and ranked 18th. But JC was without one of its top players (Mara Paulson) in that contest. They’ve split with Dickinson State and Black Hills State, the DAC’s other two ranked opponents.

"I like that we’re at 20. I wish we were a few spots higher, but we’re happy with that," Jimmies coach Mark Wiest said. "The best way to take care of the whole scenario is to keep winning and not have to wait for that final poll to come out."

A win over Black Hills State would figure to be a big boost to JC’s chances. That would give them 21 wins, a spot in the conference tournament finals and two wins over the Jackets, a top-10 team, in the final two weeks.

But as always, the only sure bet is winning two more games.

Linton ends the final Class B boys’ basketball poll of the season the same place they started — on top.
The unbeaten Lions (18-0) received all five first-place votes. Watford City (17-1) remains at No. 2, while Park River (18-1) and Turtle Lake-Mercer (16-2) move up one spot each to third and fourth, respectively.
New Rockford-Sheyenne (17-2) climbed two spots as well to No. 6. Lisbon (17-2) fell one to seventh, while 17-2 Carrington goes up one spot to No. 9.
ND Class B Poll
BISMARCK (AP) — This week’s North Dakota Class B basketball poll compiled by the North Dakota Associated Press Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. Each team is followed by first;place votes in parentheses, records, total points and previous ranking. This is the final Class B poll of the season.
Boys
1. Linton (5) 18-0 50 1
2. Watford City 17-1 45 2
3. Park River 18-1 39 4
4. Turtle Lake-Mercer 16-2 29 7
5. Dickinson Trinity 16-2 25 3
6. New Rockford Sheyenne 17-2 20 8
7. Lisbon 17-2 18 6
8. Thompson 16-3 16 5
9. Carrington 17-2 11 10Tie
10.Fargo Oak Grove 16-3 10 NR
Others receiving votes: Central Cass (15-4), Dakota Prairie (14-5), North Star (17-2), North Sargeant (15-4).
— Sun Staff
 

Katie Conlon and Sarah Skipper of Jamestown College received Dakota Athletic Conference indoor track postseason awards following the conference indoor track meet.
Jim Clark of JC was named the women’s coach of the year, leading the Jimmies to a second-place finish at the DAC indoor, which included three new school records, six new NAIA qualifying marks and eight event victories.
Conlon, a freshman from Jamestown, was named outstanding women’s track athlete. She set a new school record of 5:02.54 in the mile and also won the 800 and finished second in the 3,000.
Skipper, a sophomore from Lewistown, Mont., was named outstanding women’s athlete of the meet. She won three events, including a school-record performance with 3,364 points in the pentathlon. Skipper also won the long jump and the 55 hurdles. She also finished fourth in the high jump and sixth in the 200 to score 38 points in the meet.

The Jamestown College women’s basketball team moved up four spots in the latest NAIA Division II poll.

The Jimmies (20-8), who take on Black Hills State in the DAC tournament semifinals on Wednesday, moved up to No. 20 in this week’s rankings. Jamestown College went 3-0 last week, including a win over then-No. 5 Black Hills.

Dickinson State (22-6), the DAC regular-season champion, moved up five spots to No. 7.

Black Hills State (23-6) slipped five spots to No. 10.

Valley City State (17-12) received votes in the poll.

The Jimmies, who beat Black Hills State 68-62 last week in Jamestown, travel to Spearfish, S.D., for a rematch with the Yellow Jackets on Wednesday.

In the men’s poll, DAC champion Black Hills State (25-4) remained at No. 5 this week.

Minot State, Dickinson State and South Dakota Mines received votes in the poll.

The 24th-ranked Jamestown College women’s basketball team hosts Minot State in a Dakota Athletic Conference postseason tournament quarterfinal game Sunday night at the Civic Center.

The Jimmies (19-8) are the No. 3 seed and have won two straight and five of their last six heading into the postseason.

The Beavers (15-13) are the No. 6 seed have won three straight since a 78-71 loss to the Jimmies in the Civic Center.

Last season, Minot was the No. 3 seed and lost to No. 6 JC in the opening round of the postseason tournament.

Winner advances and gets to make the always-popular mid-week drive to scenic Spearfish, S.D.

14:25 JC 3, Minot 2 … Pretty slow offensive start for both teams. Minot  1-for-7 with 4 TOs, JC 1-for-8 with 1 TO.

10:50 JC 12, Minot 6 … Kelie Schuneman and Amanda Rantapaa have hit early three-pointers and Rantapaa and Mara Paulson hit back-to-back jumpers to give JC a six-point lead.

1:28 JC 27, Minot 21 … Jimmies led by 11 at one point. Minot is within six.

HALF JC 27, Minot 23 … MacKenzie Mack hits the last two baskets of the half to help Minot claw back from a 17-6 deficit to within four points at the break.

Mack leads MSU with 10 points at the half.

Kellie Schuneman leads JC with nine.

Neither team is shooting well. JC has hit 9 of 28 for 32 percent. Minot is 9 for 24 for 37.5 percent and has turned the ball over 13 times to JC’s six.

16:29  JC 35, Minot 34 … Lashay Bagsby has all of Minot’s 11 points so far this half.

12:17 JC 41, Minot 34 … Mara Paulson has four points and Allison Epping two in a 6-0 run that puts the Jimmies in front by seven.

9:37 JC 43, Minot 37 … An 8-0 run gave JC a 43-34 lead with 11:44 remaining. Minot has scored the last three to pull within six.

7:21 JC 51, Minot 41 … Amanda Rantapaa hits a three-pointer in the corner, capping a 6-0 burst to give JC a 10-point lead. Minot calls timeout.

4:58 JC 52, Minot 45 … Minot turns it over, Rantapaa is trapped on the baseline and calls a timeout. JC ball, up eight.

2:29 JC 56, Minot 52 … Sam Medcalf scores off an assist from Lashay Bagsby to pull Minot within four.

0:20 JC 64, Minot 56 … Schuneman hits two free throws to make it an eight-point lead. Looks like JC is off to Black Hills.

FINAL JC 66, Minot 56.

Jimmies end game on a 10-2 run.

Heidi Fiechtner led JC with 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Kellie Schuneman had 15 point and Mara Paulson had 12 points and seven rebounds.

Lashay Bagsby had 19 of her game-high 21 points in the second half for Minot. She had a double double with 14 rebounds. Holly Siverling had 14 points and MacKenzie Mack 12.

All of the higher seeds won their opening-round games on Sunday.

On Wednesday, Valley City State goes to Dickinson State and Jamestown College travels to Black Hills State for the semifinals.

The Jimmie women pulled away with a 10-2 win to finish the game after Minot State pulled within two in the final two minutes.

On the men’s side, all four higher seeds won as well: Black Hills State, Dickinson State, South Dakota Mines, Minot State advanced.

The Jimmies led most of the first half before the Blue Hawks took the lead with a run late in the first half to take a 31-24 lead. The Hawks pulled away for a double-digit win.

Sean Burnham led the Hawks with 15, Tomaul Hawkins had 11 and Brian Lebsock and Fred Scheltinga each chipped in with 10.

The Jimmies got 16 from BHJ Mertens and 14 from Byron Jones.

Dakota Athletic Conference
Basketball Standings
MEN
Team DAC Over.
x-Black Hills State 13-1 24-4
Dickinson State 9-5 17-12
Minot State 8-6 19-10
South Dakota Mines 7-7 19-10
Valley City State 7-7 13-16
Mayville State 6-8 11-18
Jamestown College 4-10 11-17
Dakota State 2-11 7-20
x-clinched conference title
DAC Postseason Tournament
Sunday’s Quarterfinals
Dakota State (No. 8) at Black Hills State (No. 1)
South Dakota Mines 81, Valley City State 74
Jamestown College (No. 7) at Dickinson State (No. 2)
Minot State 104, Mayville State 99 (OT)
Wednesday’s Semifinals
South Dakota Mines (No. 4) at Black Hills State (No. 1)
Minot State (No. 3) at Dickinson State (No. 2)
Championship
Sunday, March 1

WOMEN
Team DAC Over.
x-Dickinson State 12-2 22-6
Black Hills State 11-3 23-6
Jamestown College 9-5 20-8
Valley City State 8-6 17-12
South Dakota Mines 6-8 10-19
Minot State 6-8 15-14
Dakota State 3-11 7-22
Mayville State 1-13 3-24
x-clinched conference championship
DAC Postseason Tournament
Sunday’s Quarterfinals
Dickinson State 88, Mayville State 46
Valley City State 73, South Dakota Mines 71
Black Hills State 88, Dakota State 70
Jamestown College 66, Minot State 56
Wednesday’s Semifinals
Valley City State (No. 4) at Dickinson State (No. 1)
Jamestown College (No. 3) at Black Hills State (No. 2)
Championship
Sunday, March 1
 

Oakes swept the Class B wrestling state titles.

In addition to the duals title they won on Friday, the Tornadoes clinched the individual tournament title on Saturday in Fargo.

Oakes finished with 174.5 points, outdistancing second-place Carrington (136) and defending champion Lisbon (111). Napoleon was fourth with 103.5.

Josh Kelly (125) won a state title for Oakes.

Carrington got a title from Chris Bahm at 140.

Other area champions were: Blake Bosch of South Border at 103, Sheldon Dewald of Napoleon at 130, Michael Nord of Lisbon at 135, Evan Gross of Napoleon at 152, Drew Moch of Linton-HMB at 160, Damon Weigel of Napoleon at 171 and Bob Bartz of Harvey at 215.

Evan Gross of Napoleon and Andrew Grothmann of Hillsboro were named Class B co-outstanding senior wrestlers.

Cory Schall of Oakes was named coach of the year.