Three can’t-miss games in southwest North Dakota

DICKINSON — The end of January marks a critical time for teams across Southwest North Dakota. Wins are starting to become premium value, and standings are starting to take shape across all sports.

South Heart @ Hettinger-Scranton — Boys Basketball — Friday, Jan. 30

The Eagles are in the middle of the pack in the District 7 standings, sitting at fifth in the conference with a 1-1 record. South Heart is coming into Friday’s contest winning its last two outings, earning its first District 7 win over New England, 69-49, and then a tight non-conference win over Trenton, 67-58.

The game against New England was a back-and-forth first half, but the Eagles took control in the final 16 minutes, outscoring the Tigers 44-24. Garett Bargmann put up 29 points, which led all players on the floor.

The Nighthawks are heading into Friday’s game dropping their last two games, with the most recent being a close 59-56 loss to Divide County. Hettinger-Scranton led at half time, 25-23, but couldn’t pull away with a win. Gavin Parnow and Aidyn Fisher had strong performances in the game, with 19 and 18 points respectively.

Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. MST at Scranton High School.

Trinity @ Killdeer — Girls Basketball — Friday, Jan. 30

The Titans and Cowboys have played some really close games in the past. But the first meeting between the two clubs was a

lopsided affair that saw the Titans escape with a 55-36

win at the Knights of Columbus Activities Center.

Now the scene will shift to Killdeer in the final contest of the season-set. The Titans have been in some extremely tight games recently and have come out on both sides of the table. Trinity narrowly defeated Shiloh Christian, 46-44, to improve to 6-2 in Region 4 play and 8-6 overall.

The Cowboys are still searching for some consistency. Killdeer is riding a two-game losing skid and has losses in four out of its last five games.

Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. MST at Killdeer High School.

Devils Lake @ Dickinson High — Girls Hockey — Saturday, Jan. 31

Jacob Cheris / The Dickinson Press

The last time these two teams met, the Mavericks won in a 2-1 overtime decision. Saturday’s contest is the back half of a back-to-back home weekend, where DHS will take on Grand Forks on Friday.

Saturday’s game is the best chance DHS has to get in the win column. The Firebirds are currently sitting in last place in the conference and don’t have a win this season. They’ve also struggled to put the puck in the back of the net, scoring just 10 goals through 13 games.

Dickinson (4-10, 1-10-2) was in a tight first period with Bismarck Century last Friday, but things once started to turn sideways in the second period, when the Patriots scored two goals on 19 shots and held DHS to three.

Puck drop is slated for 1 p.m. MST at the West River Ice Center.

Jacob Cheris covers a variety of high school and college sports. A graduate of Penn State University’s class of 2023, with a degree in broadcast journalism, he covered Penn State Men’s Hockey for three years. Jacob also covers Big Ten Hockey for College Hockey News.