Dixon dominates in Big Northern win at home

DIXON – In its second game since moving into a tie atop the latest AP Class 3A rankings, Dixon set the tone from the start Thursday in a 54-17 win over North Boone at Lancaster Gym.

The Duchesses (12-0, 2-0 Big Northern), co-No. 1 with Washington in 3A, struggled shooting the ball from the perimeter, but made up for it with a stifling defense and drives to the basket in their half-court offense.

“We knew that if we let up that they could get out ahead of us, so we knew we had to set the standard from the start,” sophomore Ahymrie McGowan said. “It’s really important to get everybody going. We had a little team dinner and just kind of had to figure out what we had to do, since we lost three seniors last year. I think we’re getting better at playing our roles.”

[ Photos from Dixon vs. North Boone girls basketball ]

Dixon got contributions from up and down its roster. Reese Dambman (14 points) and McGowan (10 points) both scored in double figures, Makenzie Toms pulled down nine rebounds, and the Duchesses got assists and steals from six different players.

Dambman stuffed the stat sheet with four rebounds, four assists and five steals, and her all-around floor game helped her shake off another tough night where several 3-point attempts were on target but rimmed out.

“For me personally, the shots just aren’t falling right now, so I obviously have to try and do other things to contribute and help my team,” she said. “We knew that we just had to keep pushing and getting what we wanted, so we tried to move the ball a lot, and driving was open for us today, so that worked out very well.”

McGowan was a defensive menace at the top of Dixon’s press and also in the post. She had six steals and four blocked shots, including one which she swatted emphatically about six rows deep on the final shot of the third quarter.

Addy Lohse added nine points, hitting one of Dixon’s three 3-pointers, and made several hustle plays. Hallie Williamson and Presley Lappin each finished with five points, four rebounds and two steals, and Toms also nabbed a pair of steals and dished an assist to go with two points and her game-high rebounding total.

The Duchesses dominated the offensive glass, rebounding 20 of their own misses that led to 12 second-chance points. They also nabbed 18 steals and converted 31 North Boone turnovers into 14 points; Dixon only committed seven turnovers of its own.

“We were trying to keep the energy up, even though we got the lead,” Lohse said. “We know our competition will play hard, so we’ve got to always keep that intensity up, no matter the team, no matter who’s in the game for us.

“We’ve struggled in the past with starting fast, but we’ve figured out our routine and what we need to do in order to get into that mindset and stay high with our energy and just work hard.”

Dixon scored the first 11 points of the game, then had runs of 14-3 and 20-2 covering the second and third quarters.

In her first home game back from injury, senior Bailey Tegeler hit a 3 and a free throw, while Kiley Gaither added a three-point play and Abby Hicks scored in the lane off a Tegeler assist, all in the fourth quarter.

Savannah Cunningham had eight points, three rebounds and an assist to pace the Vikings (3-6, 0-2 BNC), while Marlee Alderman added four points, seven rebounds and a block.

“Offensive rebounding is what killed us. They’re big, and we just didn’t get our positioning underneath and get rebounds. So they got second-chance points, and then we weren’t patient with their press, so we turned it over,” North Boone coach Rob Wessel said. “There’s definitely a lot of things we’re going to take from this game to get better – especially beating the press, that’s one of the big things, and then getting into our offensive sets off that pressure.”