Girls basketball: Dixon uses defense to build lead, beat Byron in tournament semifinals

DIXON – In a matchup of two of the Big Northern Conference’s most aggressive defenses, the Dixon girls basketball team turned its pressure into a 52-43 win over Byron in the semifinals of the KSB Dixon Holiday Tournament on Wednesday afternoon at Lancaster Gym.

The win set up the Duchesses (16-2) with another BNC matchup in the championship, as they faced Stillman Valley to try and win the title at their own tournament for the first time since 1995. Read all about that game in Friday’s editions, or online at SaukValley.com.

In the semifinal, which was postponed from Tuesday night because of snowy weather, Dixon jumped out to a 15-1 lead in the first nine minutes, with Harvest Day and Hannah Steinmeyer scoring putbacks, Day adding a post bucket, Sam Tourtillott driving in for two layups, Rylee Pfoutz hitting a 3, and Ella Govig hitting a pull-up jumper in the lane.

“We were ready to play [Tuesday], but we were able to use it as a rest day and came out strong today,” Tourtillott said. “We knew with their pressure, we had to slow it down, but we came out strong.”

“We knew Byron is a tough competitor, and we knew we needed to get a jump-start in order to win this game – and we really got one,” Day added.

Byron (9-2), on the other hand, missed its first 11 field-goal attempts, and went 3-for-6 from the free-throw line – both makes were by Ella Grundstrom – to account for both of the Tigers’ points in the game’s first 10 minutes, 34 seconds.

“We hadn’t played a team of Dixon’s caliber in a long time, so it took us awhile to catch up to their speed,” Byron coach Eric Yerly said. “When you miss a few free throws early and they’re making shots, it kind of compounds the thing.”

The Tigers spent the rest of the game playing catchup, but Dixon always seemed to have the answer. A basket by Byron’s Anika Roush cut the deficit to 19-12, but Dixon’s Kait Knipple answered with a 3-pointer. Izzie McKinley’s 3 to end the first half cut Byron’s deficit to 24-17 at the break.

But Dixon came out fast in the third quarter, too. Pfoutz hit a 3 on a feed from Tourtillott, then Tourtillott nabbed a steal and went coast-to-coast for a layup. Day added a free throw, then Govig hit a pair to stretch the lead back to 32-19 just two minutes into the second half.

“Our coach always tells us that they’re going to go on runs and we’re going to go on runs,” Day said, “and we know when to go on our runs and when to push it and score. Overall, we went back and forth, but it was a good game, and I think we played some good basketball.”

The Duchesses led 36-24 with 4:00 left in the third after Day scored two baskets inside a minute apart, then 40-30 after Day closed the quarter with a 3-pointer to make it 40-30.

Byron got within 40-34 after back-to-back buckets by Ava Kultgen in the lane to open the fourth, but Pfoutz buried another 3, then Tourtillott hit two free throws and went coast-to-coast off another steal, before Govig scored inside to stretch the lead back out to 49-34 with 4:57 to play.

“We just work so hard on our defense, and we know that our offensive energy comes from our defense, getting a stop, getting a rebound,” Day said. “We just put that into our offense.”

Kultgen scored again, then hit two free throws before McKinley nailed another 3 to get the Tigers within 49-41 with 1:39 remaining. But Govig was 3-for-4 from the free-throw line over the final 1:08, and all Byron managed in that span was a runner in the lane from Roush.

“We just knew we had to be strong with the ball, fake a pass to make a pass. We knew they were going to be jumping passing lanes, and we just worked around it,” Tourtillott said. “And because Byron is known for their pressure defense, we wanted to come back with more pressure and force them to go faster than they normally do.”

Tourtillott led Dixon with 13 points, five assists and four steals, and Day added a double-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds and three steals. Pfoutz and Govig both finished with nine points, four rebounds and an assist, and Pfoutz added a blocked shot. Jessie Pitman chipped in four points, two rebounds, an assist and a steal for the Duchesses, who shot 54.3% (19-for-35) from the field, and 55.6% (5-for-9) from 3-point range.

“That happens when you’re scrambling,” Yerly said. “You get behind and you’re trying to make something happen, and you have some breakdowns in your defense. When those happen, the other team still has to make their shots, and they hit shots, so give them credit. When we had a breakdown because we were trying to scramble and get some steals, their kids executed and hit shots, and that’s what you’ve got to do. They’re a good team.”

Kultgen scored eight of her 12 points in the fourth quarter for Byron, and she also had five rebounds. Grundstrom finished with eight points, six rebounds and four assists, and McKinley hit three 3s for nine points, while also dishing three assists and nabbing two steals. Brittyn Bielskis hit two 3s for six points, and Roush chipped in four points and two steals for the Tigers, who shot 37.2% (16-for-43) from the field, and just 26.3% (5-for-19) from 3-point range.

“I told our kids that I was proud of how hard they played, and we got a lot of good situational stuff worked on,” Yerly said. “A good game like this is going to make us better in February, and that’s what we really want is to be playing our best in February.”