GLYNDON, Minn.--Their faces were red. Their arms were marked up from sliding on the floor. Their hands were on their hips, and their breathing was heavy. None of that mattered. The Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton girls basketball team never stopped pressing Monday night against Class 3A's No. 5-ranked Thief River Falls.
It's what the Rebels had to do, as they knocked off Thief River Falls 60-47 to move to 17-0 on the season.
"We didn't sub as much. We forced them to play a little bit longer, but you got to have some heart and dig deep. That's what good teams do," D-G-F coach Tom Critchley Jr. said. "We had to play to win. We kind of got on our heels for the first time, but we told the girls they're winners."
The Rebels have gone about their business all season, never showing anger, joy or panic. On Monday, there wasn't a smile on the court when Alyson Brenna buried a 3-pointer seemingly from nearby Felton, or when Frannie Mercil somehow banked in a 3-pointer and the Rebels had a 25-10 lead midway through the first half.
"Right now, we're undefeated, and sometimes at practices it doesn't feel like that. We get after it," Critchley Jr. said. "They want to be pushed. They want to be challenged. They don't get too high and they don't get too low, which is perfect when we play these games."
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The Rebels were pushed, as they went nearly 10 minutes without a point. The Prowlers (15-2) closed the first half on a 12-0 run and cut the 25-10 lead to 25-24 before Anna Smith hit a jumper with 15 minutes, 32 seconds to go to stop the drought for the Rebels.
The Rebels showed no panic or anger during the drought nor did they show either when a Kelsey Kainz 3-pointer gave TRF its first lead since 2-0 at 36-35 with 11:33 to go. Shelby Mullikin tied it with a free throw on the ensuing possession, D-G-F got a stop and Natalie Steichen put the Rebels back up 38-36 on a jumper on the next possession.
"We had a lot of pressure on us to win the game, but we kind of know how to keep our composure," said Steichen, who finished with 11 points and eight rebounds. "We had to dig down a little deeper to get past the tough spots. We had to go on a deeper run than them. I think a lot of people underestimate us."
TRF got within 44-42 of the Rebels late in the second half, but Mercil hit a layup, Steichen sank two free throws and Brenna hit two free throws to spark an 11-2 run. From there, the Rebels iced it at the free-throw line, sinking 14 of their final 16 free throws.
At the end, the Rebels actually smiled.
"We just kind of do our thing and let the game play itself," said D-G-F senior Ally Reno, who had 12 points and six rebounds. "It was super intense, but we kept our composure when we needed to. When they got runs, we stayed with them and fought."
Half: DGF 25, TRF 22
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TRF: Praska 11, Kainz 3, Tadych 4, Nicholson 8, Biermaier 19, Okeson 2.
D-G-F: Steichen 10, Smith 7, Reno 12, Brenna 9, Mercil 10, Jacobson 8, Anderson 1, Mullikin 3.
