Turtle Mountain: Season Update

<p><strong>Belcourt, ND - </strong>The Braves play in the talented and difficult WDA in Class A basketball. They are a skilled team with some offensive stars. However, they have been dealing with adversity so far this season and things have not been going exactly how the Braves would have liked. The basketball season is a long one and there is still plenty of time for Turtle Mountain to turn things around and get it rolling before the Region Tournament starts. Watch out for the Braves, they could be a darkhorse in March! Turtle Mountain has plenty of firepower to pull off a couple of upsets in Bismarck at the Regionals. Read below for information on the Braves.</p> <h4><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Player Stats</strong></span></h4> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1138808" first="Houston" last="Davis"] (2023) |6-3 F|</strong> - 18.9 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 3.4 apg</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1228070" first="Parker" last="Wallette"] (2023) |6-3 F|</strong> - 19.1 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 2.3 apg</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1168320" first="Gunner" last="Zerr"] (2024) |5-10 G| </strong>- 12.3 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 2.1 apg</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1135889" first="Tanner" last="Monette"] (2022) |6-0 G|</strong> - 7 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 2.6 apg</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1162335" first="Gannyn" last="Monette"] (2023) |6-2 G|</strong> - 5.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.3 apg</p> <p><strong>Dayton Allery (2022) |6-1 F|</strong> - 5.6 ppg, 1.7 rpg, .4 apg</p> <p><strong>Kenyon LaFountaine (2022) |6-2 F|</strong> - 4.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, .8 apg</p> <p><strong>Ashton Dionne (2022) |5-10 G|</strong> - 3.6 ppg, 1.8 rpg, .4 apg</p> <h4><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Q &amp; A with Coach <em>Travis Azure</em></strong></span></h4> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">What has been the highlight of the season so far?</span><strong><em> </em></strong></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">"We<em> have had some very good games individually, [player_tooltip player_id="1138808" first="Houston" last="Davis"] had 40 points 16 rebounds against Grand Forks, [player_tooltip player_id="1228070" first="Parker" last="Wallette"] 27 points 16 rebounds against Watford City, so we have had some nice individual games but we need to find a way to put this all together as a team and move forward. One thing about this team is we haven’t been able to put together a complete roster, our team has dealt with injuries, COVID, and Influenza A. We have had a different starting lineup every game this season and we are very inconsistent right now, I know we will improve on that from here on out.</em>" </p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">What are your goals for the rest of the season?</span> </p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">"Our<em> goals for the rest of this season are to improve on our record, get better defensively, find consistency and stay healthy so we can possibly make a run by the postseason.</em>"</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Which players are most improved and why?</span> </p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">"It<em> is really hard to pinpoint any improved players, as we have had a different lineup and roster every game this season.</em>"</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Who have been your top players defensively? </p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">"Stat<em> wise defensively, [player_tooltip player_id="1168320" first="Gunner" last="Zerr"] and [player_tooltip player_id="1138808" first="Houston" last="Davis"] get a 1-2 steals/game and 2/3 deflections/game, [player_tooltip player_id="1228070" first="Parker" last="Wallette"] and [player_tooltip player_id="1138808" first="Houston" last="Davis"] are at 6/6.5 defensive rebounds/game.</em>"</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">What has been your team’s identity so far or what do you hang your hat on?</span> </p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">"I<em> would like our team’s identity to be a defense-stopping team, but we haven’t had the consistency from players with all the lineup changes and roster moves. We also want to put more points up. We are only averaging 67 points/game and giving up 81 points/game, which needs to improve.</em>"</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Team Comments</span></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">"We<em> have a big 3 of [player_tooltip player_id="1138808" first="Houston" last="Davis"], [player_tooltip player_id="1228070" first="Parker" last="Wallette"], and [player_tooltip player_id="1168320" first="Gunner" last="Zerr"]. Those 3 players are leading us in every statistical category, I want the rest of our roster to find their role on this team and be the best at that role. <strong>Kenyon Lafountain</strong> and <strong>Dayton Allery</strong> both battle hard in the middle defensively and on the boards, [player_tooltip player_id="1162335" first="Gannyn" last="Monette"] is a very good shooter and slasher to the basket, he needs to gain some confidence and be aggressive on both sides of the ball, [player_tooltip player_id="1135889" first="Tanner" last="Monette"] needs to keep us calm in very difficult situations, he needs to step up and be a leader we can look to. <strong>Ashton Dionne</strong> and <strong>Noah Azure</strong> need to come in and give me a few good minutes when I need them to. This is still a work in progress and we will continue to improve the rest of the season, I hope we can find ourselves and make a good run in the postseason.</em>"</p> <h4><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Braves Schedule (4-7)</strong></span></h4> <p><strong>Grand Forks Central</strong> - W 76-70</p> <p><strong>Dickinson</strong> - W 81-78</p> <p><strong>Bismarck Century</strong> - L 61-108</p> <p><strong>Jamestown</strong> - L 62-83</p> <p><strong>Mandan</strong> - L 56-70</p> <p><strong>Williston</strong> - L 62-67</p> <p><strong>Bismarck Legacy</strong> - W 61-58</p> <p><strong>Watford City</strong> - W 89-52</p> <p><strong>Minot</strong> - L 66-97</p> <p><strong>Bismarck</strong> - L 62-129</p> <p><strong>Williston</strong> - L 67-80</p> <p>January 28 @ <strong>Legacy</strong></p> <p>January 29 @ <strong>Mandan</strong></p> <p>February 1 (home) vs. <strong>Minot</strong></p> <p>February 4 (home) vs. <strong>Bismarck Century</strong></p> <p>February 5 (home) vs. <strong>Jamestown</strong></p> <p>February 7 (home) vs. <strong>St. Mary’s</strong></p> <p>February 12 @ <strong>Dickinson</strong></p> <p>February 17 (home) vs. <strong>Bismarck</strong></p> <p>February 19 @ <strong>St. Mary’s</strong></p> <p>March 3-5 <strong>Region Tournament - Bismarck Event Center</strong></p> <p>March 10-12 <strong>State Tournament - Bismarck Event Center</strong></p>