Feb 28, 2008 - 04:06:50 CST
Coach Duane Ticknor said he believes his Dakota Wizards and the Sioux Falls Skyforce are both quality teams that deserve to make the D-League playoffs.But there's a chance one of them might be headed home early. If the season ended before Wednesday's game between the two clubs, the Wizards would have been on the outside looking in.
But Dakota's 116-106 victory over the Skyforce allowed the Wizards to leapfrog back into first place in the Central Division. It also snapped Dakota's four-game losing streak against the red-hot Skyforce.
"When teams get momentum, it's tough to stop," said Wizards guard Blake Ahearn, who scored 29 points. "They had a lot of confidence. They were feeling good about themselves. They came in today with all the reason to be confident."
After dropping seven of eight, the Wizards (20-16) were a little shaky. But a hard practice Tuesday led to an increased focus on Wednesday. The results showed on the scoreboard, as the Wizards never trailed.
"We had good team spirit tonight, for lack of a better word," Ticknor said. "You can say enthusiasm or whatever, but we talked about everybody playing for the same purpose - winning a basketball game.
"Quit worrying about call-ups. Quit worrying about other distractions. Let's just worry about playing together."
The Wizards got contributions from up and down the lineup.
Carlos Powell scored a game-high 31 points to go with seven assists, six rebounds and four steals. Rod Benson had a monster first half and finished with 19 boards and 13 rebounds. And Dontell Jefferson notched a triple-double - 13 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds - plus made six steals.
"Dontell and Rod in particular were really good on both ends of the floor," Ticknor said. "... Blake and Carlos on the offensive end were good, and Tony (Gipson) gave us a great spark."
In fact Ticknor went to the bench early, giving everybody playing time in the first quarter, and it paid off. Gipson helped spur an eight-point run that put the lead into double-digits (25-12) early. It stayed there virtually the entire night, growing as large as 25 points (75-49) in the second half.
"I think it started with defense,"Ahearn said. "We put the emphasis on that (Tuesday) in practice. We kind of straightened some things out."
Former Wizard Kasib Powell, who led Sioux Falls with 28 points, started a late rally, but the Skyforce never got closer than nine points.
"We knew they were going to make a run at us, and we answered," Ticknor said. "I'm so proud of our guys."
A third of the season still remains, but right now the race for playoff position is incredibly tight.
The three division winners are guaranteed spots, and Wednesday's victory moved the Wizards a half-game up on Sioux Falls into first place in the Central. The three teams with the best records among the remaining clubs will also get in. After Wednesday's game, Sioux Falls trailed Tulsa by .004 percentage points for what would be the sixth and final spot.
"Sioux Falls is on an incredible roll, so we have to keep playing well," Ticknor said.
Ahearn believes the Wizards are ready to do just that.
"You're going to have your ups and downs, and go through your little slumps," Ahearn said. "Hopefully we just went through ours, and we never look back."
Sioux Falls 19 47 70 106
Wizards 30 61 88 116
SIOUXFALLS (106): Kasib Powell 10-19 5-5 28, Michael Joiner 1-7 1-2 3, Chris Alexander 3-9 6-8 12, Elton Nesbitt 4-13 1-1 10, David Bailey 8-14 4-6 23, Jahsha Bluntt 2-5 0-0 6, Carl Elliott 10-18 2-2 22, Jason Klotz 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 39-86 19-24 106.
WIZARDS(116): Carlos Powell 10-18 8-10 31, Rod Benson 7-11 5-9 19, Kevin Lyde 5-10 1-2 11, Blake Ahearn 10-15 5-5 29, Dontell Jefferson 4-10 4-4 13, Tony Gipson 2-6 5-5 9, Wil Frisby 1-2 2-2 4, Kibwe Trim 0-1 0-0 0, Perrin Johnson 0-1 0-2 0. Totals 39-74 30-39 116.
3-pointers: SF 9-26 (Powell 3-3, Joiner 0-3, Nesbitt 1-6, Bailey 3-6, Bluntt 2-4, Elliott 0-3), W 8-12 (Powell 3-3, Ahearn 4-6, Jefferson 1-1, Gipson 0-2). Rebounds: SF 34 (Alexander 13), W 48 (Benson 13, Jefferson 10). Assists: SF 12 (Bailey 5), W 30 (Jefferson 11). Steals: SF 17 (Nesbitt 6), W 16 (Jefferson 6). Blocks: SF 2 (Joiner 1, Alexander 1), W 5 (Lyde 3). Turnovers: SF 21, W 27. Fouls: SF 24, W 24. Fouled out: none. Technical fouls: SF 4 - head coach Nate Tibbetts, assistant coach Tony Fritz, Nesbitt 2. W 1 - defensive 3 seconds.
A: 2,162.
Records: SF 20-17; W 20-16.
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