basketball – Page 3 – Dustin Monke

Dufault went from the Big Dance to the Czech Republic

This has been a year of transition for Austin Dufault. In January, he was adjusting to a role as a featured player on the Colorado men’s basketball team. By March, he and the Buffaloes were dancin’ in the NCAA Tournament.
Today, he is at his parents’ home in Greeley, Colo., taking a five-day break from his newest job: professional basketball player for BK Prostejov in Prostejov, Czech Republic.

“A lot of changes have occurred in the last year that I’ve had to adjust to and I think I’ve handled them pretty well so far,” Dufault said Saturday during a phone interview.
An outstanding 2012 for the Killdeer High School graduate and former North Dakota Mr. Basketball puts him at No. 6 on The Dickinson Press’ sports stories of the year.

In June, Dufault was named one of three winners of the North Dakota Associated Press Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association’s Dakota Award, an honor given to North Dakota natives who excel in sports outside of the state.
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Sanders making impact for Hawks after getting another opportunity to play

Johnnie Sanders — Dickinson State senior Johnie Sanders, right, goes around Black Hills State (S.D.) senior Rob Johnson during a men’s basketball game against Black Hills State on Nov. 3 at Scott Gymnasium.

Johnie Sanders’ time at Dickinson State is already supposed to be done.

Before the 2011-12 season, Sanders had committed to spend his final year of college basketball eligibility playing for the Blue Hawks. Then, he ran into eligibility issues that forced him to bail on DSU and return to Northwest Oklahoma State, where he had played his junior season.

When DSU head coach Ty Orton gave Sanders a second chance to be a Blue Hawk last spring, he jumped at the chance.

“I should have been here last year, but things happen for a reason,” Sanders said. “I’m here this year. I’m happy that coach Orton took me back under his wing.”

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Former NBA All-Star Mark Eaton speaks at energy summit in Dickinson

Everyone, it seems, wants to have their picture taken with Mark Eaton.

The 7-foot-4 former NBA All-Star center said he doesn’t mind. In fact, he’s used to it. “It’s who I am and you just kind of have to accept that and use it to your advantage,” Eaton said.

Eaton’s positive attitude, fan friendliness and rich, commanding baritone voice have made him an in-demand motivational speaker in the past five years.

He spoke about businesses eliminating internal competition on Friday morning during the 2012 Energy and Infrastructure Summit at the Ramada Grand Dakota Lodge in Dickinson. Afterward, he greeted people and, of course, took side-by-side photos with whoever asked.

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1-on-1 with Austin Dufault

Colorado’s Austin Dufault, front, gets a rebound against California’s David Kravish during the semifinals of the Pac-12 tournament in Los Angeles on March 9. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

On Monday night, I spent 20 minutes chatting over the phone with Colorado senior forward Austin Dufault. The 2008 Killdeer High School graduate and former North Dakota Mr. Basketball winner leads his team into their first NCAA tournament game since 2003 when they face UNLV at 8 p.m. Thursday at The Pit in Albuquerque, N.M.

Below is our complete interview. In bold is a brief overview of the questions I asked Austin. Make sure to check out my feature story on Dufault in Wednesday’s edition of The Dickinson Press.

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Hettinger 4, Regent 2: Players, coaches and officials recall the infamous low-scoring basketball game

42 Game — This image, taken from the Hettinger County Herald, shows the lack of action that was prevalent during the District 24 boys basketball tournament game that was played Feb. 27, 1992, at Bowman’s Solberg Gymnasium. Regent, a heavy underdog against Hettinger, chose to slow the pace of the game and take advantage of its four-corners offense. What ensued was a contest that likely will never be duplicated.

Curt Honeyman knew the idea was a little crazy.

Then again, it was also so simple he wondered if it also wasn’t the perfect plan.

In the days leading up the 1992 District 24 boys basketball tournament, Honeyman preached patience to his Regent Rangers team.

“Patience to the extreme,” said Scott Sheldon, the Rangers’ sophomore guard and leading scorer that season.

Honeyman’s theory was that if the Rangers could sit in their fourcorners offense long enough, they could force the taller, more talented Hettinger Black Devils into defensive errors, put points on the scoreboard and keep the game from spiraling out of their reach.

On the evening of Feb. 27, 1992, at Solberg Gymnasium in Bowman, Honeyman sent his team onto the court with simple goals: be deliberate and patient on offense and control the tempo.

He never expected, 20 years later, people would remember the game.

Then again, he also never expected the final buzzer to sound with this score: Hettinger 4, Regent 2.

“We knew we couldn’t play with them basket for basket,” Honeyman said. “We had to try and keep the score close and keep it low. But nobody in the gym, including myself, knew that it was going to turn out that way.”