SOUTH HEART, N.D. — Bouquets of flowers, teary eyes, and parents were all present during South Heart’s pregame festivities to honor its six seniors who played their final home game in an Eagles uniform on Tuesday night.
South Heart honored its seniors before Tuesday night’s game.
Carter Dooner / The Dickinson Press
In fitting fashion, it was a senior, Holly Stuber, who led the way in the Eagles’ 57-33 victory over Hettinger-Scranton on Tuesday, Jan. 27, at South Heart High School.
“This year has been the year we’ve gotten to be the closest,” Stuber said. “All of us get along so well and enjoy each other. We all hype each other up, and it’s just so fun.”
South Heart honored its seniors before the game on Tuesday night.
Carter Dooner / The Dickinson Press
Stuber led the team in scoring with 17 points, followed closely by junior Arica Hodell, who finished with 16. The duo paced the offense throughout the night, consistently answering whenever the Eagles needed a basket.
The Eagles also received steady contributions from Brogan Boltz and Megan Robb, who added eight and seven points, respectively.
“I think South Heart does just a great job of recognizing the seniors and their parents, and they celebrated them really nicely tonight,” South Heart head coach Sara Jo Gieseke said. “It seems like it never fails. [The girls] always put up a great showing, and it was really fun to see all of them getting minutes on the floor and to get that [win].”
All six seniors saw minutes, in large part due to a strong third quarter from the Eagles.
In the early stages, it
looked like it was going to be a back-and-forth contest for four quarters
. South Heart took a 24-17 lead into halftime, and came out of the break in another gear.
Junior Brogan Boltz gets to the rim in the Eagles 57-33 over Hettinger-Scranton on Tuesday, Jan. 27, at South Heart High School.
Carter Dooner / The Dickinson Press
Hodell scored 11 of her points in the second half, while Stuber added nine more to help stretch the lead in the late stages.
“I think our energy was up all game,” Stuber said. “We all were making good passes, were all excited for each other, which helped keep the energy up and helped keep us in good shape.”
For the Nighthawks, momentum slipped away down the stretch. Throughout the season, Hettinger-Scranton has shown it can compete with the top teams in the district, but has struggled to find the extra gear to get them to the next level.
Hettinger-Scranton celebrates a made basket early in the third quarter in their 57-33 loss to South Heart on Tuesday, Jan. 27.
Carter Dooner / The Dickinson Press
“We knew we were going against one of the better defensive teams in the district,” Hettinger-Scranton head coach Eric Kelner said. “So we knew it was going to be a tough challenge. We’re still trying to find ourselves a little bit, and my girls played hard. We got a lot of new faces, losing six starters from last year. But we still have a talented group.”
In the waning seconds, the Eagles rotated all six seniors into the game, putting a fitting cap on a successful senior night.
“I thought it was really nice close to our home games for our seniors this year,” Gieseke said. “I started coaching three years ago, and some of those seniors started as sophomores, and it’s just been really fun to see them grow and get that 12th win tonight – it’s just a huge accomplishment.”
Carter is a sports reporter for the Dickinson Press. Born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, he graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2025 with a journalism degree.