VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The first day of the 2020 Barnes County Tournament kicked off Tuesday afternoon from the Osman Fieldhouse on the campus of Valley City State University.
Here are the results from the quadruple header:
#1 Enderlin def. #8 Finley/Sharon/Hope Page 85-52
The 3rd ranked Enderlin Eagles (7-0) waited until halftime to turn on the jets, but once they did, they were unstoppable.
FSHP (0-6) needed a huge upset to capture their first win of the 2019-2020 season against a team ranked among the best at Class B. The Spartans hung around for a quarter and a half tying the game at 23 roughly four minutes into the 2nd quarter. However, the game was flipped on its head for the final two and a half quarters.
After the 23-23 score, Enderlin outscored FSHP 62-29. The towering height of the Eagles proved to be too much. Joe Hurlburt (6’10) finished with a game high 28 points and 15 rebounds while Gus Hurlburt (6’8) had three and-ones and 21 points.
In the second half, Enderlin shot 53% from the field, 56% from long range and 82% at the line to improve to 7-0.
#5 LaMoure/Litchville-Marion def. #4 Milnor/North Sargent 46-37
Game two’s scoring total didn’t match Enderlin’s 85 points as LLM (4-3) and MNS (2-5) combined for 83 points in a defensive battle.
Both teams struggled shooting the ball in the first quarter as the game went scoreless for the first four minutes. MNS had a real issue all game long being held to single digit scoring in three of the four quarters. Shooting from outside doomed the Bulldogs. As a team MNS shot 1-18 (5.6%) from three and 0-11 in the second half.
Though it was a low-scoring game, it was also a competitive one. Prior to the final minutes of the game, the lead hadn’t been larger than six points.
LaMoure was led by a robust defensive effort forcing 15 turnovers. Corban Potts poured in an efficient night from the field, too. Potts finished with a game-high 23 points on 9-13 shooting.
MNS’ leading scorer was Matt Asche with 11 points.
LLM will play the top seeded Enderlin Thursday at 6:30.
Games on Friday will now start at 12 p.m. The championship is now scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. Below is the updated schedule for the remainder of the tournament.
Thursday, Jan. 16
Consolation Semis
3 p.m. – Finley-Sharon/Hope Page vs. Milnor/North Sargent
4:30 p.m. – Sargent Central vs. Barnes County North
Semifinals
6 p.m. – Enderlin vs. LaMoure/Litchville-Marion
7:30 p.m. – Griggs County Central vs. Maple Valley
Friday, Jan. 17
12 p.m. – 7th place
1:30 p.m. – 5th place
3 p.m. – 3rd place
4:30 p.m. – Championship