Jamestown, ND (NewsDakota.com) – The second day of the Boys’ District 5 Basketball Tournament took place Saturday night with two semi-final games and an elimination game. After three blowouts on Friday, Saturday’s three games all went into overtime.
The tournament will conclude on Monday, with Region qualifying games scheduled for 4:30 and 6 pm, and the District Championship game scheduled for 7:30. The Region 3 Tournament will start on Monday, March 8th at the Jamestown Civic Center.
(#7) Griggs-Midkota Titans 67 – (#6) Barnes County North Bison 63 in Overtime
The first game of the day was the first elimination game of the tournament, and the Bison took the dubious honor of not advancing to a Region qualifying game, falling in overtime to the Titans. The game was close throughout, with no period ending with a lead greater than four for either team.
Seniors Tucker Brown and Max Fehr went out with a bang in their last game for the Bison, as Brown had 25 points and four steals, while Fehr finished with 18 points and six steals. No other Bison player had more than freshman Jonah Harstad’s eight points.
The Titans were led by senior Hunter Gronneberg with 21 points and junior Logan Topp with 18. Seniors Jayden Sherrard and Tanner Haugen chipped in 14 and 12 points, respectively.
Brown and Gronneberg carried their teams in the fourth quarter and overtime. Brown scored 11 of the 19 Bison points in those periods, while Gronneberg had 15 of the Titan’s 26, including going 7-10 from the free throw line as Topp fouled out in overtime..
While the Bison’s season ends, the Titans will move on to a Region qualifying game against the Edgeley-Kulm-Montpelier Rebels. That will be the second game of the day on Monday, scheduled to start at 6 pm.
(#4) LaMoure-Litchville-Marion Loboes 49 – (#1) Edgeley-Kulm-Montpelier Rebels 46 in Overtime
The second game was a defensive struggle, as neither team reached 50 points, even with an extra four minutes. The Rebels shot only 38% from the floor, and, despite grabbing 11 offensive rebounds, they struggled to convert on offense.
The Loboes fared better, only scoring two fewer baskets than the Rebels despite taking 14 less shots. The Loboes were fairly balanced, as only six players scored, but they all had between six and 11 points. While no Lobo stood out in scoring (sophomore Colton Ness led the team with 11), junior Corban Potts seemed to always be in the right place at the right time, knocking away several passes in key spots and handling the ball for a large portion of the game.
The Rebels led 10-4 after the first quarter, but they only led by one point after both the second and third quarters before being tied at the end of regulation. Senior Alex Huber, who led all players with 22 points and eight rebounds, had a shot from 15 feet to win the game for the Rebels, but the ball bounced off the rim, leading to overtime. No other Rebel had more than seven points.
The overtime period experienced the same lack of scoring, as the Loboes had five points in overtime and the Rebels scored just two.
The Loboes qualify for the Region 3 Tournament with the win, and they also have a chance at the District Championship in the main event Monday night, scheduled for a 7:30 start. The Rebels will fall to a Region qualifying game against the Griggs-Midkota Titans in the second game of the night, set to begin at 6 pm.
(#3) Oakes Tornadoes 65 – (#2) Ellendale Cardinals 63 in Overtime
As well as all three games going to overtime, the lower-seeded team also won every game on Saturday. Another game that was close and back-and-forth all game, the Tornadoes led by four or less at the end of each period, ultimately winning on a buzzer-beating shot at the end of overtime from senior Garret Meehl.
Junior big man Scott Wagner had the game of the tournament for the Cardinals, finishing 17-22 from the field on his way to a game-high 37 points and 17 rebounds (10 of which were offensive). The Cardinals out-rebounded the Tornadoes 40-23, but they lost the turnover battle 17-8 to balance out the field goal attempts (58-53 in favor of Oakes).
Both teams struggled from the three-point line, with Oakes shooting 3-17 and Ellendale 1-13. Most of the damage was done inside, as all of Wagner’s baskets were within a few feet of the basket, and the Tornadoes routinely scored in and near the paint.
Senior center Ashton Biesterfeld of the Tornadoes, usually the main defender on Wagner, picked up two fouls in the first four minutes of the game and sat the rest of the first half. The Tornadoes held steady despite Wagner’s dominance, leading 24-21 at halftime. Biesterfeld would end up fouling out in overtime, finishing with 10 points.
Meehl led the Tornadoes with 20 points, while senior Steele Hansen had 18. Freshman Anton Geller had 10 for the Cardinals while sophomore Riley Thorpe had eight, but no other Cardinal scored more than four.
The final possession included several Tornadoes having decent looks but passing them up, as Meehl ultimately got the ball with a few seconds left and had to force up a shot while double-teamed (with some contact involved). Meehl was just inside the three-point line shaded to the left of the top of the key, and he drained the winning shot as time expired.
The Tornadoes move on to the District Championship game against the LLM Loboes Monday night, scheduled to start at 7:30 pm. The Cardinals fall to a Region qualifying game against the Carrington Cardinals. That game will be the opening contest on Monday, set to start at 4:30 pm.