Gwinner, ND (NewsDakota.com) – The #3 team in the state did enough to get past the RV Oakes Tornados in a defensive duel that ended 44-32 in favor of the Sargent County Bulldogs.

The game started slow with both teams’ defenses smothering any offensive production. The Tornadoes were only able to get 3 points the entire first quarter but they held the Bulldogs to 11. Most of those 11 points came in the latter portion of the quarter as well as it was 5-3 with about 4 minutes left in the quarter. Oakes also got into foul trouble in the quarter allowing for 5 points from the charity stripe.

The second quarter saw the game open up marginally as the field goals started to drop for Karleigh Kadoun of Sargent County who’d record 6 in the second quarter. Oakes was also able to get some field goals with Lily Thorpe dropping a two and Kassidy Jackson hitting a mammoth trey. Oakes was also sent to the stripe 6 times in the quarter but were only able to record 3 points from the stripe in the entire first half going 3/10 from the line for the half. The half ended with the Bulldogs up 19-11.

The game stayed relatively even throughout the last two quarters of play as both teams shooting got better in the third with Oakes dropping 10 and Sargent County hitting 12. The third quarter would end with Sargent County leading 31-21.

The fourth quarter saw a potential comeback by Oakes as they cut the lead down to as low as 6 at several points but just couldn’t get over the hump. They shut down Kadoun and had big steals defensively however they struggled with possession on the offensive side of the ball and fell by a score of 44-32.

As a team the Tornadoes shot 11/32 from the field and 7/16 from the stripe. Sargent County shot 18/51 from the field and 8/12 from the stripe.

The all around score leader was Karleigh Kadoun with 19 going 7/21 from the field and 5/6 from the stripe. The Oakes leading scorer was Lily Thorpe with 12 going 4/9 from the field and 4/6 from the stripe.

The Bank North Player of the Game was Lily Thorpe.

Next up for the Oakes Tornadoes is Enderlin on Friday January 19th at the Oakes Gymnasium at 7:00 PM. You can catch all the action with pregame starting at 6:45 PM on KDDR The Tornado 1220 AM / 100.3 /95.9 FM, on the KDDR App, or at NewsDakota.com.