LAMOURE, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – LaMoure-Litchville/Marion (LLM) (8-7) gathered a large lead early and rode it to a 71-55 victory over the Oakes Tornadoes (8-5).

The early lead was jump started by LLM’s Rory Gentzkow’s six made three-pointers in the opening quarter. Gentzkow scored 18 of the first 21 LLM points. The LLM senior cooled off after the first quarter scoring burst, but the rest of the Loboes were there there to pick up the slack. Colton Ness and Corban Potts combined for 34 points in the final 3 quarters.

Oakes’ defense was an issue Tuesday night. The Tornadoes gave up a lot of uncontested baskets in the first half and didn’t conjure up enough consistent scoring to keep pace. Specifically, the 2nd quarter did the Tornadoes in scoring just 2 points while allowing 15.

A strong start to the 3rd quarter pushed Oakes to cut the deficit to 10 points at its smallest margin. Dalton Schmit hit a couple of 3rd quarter 3’s and finished with ten points. Oakes constructed enough scoring in the 2nd half to get four individuals double digits in scoring (Schmit, Garret Meehl with 16, Steele Hansen with 13 and Ashton Biesterfeld with 12).

Oakes falls to 8-5 and 2-3 in district play while LLM is now 8-7 and 3-1 in district play.