Ellendale, ND (NewsDakota.com) – The Oakes Tornadoes boys’ basketball team traveled to Ellendale Friday night to face the Cardinals in the 75th annual Cowbell Game, and the Cardinals withstood a furious comeback to hang on for a 58-53 win. The win gives Ellendale 43 Cowbell wins to the Tornadoes’ 32.
The game started out as a dogfight, with the lead changing several times in the first quarter until the Cardinals seized a 12-8 lead at the end of the quarter. Ellendale mainly kept control, even as the game stayed close, leading 29-24 at halftime before extending the lead through the third to head into the fourth quarter with a 46-34 lead.
The Tornadoes started off the fourth quarter hot, scoring and creating turnovers on consecutive plays. Before the halfway mark of the fourth, the lead had been cut to three. The closest the Tornadoes could get, however, was within two.
With a three-point lead and possession of the ball, the Cardinals ran an in-bounds play for sophomore Riley Thorpe, who passed the ball in then took a screen and popped out to the right corner, where he buried a three-point shot with 1:20 left in the game. After the Tornadoes failed to score, junior Scott Wagner scored a basket for the Cardinals to give them a 56-48 lead. The Tornadoes made a small run at the end, but they ran out of time.
Thorpe had a great game, leading all scorers with 22 points while hitting six three-pointers. Wagner finished with 13, 11 of which came in the second half, and senior Eric Blando had 12.
The Tornadoes were led by seniors Garret Meehl with 19 points and Steele Hansen with 17. Fellow senior Dalton Schmit had 10 points, including two three-pointers.
Senior Ashton Biesterfeld only had four points for the Tornadoes, but he played a very good game by playing stout defense on the 6’7 Wagner, who can easily take over a game. Wagner only had two points in the first half, and at least four of his points came when the game was late in the fourth and things were more chaotic, with the Tornadoes trying to come back. Wagner did face double-teams and help as well, and he made several impressive passes to cutters and shooters on the opposite side of the floor.
The Tornadoes’ next game is on Tuesday, when they host the Carrington Cardinals. That game will be live on KDDR 1220 am/95.9 fm beginning around 7:15 pm. The next action on KDDR will be Monday, when the Tornado girls take on the #1 ranked Central Cass Squirrels, with action again set to start around 7:15 pm.