OAKES, ND (NewsDakota.com) – The Tornadoes boys basketball team almost lost a 14 point lead but were able to do just enough to take down the South Border Mustangs by a score of 52-50.

The game started strong for the Tornadoes where they took the lead and didn’t look back. Andrew Wolff drained 4/5 in the first quarter with a 3 pointer for 9 points. They would lead 15-9 after the quarter.

The Tornadoes were able to expand out the lead to 12 at the half after Xavier Vossler came to life in the second quarter going 3/4 and 2/2 from the charity stripe for a total of 8 points in the quarter and 12 on the half. The Mustangs were led by Trevor Schmidt who went 4/5 in the quarter and 6/9 on the half with a free throw for 13 first half points. It wouldn’t be enough as the Tornadoes led 37-25.

The 2nd half saw the lead begin to slip away after expanding the lead to 14 for a brief bit the Mustangs led by Schmidt would start to answer back. The quarter would end 44-35.

The fourth quarter saw only 2 field goals for the Tornadoes for a total of 5 in the second half. The Mustangs would eat into the lead quickly evaporating it to a couple points. However South Border would get into foul trouble allowing Vossler and Trey Skoglund to go to the free throw line multiple times to secure the win. The Mustangs did have final possesion with 10 seconds left however stifling defense prevented a clean shot for the Tornadoes to have the win by a score of 52-50.

The Tornadoes were led in scoring by Xavier Vossler who went 8/15 from the field and 4/5 from the charity stripe for a total of 20 points. The all around leading scorer though was South Borders Trevor Schmidt who went 11/17 from the field and 3/4 from the stripe for a total of 25 points. (UNOFFICIAL STATS)

The Bank North Player of the Game was given to Vossler.

The Tornadoes get back to District 5 play when they take on Edgley/Kulm/Montpellier on Friday January 20th in Edgley. Pregame starting at 6:45 PM on 1220/100.3 KDDR.