After struggling in the early part of the second half, Carrington’s Devin Barton emerged as the hero of the night as his basket with 6.6 seconds remaining in overtime helped lift Carrington to a 66-65 win over top-ranked North Star in the Region 4 championship game Thursday at the Devils Lake Sports Center.
The win moves the Cardinals into the state tournament which begins March 18 in Minot.
“We knew we had to get the ball inside,” Barton said of his team’s approach to the second half.
The Cardinals did just that, but the 6-foot-6-inch Barton missed his first three shots of the third period and was held to just one field goal in the third quarter as North Star, which had entered the game with a perfect 23-0 record, went out to a 44-37 advantage heading into the fourth period.
The Bearcats extended that lead to double digits and led 50-39 with 5:19 to go in the game and it appeared North Star was heading to the state tournament for a second consective year.
That was when the comeback began.
Barton connected on a pair of field goals in a span of just over one minute to prevent North Star from putting any more distance between the two teams.
A 3-pointer by Jackson Unruh pulled Carrington to within 54-51 with 2:12 left in the game and Easton Page’s trey pulled the Cardinals even closer at 56-54 with just over one minute left in the contest.
It was the second 3-point basket for Page in the fourth quarter.
Page hit another field goal in the final minute to tie the game at 58-58 and force the overtime session.
That was when Barton stepped up his game. The recent University of North Dakota football signee put back an offensive rebound to tie the game at 61-61 with 2:30 remaining.
North Star then reeled off four straight points to seemingly regain control of the game. Tanner Komrosky scored from inside the lane and Jacob Hagler connected on a pair of free throws with 1:27 to go to put the Bearcats in front 65-61.
Chase Monson’s 3-pointer for Carrington pulled the Cardinals to within 65-64 with 1:12 to go and set up the dramatic finish.
Barton took a pass to the left of the lane before dribbling in and lifting a soft shot off the glass to provide the winning points and then did his part on the other end of the floor when he teamed with Eric Collins to block North Star’s final bid at the win as time expired.
The state tournament appearance will be Carrington’s first since winning the state title in 1995 when the Cardinals were led by Jim Kleinsasser.
Carrington 17 8 12 21 8 – 66
North Star 16 9 19 14 7 – 65
Carrington (66): Devin Barton 19, Easton Page 16, Chase Monson 15, Jackson Unruh 10, Erik Collins 3, Kaleb Klein 3.
North Star (65): Tanner Komrosky 23, Grant Lindahl 18, Calvin Teubner 10, Jacob Hagler 7, Caleb Beck 4, Daniel Grande 3.
