FARGO — It was no secret: The Indians didn’t want to be playing in the early-afternoon game on Friday.
“I knew it was going to be a downer,” Four Winds/Minnewaukan head coach Rick Smith said. “No matter how much you talk to the young guys, it’s tough for them to refocus because it was such a tough, hard loss for them last night.”
Thursday’s quarterfinal loss to Shiloh Christian ended the Indians’ state title hopes.
But FW/M (23-4), originally seeded No. 3, bounced back with an 80-63 win over No. 7 seed Turtle Mountain (18-8) in Friday’s consolation semifinals at the Fargodome.
“These guys on both sides know each other very well. And we know the coaching staff very well,” Smith said. “And so I didn’t think it would be that hard to get them up for this game.”
The Indians got a typically strong performance from their senior leader, Marial Deng, who scored 26 points and had 11 rebounds. Joran Lohnes added 19 points off the bench. Sonny Alberts had 12 points and seven rebounds.
It was FW/M’s first ever Division A state tournament win.
“It was a good win for us to come back off a difficult loss for all of us,” Smith said. “As a coach, you always want these boys to get a taste of a state tournament and go out on a high note. We had a lot of optimism coming into this tournament, and losing the first game, it was tough. It was tough coming back. Tough for all of us. But you’ve got to refocus. That’s how life is. Life ain’t gonna be easy. And when life gets a little difficult, you’ve got to refocus and get back after it the next day.”
The Indians fought off some momentum surges to eventually pull away with it in the third quarter.
After two early lead changes, Turtle Mountain widened its advantage with five straight points from Tayven DeCoteau.
FW/M responded with a 16-2 run, including two 8-0 runs within. Deng made a spin move, then got a breakaway and a two-handed dunk on the next play. The Indians led 25-17. It took the Braves three minutes and 21 seconds of game time to score in the second quarter.
“We had to go to our zone a little bit to kind of speed things up again and get us going, get us in tempos and get some turnovers,” Smith said. “I thought again, we left a lot of points out there tonight. But I knew we could wear them down.”
Turtle Mountain went on its own 8-0 run to tie it at 29-29. Easton Peltier scored 10 in the second quarter and 16 in the first half.
FW/M got to the free throw line frequently in the half but didn’t shoot particularly well in that department. The Indians went 12-for-20 from the stripe before halftime. Tyler Black Jr. missed five straight at one point and was 1-for-8. FW/M got the rebound on the last of those misses, and Black Jr. was fouled again and redeemed himself with two makes.
Alberts and Jonte Delorme were limited to two points each in the first half. The Indians only went 1-for-11 from three-point range. It was a tie game in the final minute of the first half, 31-31.
FW/M went on another 16-2 run from there. Lohnes connected on a pair of triples off the bench. Deng and Delorme each had a three-point play.
“Once we got their pressure figured out, then it was layup city for us,” Smith said.
Chase and Easton Peliter combined for 13 points in the third quarter as the Braves cut the lead back to single digits.
But the Indians put the final hammer down with a 21-point fourth quarter. They pulled their starters while leading 80-55 with 2:17 left. Turtle Mountain ended the game on an 8-0 run with backups in for both teams.
Lohnes had a monster second half, scoring 17 of his 19 points after the break. He shot 8-for-13, including 5-for-8 from three.
“Joran stepped in and hit some big baskets for us, like he’s done all year,” Smith said.
Alberts had a 10-point second half. The physical, 6-foot-4 sophomore had struggled lately after getting off to a blistering start this season.
“Sonny’s got to be aggressive,” Smith said. “Sonny is one of our best shooters. He’s our best post, and he’s one of our best passers. And it seems like he shies away from things, and I don’t know why he does that. Maybe because he’s a sophomore. But he’s got to know that he’s out there for a reason. He’s out there to defend, he’s out there to score, he’s out there to pass, and we rely on him in that. … If you’re gonna pass up good looks, what’s the point of being out there?”
Smith noted that Alberts has plenty of history with the Turtle Mountain players, which might have added some motivation.
“Maybe because he plays against these guys all the time and it was kind of a game that he wanted a little bit more, playing against some of his friends on the other side,” Smith said.
FW/M finished 24-for-34 from the free throw line, while Turtle Mountain was 23-for-27.
The Indians shot slightly better from the field, 41.3% compared to 40%.
When the players returned to the locker room after the win, Smith wrote “simple things” on the board.
“When we do the simple things, we’re a good team,” he said. “When we make the game harder than it is, we struggle. And I thought tonight, in probably 80% of the game, we made things simple. And we scored and opened the game up, and kind of broke their backs a little bit.”
FW/M advanced to Saturday’s fifth-place game at 11:45 a.m. The Indians are set to take on the winner of No. 5 seed Wahpeton vs. No. 8 seed Dunseith.
“We’ve got another W underneath our belts, and now we’re gonna go out and face either a good Dunseith team or a real good Wahpeton team,” Smith said. “It’ll be the final ones for the seniors. Some real good seniors that’ll play their final game. But you also get to see the young guys get a taste of a state tournament. So hopefully they’re hungry for it.”
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