Langdon Area/Munich’s Mya Swanson guards Benson County’s Aubrey Kenner. (Photo by Mojo Hill)
MADDOCK — In Benson County’s quest to an eventual state championship last winter, one roadblock the Wildcats had to overcome was a region championship loss to Langdon Area/Munich.
“The region championship definitely sucked,” senior Aubrey Kenner said. “Honestly, probably the worst day of 2025, I’m not gonna lie.”
Of course, winning a state title eased some of the sting from that loss. But on Monday, the Wildcats met last year’s region champion for the first time since then — and this time, they took care of business.
“Obviously, you talk about one game at a time. But when you’re dealing with 16, 17-year-old girls that are competitors, it means a little more,” Benson County head coach Bryan Kenner said. “Historically, Langdon’s always whooped our butt. That’s just the reality of it. And these girls really wanted this one. It was not hard to get them fired up today.”
No. 1 Benson County improved to 15-0 overall and 5-0 in district play with a 69-47 win over LA/M (8-6, 3-1) in Maddock.
The University of Mary-committed Kenner led the Wildcats with 30 points, while sophomore Lacie Fautsch added 19.
The Cardinals’ top two scorers were both key players on the state champion volleyball team, with freshman Hilary Haaven’s 16 and sophomore Taya Feist’s 11.
“Hats off to them,” Coach Kenner said. “They’re a well-coached, well-executed squad for how young they are.”
The Wildcats took commanding leads at the start of both halves. Each time, LA/M chipped away to get back in it — before Benson County eventually put the hammer down in the fourth quarter.
“I think each of the times that they made their comebacks, we just missed some easy bunnies,” A. Kenner said. “And they came down, and they made some tough shots. But those are the moments where we have to stay the mentally strongest.”
The Wildcats led 10-0 more than four minutes into the game. Benson County benefitted from turnovers, but then turned the ball back over multiple times en route to an 11-5 Cardinal run. Haaven and Hallie Overby each hit a triple to fuel LA/M’s response.
Feist used her height to get to the rim three times in the second quarter, after only scoring one point in the first.
“Sometimes, the pace of play we like to play at, we’re taking quick shots, and if we miss them, there are opportunities for teams to come back a little bit,” Coach Kenner said. “We expect that. We’ve just got to know when to lock down.”
The Cardinals had Benson County’s lead as tight as four points in the second quarter. But the Wildcats started to find their offensive rhythm, with contributions from all five starters in the first half.
Fautsch started getting to the rim and had 10 points in the second quarter. She made 5-of-7 free throws in the first half to collect a team-high 13 points before halftime.
Addisyn Faul scored six in the half, including a key layup during a 7-0 run to extend Benson County’s lead back to double digits. Kenner hit two threes in the half.
“We talked about how we had to attack their zone, and it took us a little bit to kind of figure out how to attack it and where to look,” Coach Kenner said. “I think when Aubrey was aggressive with it, she either got a look or we got a pass to somebody and got a nice shot. When we were just kind of throwing it around early, we struggled for a little bit to get our flow. But we settled into it.”
The Wildcats cruised into the middle of the third quarter. They led by as many as 17. LA/M came out of the halftime break missing shots around the rim; the Cardinals didn’t score in the third quarter until the 4:35 mark.
Benson County’s scoring stalled, though, while LA/M got a boost off the bench from Erika Bakke. The junior hit two triples and scored eight points in the third quarter as the Cardinals got within eight.
“In the third quarter, I let it play out a little bit; I only had a couple timeouts left, and I wanted to see if they could kind of settle down and slow down themselves,” Coach Kenner said. “And they did.”
The Wildcats put the game away with a 16-0 run between the third and fourth quarter. Kaitlyn Maddock landed her first triple of the game, while Kenner took over the scoring load. She had a big third quarter with 12 points, then added seven in the fourth to get to the 30 plateau.
Kenner went 9-for-10 from the free throw line.
For the third time in four quarters, LA/M didn’t score until roughly midway through the period. The Wildcats had their lead in the 20s for most of the fourth quarter. They pulled their starters with 2:04 left, leading by 27.
Haaven had one last steal and layup to complete a solid game in her own right. But it was Benson County’s evening.
Faul and Ella Fossen supported the 69-point effort with eight and seven points, respectively, while Maddock had five.
The Wildcats have now beaten all but one team in the district: New Rockford-Sheyenne, which they’ll host on Feb. 3. That contest will already be the last regular-season home game for Benson County.
“New Rockford always plays us tough, so I don’t want to overlook them,” Coach Kenner said. “But this was a big one tonight.”
On Tuesday, the Wildcats are set to travel to play No. 4 Kenmare/Bowbells. It’s a game that doesn’t have much bearing in the standings, but it’ll be one of Benson County’s toughest challenges this season — and one of the biggest threats to its undefeated record.
It’s a rematch of last year’s Division B state championship game. The game was supposed to be played two weeks ago, but the Honkers had eight players out with the flu.
“We want to play tough teams because it makes us sharper, makes us play hard,” Coach Kenner said. “We played hard tonight; to play them back-to-back is going to be difficult. But when you’re in a state tournament, you’ve got to play teams like this back-to-back. So we’re accepting the challenge and ready for it tomorrow.”
