MADDOCK — In a game they once led 14-0, the Benson County Wildcats had possession in a tie game.
There were 30.9 seconds on the clock.
“Honestly, I was just like, ‘Rebound,’” Benson County sophomore Addisyn Faul said. “‘Try to get the ball. Put it up. If not, play really good defense and it’ll go into overtime.’”
It was 51-51. Langdon Area/Munich had all the momentum. But the Wildcats had a chance to wipe it all away.
Point guard Kaitlyn Maddock dribbled it around. She exchanged passes with Aubrey Kenner. There was no sense hurrying.
Maddock found a lane she liked, then bounced it to Faul inside.
“That was an amazing pass from Katie,” Kenner said. “The court vision was great.”
Faul put it in the hole with 8.9 seconds to go.
“It was just a crazy adrenaline rush,” Faul said. “My first thought was just to get back on defense. The crowd was so energetic, and it was such a great atmosphere.”
Faul’s teammates showered her with celebrations on the bench. The home fan section erupted.
But it wasn’t over.
Benson County had fouls to work with, chipping the clock down to 4.5 seconds. Hilary Haaven — the primary reason LA/M had gotten back in the game in the first place — dribbled past the arc but lost the ball with Lacie Fautsch defending her.
Now they could celebrate.
“We know coming into the postseason, none of them are going to be easy,” Fautsch said. “So just getting to squeak away in that one was amazing.”
The Wildcats (19-2), seeded No. 1 in the tournament and No. 4 in the state, managed to take a 53-51 victory in the District 4 championship over No. 2 seed LA/M (15-7) on Monday — in Benson County’s home gym in Maddock.
“It was just a crazy game,” Wildcats head coach Bryan Kenner said. “I thought our effort and intensity was fantastic today. There was a few things that we didn’t do execution-wise, but credit to Langdon. They absolutely took advantage of all of those. But we found a way at the end when we needed to get it done to win.”
Benson County avenged last year’s region championship loss to the Cardinals.
After a 15-0 start, things haven’t come quite as easily lately for the defending state champions. They’ve had to earn their recent wins.
“We had a good team talk,” Coach Kenner said. “The players actually kind of stepped up and said, ‘We knew this year was going to be hard.’ I don’t think we knew how hard it was going to be. … [Teams] are fired up to play us. You’ve got to be ready for that.”
Benson County took losses to a pair of quality clubs in Kenmare/Bowbells and LaMoure-Litchville/Marion. Even its wins over New Rockford-Sheyenne and St. John were a little close for comfort.
“I feel like we’ve had a lot of close games this season to prepare us,” A. Kenner said. “Like last year, honestly, none of our games, win or lose, were really that close. And I think that those past close games this season have really prepared us for this moment.”
After beating the Cardinals 69-47 on Jan. 26, the Wildcats appeared on their way to a similar result on Monday. LA/M didn’t score until more than six minutes of clock had gone by. The Cardinals didn’t make a field goal until there was 1:31 left in the first quarter.
Haaven, who led the Cardinals with 23 points, didn’t score in the quarter.
LA/M’s 6-foot-1 sophomore center, Taya Feist, had the team’s first eight points of the game.
With Benson County’s scoring slowing down in the second quarter, a 14-0 lead turned into 18-16. Haaven hit a triple and had an and-one to get her evening going.
“Every time we made a mistake, they scored,” Coach Kenner said.
Maddock had five points late in the first half to give Benson County a five-point lead at halftime, which extended to as many as 11 in the second half.
But Haaven — a two-time state champion, all-state volleyball player — locked in under pressure. She hit a three just before the shot clock expired to get the Cardinals within four.
Her second triple of the quarter, and third of the game, made it 45-43. Feist made 1-of-2 free throws to inch a step closer.
“Young teams tend to do that,” A. Kenner said. “They always have that fight in them. So we knew that we had to stay strong throughout and really keep our defense up, even when we were tired.”
The Cardinals kept turning the ball over, with multiple traveling violations. Kenner hit two key free throws for Benson County, but then Hallie Overby tied it with a triple. Haaven put LA/M ahead, 49-47, with a long deuce.
It was a 16-4 run, quieting the rambunctious crowd of Maddock blue. And, at the same time, absolutely firing up the traveling crowd of Cardinal fans.
“I think we were a little bit tired and fatigued,” Fautsch said. “And it definitely showed on defense.”
LA/M led by three after a steal and a layup by Haaven. She had an enormous 16-point second half.
Benson County desperately needed a spark.
They got one, from Maddock. She knocked down a corner three to get the Benson County fans back on their feet. It was tied, 51-51, during a timeout with 1:11 left.
The Wildcats had to sweat it out, but they came away with the win.
“It’s great,” Faul said. “I feel like our energy was so much higher today, and our defense was really improved. So it was really great to just execute that.”
Maddock led Benson County with 15 points. Kenner had 14, while Fautsch and Faul each had 11.
“[Faul]’s come so far this season,” Coach Kenner said. “We want to make sure that if somebody else is open, that we can get them a look and get them an opportunity for a nice shot. And hats off to her. She had a big one for us.”
Benson County is the district champion for the second consecutive year.
“It’s so much fun,” Faul said. “I love playing with my teammates, and there’s so many talented people on my team. And I’m so excited to go into regionals playing with them.”
LA/M is going to the region tournament, too, as the No. 2 seed from District 4.
The games will be played in Larimore from Feb. 23-26.
“There are no more easy games,” Coach Kenner said. “Every night’s a rock fight.”
Leave a Reply