Langdon Area/Munich’s Mya Swanson drives into the lane, past the outstretched hand of Benson County’s Addisyn Faul, in the 2025-26 District 4 championship. (Photo by Mojo Hill)
Well, there will be at least one more major showdown between the Benson County and Langdon Area/Munich girls’ basketball teams.
They met in last year’s region championship. LA/M won that game, 52-41. But Benson County ended up winning the state title.
They met again in this year’s District 4 championship. Benson County fended off a resilient LA/M comeback, winning a 53-51 thriller in Maddock.
Now, they’ll do it all over again.
Benson County and LA/M won their Region 2 semifinal games Tuesday at Larimore High School. Benson County cruised over an opponent it had beaten twice already, while LA/M pulled off an upset. It set up a regional championship rematch for Thursday.
District 4 No. 1 seed Benson County (21-2) won 73-41 over District 3 No. 2 seed Griggs/Midkota (17-7). Two of the Wildcats’ first three games of the season were against G/M, with wins of 74-40 and 64-38.
Benson County won its sixth straight game after two consecutive losses.
Senior star Aubrey Kenner led the Wildcats with 26 points. Addisyn Faul also had a big game with 18 points. Lacie Fautsch and Kaitlyn Maddock added 14 and 13, respectively.
Benson County’s lead was under 10 through the first quarter, but nearing 20 by halftime and up to 30 by the end of the third quarter.
In the other semifinal game, District 4 No. 2 seed LA/M (18-6) beat District 3 No. 1 seed Hatton/Northwood (21-2), 59-47. H/N had been ranked No. 5 in Division B.
It ended a 14-game win streak for the Thunder.
LA/M has been playing some good basketball lately. The Cardinals’ only loss in their last 10 games was in the district championship to Benson County. Even then, the 53-51 score was a vast improvement from Jan. 26, when the Wildcats beat them 69-47.
It turns out that volleyball star Hilary Haaven is pretty good at basketball, too. The freshman standout led LA/M in scoring again on Tuesday with 21 points. Despite her youth, she’s become a stalwart on the offensive end.
Eighth-grader AryAnna Schaefer added 19 points.
Safe to say, it’s a young Cardinals roster. There are zero seniors and only two juniors.
They’re probably not in their prime yet, but some of their young players are developing faster than most people likely expected.
Benson County coach Bryan Kenner acknowledged earlier this season that historically, Langdon teams have typically beaten them up. Despite the Wildcats having more success in the last two years, the Cardinals are the type of team that’s going to give it their best shot.
“Young teams tend to do that,” A. Kenner said after the district championship. “They always have that fight in them.”
The Wildcats and Cardinals will go at it one more time on Thursday around 7 p.m. at Larimore High School. The game follows the third-place contest between G/M and H/N.
The winner of the region championship earns an automatic bid to the state tournament — where Benson County is the defending champion. LA/M finished fifth at state last year.
The loser of the championship game and the winner of the third-place will move to the state qualifier round at Mayville State University on Saturday. The Wildcats won in that round last year — but they’d sure like to get their revenge on the Cardinals this Thursday.
