Benson County head coach Bryan Kenner gives his team a pep talk during a timeout. (Photo by Mojo Hill)
There will be no bus rides from Maddock to Mayville required on Saturday.
A year after losing to Langdon Area/Munich in the Region 2B championship — on their way to a state title — the Benson County Wildcats took down the Cardinals in Thursday’s rematch of the same game.
There was a little less drama than last week, when Benson County beat LA/M 53-51 in the district championship. The Wildcats (22-2) took a 51-36 win over the Cardinals (18-7) at Larimore High School.
“Our girls wanted this so badly tonight,” Benson County head coach Bryan Kenner told the Grand Forks Herald.
After leading 23-18 at halftime, Benson County outscored LA/M 18-6 in the third quarter to take control.
Ella Fossen stepped up with 12 points, while Addisyn Faul also had 12. Lacie Fautsch scored 11, and Aubrey Kenner had 10.
Hilary Haaven was LA/M’s leading scorer with 12 as well.
It was the Wildcats’ third time beating the Cardinals this season after last year’s region championship loss.
Kenner was named the Region 2 Senior Athlete of the Year.
Kenner, Fautsch and Maddock were all-region selections for Benson County. Haaven was named for LA/M. New Rockford-Sheyenne’s Ava Peterson also made the all-region team.
So, Benson County has officially earned a spot in the Division B state tournament. It’s being played at the Minot State Dome from March 5-7 this year. Last season, it was held in Jamestown as Benson County won its first state championship since 1987.
LA/M now moves to a state qualifier game. The Cardinals are set to face Linton/HMB (14-11) — the third-place winner from Region 1 — at 7 p.m. at Mayville State University.
LA/M is trying to make it to state for the eighth time in the last nine years. The Cardinals finished fifth at state last season.
Other happenings around the state
It’s fair to say that Devils Lake got a favorable break.
Expected outcomes likely would have had Kindred as the No. 2 seed from Region 1 — which would match them up in the state qualifiers.
The Firebirds got it handed to them by Kindred in the regular season. The duo of Siera Nipstad and Liza Trenbeath exploded in the third quarter to ultimately beat Devils Lake 78-59.
But Central Cass upset defending state champion Valley City in the region semifinals, throwing the whole bracket into whack.
Central Cass couldn’t handle Kindred, so the Vikings won the region championship. Now, Devils Lake will get Central Cass on Saturday. Firebirds head coach Justin Klein said before the game that he would prefer Central Cass because he thinks they match up better with the Squirrels.
And the regular-season results proved as much. Devils Lake handled Central Cass with little issue in the regular season, 70-51. The Squirrels have a more balanced set of guards, while Kindred leans heavily on its two stars.
In the Region 1 third-place game, Valley City barely held on to beat Wahpeton. Two days after getting upset by Central Cass, the Hi-Liners were nearly stunned again. They trailed 44-30 and were able to win with a monster fourth quarter, 27-8, to take a 57-52 victory.
So the defending state champs barely squeaked out of the region tournament. They’ll face Carrington, the Region 2 runner-up, on Saturday. Carrington’s a team that just had an 18-game winning streak end. Carrington and Valley City came into their region tournaments ranked No. 2 and 4, respectively, in Division A. Only one of them will go to state.
In Region 3, Turtle Mountain rebounded after a shocking loss to Rugby in the semis. The Braves beat Bottineau, 66-36. Rugby expectedly lost to No. 1-ranked South Prairie-Max, 69-35, to move to the state qualifiers.
In the Region 2B tournament, Hatton/Northwood took a surprising exit after being ranked No. 5 in Division B. The Thunder were upset by LA/M in the semis, then took a 63-61 loss to Griggs/Midkota in Thursday’s third-place game.
G/M is 19-7 entering Saturday’s state qualifier game against Edgeley/Kulm/Montpelier.
