The Benson County fan section anxiously watches the District 4 girls’ basketball championship between the Wildcats and Langdon Area/Munich in Maddock. (Photo by Mojo Hill)
Benson County will head to state as the No. 2 seed.
The seeding for the Division B girls’ state tournament was released late Saturday night, following the conclusion of the state qualifier games.
Benson County was the champion of both the District 4 and Region 2 tournaments.
The Wildcats entered last year’s state tournament as the No. 4 seed, ultimately winning the state title. They had to win a qualifier to get to state last season.
They enter this year’s tournament with a 22-2 overall record.
After a 15-0 start, Benson County lost back-to-back games to Kenmare/Bowbells and LaMoure-Litchville/Marion.
The Wildcats have since won seven in a row. After two close games in the district tournament, all three of their region tournament wins were by double-digit margins.
Benson County will play in the first game of the tournament on Thursday at the Minot State Dome. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. against No. 7 seed Edgeley/Kulm/Montpelier. The teams did not meet during the regular season.
The second quarterfinal will be No. 3 seed L-L/M vs. No. 6 seed Washburn.
Wins by Benson County and L-L/M would match them up in the semifinals. The Wildcats beat the Loboes 54-30 in last year’s quarterfinals. But they lost 55-40 in their regular-season meeting on Jan. 31.
Central McLean, the No. 1 seed, plays at 6:30 p.m. Thursday against No. 8 seed Linton/HMB. Central McLean is 24-1. The one loss was to Flasher — the No. 5 seed in this tournament.
Linton/HMB beat Langdon Area/Munich 36-33 on Saturday to get to state.
Flasher will play in the final game on Thursday against No. 4 seed Lewis & Clark – Berthold.
Benson County would meet Central McLean in the championship, should both teams get that far. The top two seeds did not play each other during the regular season.
Before last year, Benson County hadn’t made it to state since 2013 and hadn’t won state since 1987.
The defending state champion Wildcats have now made it in back-to-back seasons.
They feature three 1,000-point scorers — Lacie Fautsch, Kaitlyn Maddock and Benson County’s all-time top scorer, Aubrey Kenner. The team is coached by Bryan Kenner, Aubrey’s dad.
The tournament is being held March 5-7 at the Minot State Dome.
