Benson County’s Grant Haagenson returns to the bench during Benson County’s win over North Prairie in the district tournament at Langdon Area High School. (Photo by Mojo Hill)
LANGDON — North Star and Benson County will each live another day in the District 4 boys’ basketball tournament.
Both teams won loser-out games at Langdon Area High School on Monday.
The squads took different paths to get to the same place.
The No. 4-seeded Bearcats were upset by Nelson County on Friday to fall to the loser-out round. North Star (16-5) came back out to eliminate Warwick (2-20) with a 74-40 win.
“We’re not done,” Bearcats head coach Jesse Vote said. “We still have to approach every game like we’re the best team. … [Losing to Nelson County] was a blow to us, obviously, but it was good to get another game in there before our region qualifier now, just to get our ground underneath us. Make some shots, see the ball go in, understand it’s go time. We don’t have time to mess around now.”
The Benson County Wildcats, on the other hand, have struggled mightily, going 3-17 this season. They went roughly the first half of the season without a win.
Fueled by an eight-triple performance from Aiden Rodriguez, they avenged a regular-season loss to North Prairie with a 61-57 victory — advancing them to the third day of the district tournament.
“Revenge game,” Rodriguez said. “We wanted it more. We wanted to go on to the third day of districts. Never done in a long time. But yes, it was a revenge game.”
Loser-out Game 1: Warwick 40, North Star 74
North Star’s meeting with Warwick was relatively closer than their two regular-season contests, which were 81-30 and 90-36.
The Bearcats took over late in the first quarter after a slow start offensively. They started getting inside and capitalizing on turnovers, going on a 15-2 run after Warwick had been within an 8-5 margin.
“We were kind of battling within ourselves,” Vote said. “We had easy looks and we just didn’t make them.”
Alec Peyerl scored 12 in the first half, consistently driving downhill for North Star. He had 14 points overall.
North Star double-teamed Warwick’s best player, Anthony Touche Jr., and significantly limited his scoring opportunities. Touche Jr. had just five points in the first half, on two field goals.
“We’ve got two or three guys that we can throw at him,” Vote said. “We wanted the ball out of his hands as much as possible.”
Touche Jr. didn’t score for more than six minutes of the second quarter, during which North Star extended its lead as wide as 19.
Brandon Black provided nine off the bench in the first half for the Warriors.
And then Aiden Black accounted for seven of Warwick’s 10 points in the third quarter.
But North Star’s Ian Westlind scored 10 all by himself in the third. Kade Mitchell came off the bench and hit three triples towards the end of the period to get the lead into the 30s.
Mitchell had a game-high 17 points despite not starting.
“It just kind of started off that way. It is kind of a spark having him come off the bench. We might have to see what happens tomorrow,” Vote said. “But yeah, he can shoot the basketball. It’s more of a schematic thing sometimes, whether we’re in a zone or we’re man-to-man. … He’s been a really good addition to us.”
Westlind finished with 16 points. Hunter Hagler was the fourth Bearcat in double figures, with 13.
North Star scored 28 points in the third quarter.
“The second half was a lot better,” Vote said. “We looked like we came out with a little bit of energy. We got some easy layups. We started jumping some passes and getting some reads and anticipating.”
Touche Jr. hit two triples in the second half to finish with a team-high 13 points for Warwick. Brandon and Aiden Black had 12 and nine, respectively.
North Star will face New Rockford-Sheyenne — the loser of the second semifinal game — Tuesday at 4 p..m.
At the time of the Bearcats’ win, they didn’t yet know their opponent. It wasn’t decided until late Monday night.
“You’re not going to get any scouting for your opponent tomorrow,” Vote said. “We played them both — Langdon most recently. And we’ll have to just watch the film and be ready for whoever we get to play.”
Loser-out Game 2: Benson County 61, North Prairie 57
Warwick is the only district team Benson County beat during the regular season.
In order for the Wildcats to beat North Prairie, there was one certainty: Their stars needed to show up.
And that they did.
Rodriguez and Grant Haagenson combined for 49 of Benson County’s 61 points — 27 from Rodriguez and 22 from Haagenson.
“It’s been a drought since we’ve won a district [tournament] game, the past five, six years here in Maddock,” Rodriguez said. “And it feels pretty good. It’s something special for all of us young guys.”
Rodriguez’s big night came after a scoreless first quarter. He and the team were trailing, 9-7.
“The first half, I missed a couple of them,” Rodriguez said. “I just didn’t let it get to my head.”
He went on to hit three triples in the second quarter, two in the third and three in the fourth.
“I let the rock fly,” Rodriguez said. “Shooters gotta shoot.”
The first half featured 10 lead changes, with Benson County trailing 32-28 at the break.
The Wildcats trailed by as many as six in the third quarter. But they slowed down North Prairie’s offense, which had been fueled by four Jack Rosinski triples in the first half. The Cougars made just three field goals in the third quarter.
Benson County went ahead with a 10-0 run, 41-36. Rodriguez hit a go-ahead three, sandwiched by two buckets from Haagenson.
North Prairie retook the lead in the fourth quarter, 47-43, after a three by Logan Olson and back-to-back layups by Rosinski.
The Wildcats tied it back up on a rare four-point play by Rodriguez. He made a three from the corner while falling down, then converted the free throw.
Rodriguez, naturally, gave Benson County the lead with a three. He padded the lead with his eighth triple of the game.
“It feels unstoppable,” Rodriguez said. “It feels like no one can touch me. No one can guard me. It feels pretty good to make that many threes.”
North Prairie got within one but never came all the way back again.
The Hermans of Benson County secured the win. Brayden Herman grabbed a steal, and Damien Herman made two free throws to make it a two-possession game with 2.2 seconds on the clock.
The Wildcats will play Nelson County in the second region qualifier game on Tuesday.
