A year after winning its first state championship since 1987, Benson County is going home with a third-place trophy.
The Wildcats finished third in their second consecutive trip to the Division B girls’ basketball state tournament.
They bounced back from a tough shooting game Friday to go 24-for-57 on Saturday. No. 2 seed Benson County (24-3) beat No. 4 seed Lewis & Clark – Berthold (20-8) 62-57 in the third-place game at the Minot State Dome.
Lacie Fautsch led Benson County with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Aubrey Kenner had 18 points. Addisyn Faul was just short of a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds. Kaitlyn Maddock had a 14-point game.
The Wildcats outscored the Bombers 18-8 in the second quarter to take a 37-25 lead at halftime. They held on to win after being outscored by seven the rest of the way. Berthold’s Addison Neshem scored a game-high 24 points.
Benson County had twice as many boards as Berthold, 46-23.
No. 3 seed LaMoure-Litchville/Marion, which beat Benson County on Friday, ended up winning its first ever state championship with a 64-49 victory over No. 1 seed Central McLean.
At the end of the tournament, Kenner was named the Division B Senior Athlete of the Year. She and Fautsch were both all-tournament selections.
The Wildcats are now 50-5 over the last two seasons and 68-13 over the last three.
They’ll graduate Kenner, Ella Fossen and Isabella Engstrom. On the bright side, Fautsch, Faul and Maddock will all be upperclassmen next year. Kenner leaves Benson County as the program’s all-time leading scorer, while Fautsch and Maddock will return as 1,000-point scorers. Kenner is set to play basketball for the University of Mary next season.
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