DEVILS LAKE — Benson County is the champion of this year’s Lake Region Invitational Girls’ Basketball Tournament.
“We lost the championship game in this tournament last year,” junior guard Aubrey Kenner said. “So it felt really good to really redeem ourselves. Kind of revenge.”
The Wildcats (4-0) didn’t operate completely without a hitch. But they won big yet again, taking down Griggs/Midkota (2-1) 63-29 at the Devils Lake Sports Center. They built a sizable lead early, then struggled offensively and dealt with foul trouble in the second quarter. But they put up 23 in the third quarter and allowed only 17 points after the first quarter.
“Every night’s not gonna be easy for us,” Benson County head coach Bryan Kenner said. “We had to do some different things offensively and defensively. Griggs is a great team. They’re super athletic; they do some really different things, and we had to adjust.”
A. Kenner scored 23 points and was named the tournament MVP. Kaitlyn Maddock had 19, and Lacie Fautsch had 12.
“It feels good,” Kenner said. “But I wouldn’t be here without my amazing team, and I honestly give all the credit to them.”
Kenner, Fautsch and Maddock were All-Tournament Team selections. Dottie Goss was selected for Devils Lake JV, while Brandi Lippert and Kenley Blasey were named from third-place Nelson County.
The Wildcats had gone nearly the first two minutes of Friday’s game without scoring. But they scored within the first few seconds of Saturday’s contest on a layup by Ella Fossen. B. Kenner talked on Friday about how underrated he felt Fossen was despite not always showing up in the scoring column.
Fautsch followed with another quick layup to give Benson County a 4-0 lead.
G/M didn’t get its first points until 4:50 in the first quarter. But it briefly made it a two-point game, with Benson County’s scoring hitting a rut.
Maddock got the Wildcats going again with a three. She also had a put-back that capped a 6-0 run, building the Benson County advantage to 13-4.
The Wildcats couldn’t stop the Titans in the first quarter the way they did against other teams, but they finished the first quarter with a solid 22-12 lead. Maddock had seven first-quarter points. As did Fautsch, despite going just 1-of-4 from the free throw line. Kenner had six.
But scoring became sparse in the second quarter for both squads. It opened just like the first quarter, with a Fossen layup. Neither team scored again until nearly five minutes into the second quarter.
“We just needed to slow it down,” B. Kenner said. “They like to play fast. We tried to kind of slow it down… We were treading water for a little bit, if I’m being honest. But they need to learn how to play that if we want to be the team that I want us to be.”
G/M missed a pair of layups, as did Fautsch for Benson County. Kenner did a solid job starting plays for the Wildcats, but her passes often went unrewarded with missed layups after multiple rebounds. And fouls weren’t making things any easier on them.
Benson County got back in the points column on a put-back by Addisyn Faul. G/M made its first points of the quarter at 1:59 with two free throws. The Titans failed to record any field goals in the second quarter.
“I honestly thought that they were gonna probably go on a run,” A. Kenner said. “But we held with it. We held our own… I’m actually really proud of my team for being able to keep them to that [low score], and we really take pride in our defense. And I think that was a big key to us winning today.”
Kenner went 3-of-4 from the free throw line in the second quarter, sending Benson County to halftime with a 29-15 lead despite the shaky quarter. It was a 7-3 period, with only two total field goals — both by Benson County. Kenner had the most total points at halftime with nine.
“She hit a couple really big shots for us,” B. Kenner — A. Kenner’s dad and head coach — said. “And then I think when they started teeing on her, she looked to get some of her teammates some looks. We had to get the ball in her hand a little bit, let her create, because it was a little bit of chaos there.”
The Wildcats roared their way to a 23-point third quarter. Kenner swished a pair of threes shortly before the buzzer, giving her 14 points in the quarter and 23 in the game.
“That felt great,” Kenner said. “Because, I am not gonna lie, I struggled a little bit offensively this tournament. So it was nice to see a couple fall.”
Maddock put up eight in the fourth quarter, with two three-pointers and a steal and a layup. It was another 30-plus-point Benson County rout in the end.
The Wildcats still only went 13-of-21 from the free throw line, which was at least an improvement from Friday’s 17-of-35. It was a rare hitch for a team otherwise full of quality shooters.
“Because we played four games this week, and with our pressure defense, our legs are gonna get fatigued,” B. Kenner said. “We talked about that [Friday] night. I watched the tape back; we were line-driving some stuff. This morning, had a couple kids come in and shoot some free throws. I said, ‘Hey, just get your legs underneath it and don’t worry about it.’… I don’t know what we shot today; I don’t think it was exceptional. We’re a really good free throw-shooting team. But it was better than yesterday, and it was good enough to win.”
With a perfect record and a tournament championship to start its season, Benson County will be looking to extend this strong start into a successful season. The Wildcats are taking steps towards becoming a serious state tournament contender.
“This team works really hard. They’re really committed,” B. Kenner said. “I think that our composure at the end — in the third and fourth quarter, we really stepped it up and closed it out. And it’s just another learning experience for us in our journey.”
