Benson County’s Addisyn Faul drives towards the rim. (Photo by Noah Clooten)
A much-anticipated matchup in girls’ basketball turned into a defensive battle Monday night.
As a cross-division contest, the game didn’t mean much in the standings. But it brought together two of the top teams in the state. Benson County is the defending state champion and unanimous No. 1 in Class B, while Carrington came into the night ranked No. 2 in Class A.
Carrington, of course, competes in the same region as Devils Lake. The Firebirds beat Carrington in the region championship last year, but the Cardinals still made a state tournament run.
The Wildcats narrowly kept their undefeated season alive on Monday. They squeaked out a 34-33 win on Carrington’s home floor to improve to 6-0.
It was the second straight loss for the Cardinals, who fell to 1-2. Despite how early it is, they’ve already had sort of a curious season. They beat then-No. 1 South Prairie-Max in their season opener, which earned the high ranking. They’ve since lost to No. 5 Turtle Mountain and, now, Benson County.
Devils Lake hosts Carrington this Thursday in a Region 2 battle.
Benson’s County 34 points was its lowest total since a 56-34 loss to New Rockford-Sheyenne on Feb. 20, 2023. The last time the Wildcats scored fewer than 34 points was in a 65-31 loss to North Prairie on Feb. 9, 2023.
Yet they found a way to win.
It was a fast-paced game with both teams working at their maximums defensively.
Benson County had the advantage in fouls. Carrington only attempted two free throws all game, and made one of them. Benson County went 11-for-14 from the line, although just 4-for-6 after the first quarter.
But a 7-for-8 first-quarter performance in that respect was the difference in Benson County grabbing a 15-9 lead.
Lacie Fautsch went 3-for-4 from the line in the first quarter and 5-for-8 overall. She led Benson County in the game with 11 points.
The Wildcats went on a 9-0 run between parts of the first and second quarter. But Carrington defended well in the post and scratched together a 7-0 run, trimming Benson County’s lead to 17-16.
Kaitlyn Maddock made the Wildcats’ only three-pointer of the game to stop that run. The Cardinals missed a few three-ball attempts of their own. They made only one more basket in the first half, a layup by Aniston Hoornaert after Benson County turned it over.
Carrington’s Sienna Topp grabbed a steal from Maddock, but the Cardinals couldn’t convert. Benson County held a 23-18 lead at halftime.
Marah Johnson hit a three for Carrington early in the second half to make it a two-point game. That was one area where the Cardinals had an advantage over the Wildcats; they hit four triples, including three by Johnson, who led Carrington with 13 points.
Fautsch and Aubrey Kenner made layups in succession to widen Benson County’s lead to 27-21. But the Wildcats’ offense largely stalled after that. Maara Kutz and Hoornaert both made key buckets in the paint off of Benson County turnovers — the latter of which put Carrington ahead, 28-27, to cap a 7-0 run.
With just seconds left in the third quarter, Kenner drew a foul. She made both her free throws to inch the Wildcats back ahead, 29-28, heading into the fourth quarter.
Addisyn Faul, after six first-half points, had been held without a point in the third quarter. But she scored two of the Wildcats’ most important buckets of the game to close it out. In fact, she had Benson County’s only successful field goals in the fourth quarter.
A running layup by Faul, along with 1-of-2 free throw shooting from Fautsch, made it 32-28 Wildcats. The teams fought hard up and down the court, each squad struggling to hold onto the ball or make much happen offensively.
After a put-back by Hoornaert got Carrington closer, Johnson finally found an open look. She hit a three to jolt the Cardinals ahead 33-32.
With about a minute left, Faul muscled in an off-balance layup while falling out of bounds behind the basket. Each team took a timeout to reset.
The Wildcats’ lack of foul trouble proved enormous in that final minute. Benson County had some fouls it could disperse without sending Carrington to the free throw line.
With 7.2 seconds to go, Johnson almost appeared to make a go-ahead layup, but it was quickly wiped off the board, as it was deemed Kenner committed a foul before the shot went up.
Carrington had additional chances with 4.7 and 2.7 seconds left. The Wildcats managed to get a stop each time.
On the final possession, Faul grabbed a steal to seal the deal.
Faul’s gutsy fourth-quarter performance helped Benson County limp away with a victory that was ugly, but counted as a win all the same.
The Wildcats scored just 11 points on four field goals in the second half. Carrington limited Kenner, who came in averaging 20.2 points per game, to only eight on Monday.
Benson County has three more games before district play starts. The Wildcats play Hatton/Northwood on the road Thursday, face Des Lacs-Burlington at the Minot State Dome on Dec. 27, then host Sargent County on Jan 3. Their district opener will be in Cando against North Star on Jan. 6.
