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N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Three of the top four seeds advanced to Friday’s semifinals in the Stutsman County Invitational Boys Basketball Tournament at the Jamestown Civic Center.
Top-seeded Carrington rolled over Midkota, 82-49. No. 2 seed Edgeley-Kulm-Montpelier defeated Central Prairie, 63-36 and No. 3 seed Napoleon ousted Kidder County, 45-37. The lone upset came in the 4 vs. 5 matchup with Pingree-Buchanan-Kensal using a second-half run of 16-4 to down Ellendale, 62-55.
Carrington 82, Midkota 49
The #8 Cardinals entered the tournament as the top-seed and flexed their muscles in the opening game with a rout of District 7 rival Midkota. Carrington forced 28 Mustang turnovers and turned a lot of them into transition baskets.
Seth Abaurrea had 11 points most of which came directly off of Midkota turnovers. Carrington shot 62.1% from the field in the second half and outscored the Mustangs 29-8 in the third quarter.
Pingree-Buchanan-Kensal 62, Ellendale 55
Ellendale dominated the first half as the Rebels struggled to find a rhythm without their top scorer Nicholas Blaskowski, who injured his knee defending a breakaway layup. The Cardinals took a seven-point lead into half, but it felt like a much larger lead.
In the third quarter, PBK found their rhythm and Shawn Baker took his play to another level to carry his team to the victory scoring 28 points. Four Rebels played all 32 minutes with Ian Snow playing almost 27 minutes in relief of Blaskowski.
Edgeley-Kulm-Montpelier 63, Central Prairie 36
It was a dominating performance for the second-seeded Rebels as they improve their record to 3-0. Three Rebels scored in double figures, with Jordan Nitschke leading the way with 16, followed by Connor Entzi with 14 and Logan Hanson with 13.
For the losing Firebirds, Brett Williams and Alex Eissinger each had 7 points in the defeat.
Napoleon 45, Kidder County 37
A back-and-forth affair for much of the game, but ultimately the Imperials were too much for the Pirates, led by 15 points each from Trent Fettig and Grant Weigel.
Napoleon, who forced 23 turnovers in the game, improves to 2-1 with the win, while Kidder County falls to 0-3.
There were 10 lead changes over a span of 14 minutes in the second half, but the Pirates could never seize the momentum long enough to build a strong lead, and ultimately fell by 8.
Cole Scherbenske led the way for the Pirates with 8 points and 7 rebounds.
Day 2 on Friday
Day 2 of the tournament begins at 3 p.m. Friday with Midkota vs. Ellendale followed by Central Prairie vs. Kidder County — both in the consolation ladder. The championship ladder’s games will follow at approximately 6 and 7:30 p.m. with Carrington matching up against PBK and EKM taking on Napoleon in the nightcap.
All games can be heard beginning at 2:30 p.m. Friday on Ted 98.3 and 102.7 in addition to streaming online at NewsDakota.com.