JAMESTOWN, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The Edgeley/Kulm/Montpelier Rebels and the Strasburg/Zeeland Clippers came out victorious in the semifinals to reach the Region 3 Championship game this Thursday night. Here’s how the semifinals unfolded:
Edgeley/Kulm/Montpelier 63, Ellendale 57
For the third time this season EKM got the best of the Ellendale Cardinals, but this time it was for a trip to the Region championship.
EKM almost led wire-to-wire except Ellendale scored the first basket 20 seconds into the game. After that the Rebels led the entire way. EKM used a couple large scoring runs in the first half to open up a 14 point lead at the break. The biggest run was a 13-3 run headlined by Jorgen Paulson off the bench. Paulson hit all five of his field goal attempts and finished the half with 10 points. On top of the lopsided scoring runs, EKM did a good job to hamper Ellendale’s leading scorer Scott Wagner’s production. Wagner still scored 11 points in the first half but shot the ball just six times. EKM Head Coach Kevin Strobel said it was in the gameplan to slow down the sophomore.
“We wanted to make him work for everything he was going to get,” said Strobel. “Nothing easy… and I think we did a good job,” added Strobel.
Wagner finished the game with 20 points but shot the ball just 14 times, which could be considered low for some of Wagner’s previous performances. Matching Wagner’s 20 points was EKM’s Alex Huber with 20 of his own and going 8 of 9 at the foul line including some big makes to ice the game away late. Strobel applauded his team’s effort.
“The guys are a pretty determined bunch and we made some big free throws down the stretch,” said Strobel.
The aforementioned Paulson missed just one shot and recorded 15 points in the win.
As a team EKM shot 16 of 22 at the line and finished at 48 percent from the floor.
The Rebels improve to 19-4 while Ellendale drops to 16-8.
Strasburg/Zeeland 69, Oakes 58
The lone District 6 team survived another night as the Clippers defeated Oakes by 11.
Strasburg/Zeeland fell behind 9-4 out of the gates but closed out the half on a 32-17 run. The duo of Jake Wagner and Hunter Haak combined for 30 of the 36 first half points and shot 15-24 from the floor. Oakes never found an answer for those two as they went on to score a combined 49 points in the ball game. Wagner recorded a double double with 26 points and 12 rebounds.
The Clippers have secured two victories on the shoulders of great shooting performances but the semifinals didn’t feature the long ball. Just a night after Strasburg/Zeeland shooting over 70 percent from long range, the Clippers followed it up by going 1 of 10 from outside the three point line. Despite the poor outside shooting performance Strasburg/Zeeland prevailed by shooting over 50 percent inside the arc.
Both teams dealt with foul issues in the 2nd half. Oakes’ top two leading scorers Garret Meehl and Steele Hansen both had four fouls on their ledger early in the 4th quarter. Hansen fouled out in the end finishing with a team high 23 points on a 9 of 11 performance and one rebound shy of a double double. Meehl poured in 17 points and went 6-19 from the floor.
Strasburg/Zeeland imprvoes to 18-5 while Oakes drops to 15-9.
Thursday’s schedule:
3rd Place Game- Oakes VS Ellendale @ 6:00
Region Championship-Strasburg/Zeeland VS Edgeley/Kulm/Montpelier @ 7:30
Both games can be heard on 98.3 “Thunder Country” and on 1220AM, 95.9 FM “The Tornado.”