On Saturday, Dec. 17, the New Rockford-Sheyenne Rockets braved slick road conditions to travel to Rugby for a CNDC tournament turned jamboree.
The CNDC tournament was originally supposed to begin the previous Thursday and go through the weekend. However, that week's massive blizzard forced tournament organizers to turn the tournament into a jamboree, meaning each team in attendance only played one game.
The Rockets had to play the undefeated Dunseith Dragons, one of the tournament favorites.
Unfortunately for NR-S, it was clear early on who had the advantage. The Dragons were efficient and accurate on the court, and were particularly effective on defense in the early going.
In the first half NR-S couldn't get much of anything going in the paint, and either by choice or necessity they began settling for 3-pointers, few of which hit their mark.
The result was a healthy 43-24 lead for the Dragons going into halftime.
The third quarter, however, saw a return to form for the Rockets, who suddenly experienced a boost of accuracy. Long- and short-range jumpers were going in, and the Dragons, who seemed to have let their guard down, were now allowing easy layups that seemed impossible earlier in the game.
Lucas Yri in particular was strong in the third quarter, scoring 10 points within those eight minutes alone. He ended the game with a team-high 13 points.
What was at one stage a more than 20-point lead was down to just 10, giving some newfound hope to the Rockets.
Unfortunately for NR-S, though, the fourth quarter saw a resumption to Dunseith's dominance, as they refocused on what was working so well in the first half. The final score was 70-53.
With nine points each, DJ Mudgett and Bennett Meier were the other leading scorers for the Rockets. The Dragon's leading scorer was Boston Davis with 26 points.
Rugby Jamboree
NR-S 53, Dunseith 70
Saturday, Dec. 17
at Rugby
NR-S: 7 17 19 10 - 53
Dunseith: 17 26 11 16 - 70
NR-S: Lucas Yri 13, Bennett Meier 9, DJ Mudgett 9, Trevor Waldo 6, Easton Simon 5, Porter Granger 5, Alex Weisenburger 4, Easton Benz 2. Totals: 22 FG, 3-5 FT, 17 fouls. Fouled out: Benz. 3-pointers: Yri 3, Meier 1, Simon 1, Granger 1.
Dunseith: Boston Davis 26, Luke Lunday 17, Tayden Azure 14, Corben House 8, Jeremy Laducer 5. Totals: 26 FG, 12-17 FT, 12 fouls. 3-pointers: Davis 2, House 2, Azure 1, Laducer 1.