Meier on fire

Bennett Meier set the basketball court ablaze last week.

Playing against the Warwick Warriors at home on Tuesday, Feb. 13, the junior from New Rockford-Sheyenne had the best night of his career, and was the driving force for an 87-66 victory.

Meier's exact shooting percentage on the night isn't clear, but you could probably count the number of times he missed on one hand.

It didn't matter if he was pulling up from mid range, driving to the basket or grabbing an offensive rebound under the net, everything he shot went in.

When the dust finally settled, Meier had amassed a career high 37 points, having propelled his team to a dominant victory and its highest point total of the season.

It was obvious shortly after the tipoff for Tuesday's matchup that offense would be prevalent.

Meier alone racked up 10 points in the first eight minutes, while the team as a whole scored 22.

Meanwhile, the Warriors were scoring at an unpredictable pace. For stretches the NR-S defense would get the better of them, and for other stretches they'd look unstoppable.

But there were no hot-and-cold swings for Meier and the Rockets, and by halftime they'd pulled out a comfortable 38-24 lead.

Meier had an excellent 14 points after two quarters, but it wasn't until the second half that he truly took over.

After scoring another nine points in the third quarter, Meier exploded for 14 more in the final frame, despite being pulled from the game early as the Rockets' bench closed out the victory.

It was certainly a memorable night for Meier, who has already enjoyed a great season this year.

His 37-point performance on Tuesday is up there with some of the best in school history. More recently, Jack Schaefer had 44 against Northern Cass back in 2016, and Evan Ulrich had 44 against Rolla in 2020.

Though Meier couldn't quite get into 40-point territory this time, the junior still has plenty of time to go for an even higher mark.

For now, though, the Rockets are focused on racking up some wins as the district tournament draws nearer.

The win on Tuesday brought their overall record to 8-8 on the season, and their record against district opponents to 3-4 – good enough for fifth in district standings.

NR-S attempted to build on that momentum against North Prairie on Thursday, Feb. 15, and against Wilton-Wing on February 17.

Those games – the Rockets' last of the regular season – will be covered in the next edition of the Transcript.

This year's District 4 Tournament takes place in Larimore and will begin on Friday, Feb. 23. The No. 5 seed Rockets will face No. 4 Benson County at around 4:30 p.m.

District 4

Boys' Basketball

NR-S 87, Warwick 66

Tuesday, Feb. 13

in New Rockford

NR-S: 22 16 22 27 - 87

Warwick: 13 11 23 19 - 66

NR-S: Bennett Meier 37, Easton Simon 11, Luke Yri 11, Kage Walford 8, Easton Benz 7, Shaun Reimche 5, Ashton Reimche 4, Kailar Jacobson 4. Totals: 36 FG, 11-13 FT, 8 fouls. 3-pointers: Yri 3, Simon 1.

Warwick: Dalton Joramo 17, Evan Black 12, Elijah Feather Jr. 12, Brandon Hill 9, Anthony Touche 8, Marcus Joramo 4, Randal Pearson 4. Totals: 28 FG, 0-6 FT, 17 fouls. 3-pointers: Feather Jr. 4, Hill 3, Touche 2, D. Joramo 1. Fouled out: M. Joramo.

Junior Varsity

NR-S 44, Warwick 39

NR-S: 22 7 15 X - 44

Warwick: 15 9 15 X - 39

NR-S: Dashyl Bichler 10, Thomas Allmaras 9, Kason Nass 5, Shaun Reimche 4, Aaden Benson 5, Layton Jacobson 3, Jax Demester 2, Ayden Gable 2. Totals: 17 FG, 9-15 FT, 5 fouls. 3-pointers: Bichler 1.

Warwick: Anthony Touche 18, Kelsin Cavanaugh 8, TJ Longie 3, Brandon Hill 6, William Georgeson 2. Totals: 15 FG, 3-4 FT, 13 fouls. 3-pointers: Touche 3, Hill 2, Longie 1.