On to Regionals

With a pair of victories at the District 4 tournament in Larimore, the New Rockford-Sheyenne Rockets have officially advanced to the Region 2 Tournament in Devils Lake.

The Rockets began their District tournament with a first round matchup against the Benson County Wildcats, who they'd previously lost to in a close game earlier the season.

Taking place on Friday, Feb. 23, their matchup on this occasion, however, wasn't nearly as close.

The Rockets opened up the game with a healthy 11-6 lead after the first eight minutes, seeing contributions on offense from nearly all of their starters. And on defense, NR-S allowed just a single field goal in the first quarter.

The Wildcats bounced back in the second quarter, however, scoring 12 more points before the halftime break, compared to the Rockets' eight, bringing the halftime score to 19-18.

So far, the game had unfolded similarly to their regular season game between the two teams. But that would change in the second half, as the Rockets began to simply outclass their opponents.

With 21 points in the third quarter alone, NR-S opened up another healthy lead.

Bennett Meier and Kailar Jacobson were the primary offensive threats for the Rockets, particularly in the third quarter. They eventually ended the night with 17 and 12 points, respectively.

With another 16 points scored by NR-S in the final minutes of regulation, the Wildcats simply weren't able to keep pace, bringing the final score to 56-42.

The win kept the Rockets in the winners bracket of the tournament, where they would have to face the Nelson County Chargers, on Monday, Feb. 26.

A victory over the Chargers would mean an appearance in the championship game and a ticket to the regional tournament.

Unfortunately for the Rockets, however, despite making a late comeback and forcing overtime, the Chargers ultimately got the better of them.

That put NR-S in a must-win situation if they were to make regionals, and the opponents standing in their way would be the Hatton/Northwood Thunder, a team they'd previously defeated by a wide margin.

The Hatton/Northwood game was originally scheduled to be on Tuesday, but due to weather, was postponed until about 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 28.

The delay certainly didn't have a negative impact on the Rockets, however, as they proceeded to dominate Hatton/Northwood in just about every way.

Offense was the name of the game for NR-S. By halftime they'd already racked up 29 points compared to the Thunder's 17.

Then came one of their best quarters all season. In the third quarter alone the Rockets nearly equaled their first-half score with another 26 points, which was followed up by a 20-point fourth quarter.

The offensive pace on display by NR-S was far too much for Hatton/Northwood to handle, and they would succumb to the Rockets by a score of 75-50.

Top scorers in the game were Easton Simon with 16, Bennett Meier with 14, and Easton Benz with 11.

The victory advances the Rockets to the Region 2 Tournament in Devils Lake, which begins on Monday, March 4 with a game against Midway/Minto. The winner of the tournament advances to the state tournament. There is also a state play-in game on Saturday, March 9 for the teams that finish runner-up and in third place.

Bennett Meier was the only player from New Rockford-Sheyenne to be named to the all-district team.

Also named to the team were Macyn Olson, Benson County; James Woodstead and Latrell Rainey, Griggs/Midkota; Derek Carpenter, Hatton/Northwood; Jace Collison and Michael Myers, Larimore; Marshall Judisch, May-Port-C-G; Ross Thompson, Zach Gibson and Jaxon Baumgarn, Nelson County; and Elijah Feather Jr., Warwick.

The Rockets' Region 2 Tournament run will be covered in next week's edition of the Transcript.

District 4

Boys' Basketball

NR-S 56, Benson Co. 42

Friday, Feb. 23

in Larimore

NR-S: 11 8 21 16 - 56

BC: 6 12 15 9 - 42

NR-S: Bennett Meier 17, Kailar Jacobson 12, Easton Simon 9, Luke Yri 8, Easton Benz 3, Ashton Reimche 2, Kage Walford 2, Shaun Reimche 2. Totals: 23 FG, 8-14 FT, 22 fouls. Fouled out: Jacobson, Benz, Reimche. 3-pointers: Yri 2, Benz 1.

Benson County: Holdyn Jacobson 12, Logan Maddock 11, Macyn Olson 6, Cole Knudson 6, Logan Fossen 3, Paxton Neppl 3. Totals: 13 FG, 12-19 FT, 12 fouls. Fouled out: Neppl. 3-pointers: Maddock 2, H. Jacobson 1, Olson 1.

District 4

Boys' Basketball

NR-S 55, Nelson Co. 63

Monday, Feb. 26

in Larimore

NR-S: 11 9 9 22 4 - 55

NC: 11 14 14 12 12 - 63

NR-S: Easton Simon 19, Luke Yri 15, Easton Benz 8, Kailar Jacobson 6, Bennett Meier 4, Kage Walford 2. Totals: 23 FG, 8-14 FT, 18 fouls. Technical foul: Yri. 3-pointers: Yri 3, Simon 3, Meier 1.

Nelson County: Jaxon Baumgarn 18, Caden Joramo 12, Ross Thompson 12, Zach Gibson 10, Axel Anderson 7, Rider Schmidt 4. Totals: 25 FG, 9-18 FT, 13 fouls. 3-pointers: Baumgarn 3, Anderson 1.

District 4

Boys' Basketball

NR-S 75, H/N 50

Wednesday, Feb. 28

in Larimore

NR-S: 15 14 26 20 - 75

H/N: 6 11 20 13 - 50

NR-S: Easton Simon 16, Bennett Meier 14, Easton Benz 11, Kailar Jacobson 10, Luke Yri 8, Ashton Reimche 8, Kage Walford 6, Shaun Reimche 2. Totals: 27 FG, 17-20 FT, 7 fouls. 3-pointers: Yri 2, Benz 1, Simon 1.

Hatton/Northwood: Aiden Johnson 14, Drew Iverson 11, Westin Enger 11, Derek Carpenter 9, Kaleb Trostad 3, Blake Adams 2. Totals: 19 FG, 2-4 FT, 12 fouls. 3-pointers: Johnson 4, Iverson 3, Carpenter 1, Trostad 1, Enger 1.