Pushing for state

The New Rockford-Sheyenne Rockets got off to a great and heartbreaking start to the Region 2 Tournament in Devils Lake.

Beginning their run against the Midway/Minto Mustangs on Monday, March 4, the Rockets kicked off their run with an impressive victory.

Unlike the District 4 Tournament and the Super Region 4 Tournament last year, this year's Region 2 Tournament was single elimination in the first round, meaning a loss to the Mustangs would have been the end of the Rockets' season.

Determined not to let that happen, the Rockets recovered from an early first-quarter deficit with an impressive run in the second quarter.

And fueling that run was NR-S sophomore Easton Simon, who scored nine points in the second quarter alone, after scoring six in the first eight minutes.

Simon was particularly accurate from long range, and would go on to finish the night with 12 points from beyond the arc.

With Simon propelling them on offense, the Rockets managed to turn an 18-11 deficit into a 26-26 tie going into halftime.

The third quarter then saw an even bigger offensive explosion for NR-S, as they scored 18 points and opened up a 44-40 lead entering the final eight minutes of the game.

The NR-S offense slowed down considerably in those final eight minutes, but so did the Mustangs'.

It was the Rockets, however, that cashed in their fourth quarter buckets in clutch time when it mattered most, giving them a hard-fought 52-48 victory to start their region tournament.

Top scorers for NR-S were Simon with 25 points, followed by Bennett Meier with 11 and Ashton Reimche and Kailar Jacobson with eight each.

The victory advanced NR-S to the semifinals against the North Border Eagles, but their second game of the tournament wouldn't go as well as their first.

After falling behind 7-14 in the first quarter, the Rockets worked throughout the game to keep the score within striking distance, and by late in the fourth quarter that's exactly what they'd done.

Down three with less than 10 seconds remaining in regulation, Bennett Meier made a clutch shot despite being fouled, and completed the 3-point play to tie the game at 40-40.

However, with 1.9 seconds remaining, North Border sank a clutch 3-pointer from long range, handing the Rockets a heartbreaking loss in the semifinals.

But that wasn't the end of their season, as the Rockets had a third place game on Thursday, which if won, would also mean a ticket to the state play-in game on Saturday, March 9.

The game took place after press time on Thursday, March 7, and will be covered in next week's edition of the Transcript.

The article from Thursday's game is posted online at http://www.newrockfordtranscript.com.

Region 2 Boys'

Basketball Tournament

Semifinals

NR-S 52, M/M 48

Monday, March 4

at Devils Lake

NR-S: 11 15 18 8 - 52

M/M: 18 8 14 8 - 48

NR-S: Easton Simon 25, Bennett Meier 11, Ashton Reimche 8, Kailar Jacobson 8. Totals: 21 FG, 6-13 FT, 12 fouls. 3-pointers: Simon 4.

Midway/Minto: Riley Robinson 29, Aiden Lunski 7, Ben Gudajtes 7, Trenton Sitzer 3, Elijah Robinson 2. Totals: 16 FG, 13-19 FT, 17 fouls. Fouled out: R. Robinson, Ezra Robinson. 3-pointers: R. Robinson 2, Sitzer 1.

Region 2 Boys'

Basketball Tournament

Quarterfinals

NR-S 40, North Border 43

Tuesday, March 5

at Devils Lake

NR-S: 7 12 10 11 - 40

NB: 14 8 10 11 - 43

NR-S: Easton Simon 14, Bennett Meier 8, Easton Benz 7, Kailar Jacobson 6, Kage Walford 3, Ashton Reimche 2. Totals: 15 FG, 7-11 FT, 10 fouls. 3-pointers: Simon 1, Benz 1, Walford 1.

North Border: Grant Cosley 16, Kaden Moore 12, Grayson Ohmann 7, Kade Schafer 5, Brody Berg 3. Totals: 15 FG, 3-6 FT, 13 fouls. 3-pointers: Moore 4, Cosley 3, Ohmann 1, Berg 1, Schafer 1.