Kidder County outlasts LaMoure in overtime

Those from Kidder County who left their bags unpacked upon returning from last week’s state Class B girls’ basketball tournament in Minot just saved some time.

The Pirates are heading straight back.

Adam Randall, the Region 3 Senior Athlete of the Year, led the Pirates with 22 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals, aiding the Pirates to their first state Class B boys’ basketball tournament in 19 years with a 56-51 overtime victory over the LaMoure Loboes in the championship game of the Region 3 tournament in Jamestown on Thursday.

“It feels like a dream right now. It’s amazing,” Randall said. “We’ve worked so hard for this. Words really can’t describe it.”

Randall was the backbone during Kidder County’s win, but junior guard Cody Wahl turned out to be the overtime hero. The ball found Wahl’s hands just after the tip-off and he immediately drilled a 12-foot jumper from the left side to give the Pirates a 47-45 lead just 5 seconds into the extra frame.

“There were a lot of other big shots in that game,” Wahl said. “But I guess I had the right one at the right time.”

“That’s probably not the shot we really wanted in that situation,” Kidder County coach Paul Olson said. “But since it went in it turned out to be the shot we wanted.”

Kidder County wouldn’t give up the lead the rest of the way, but 4 of 4 free-throw shooting by LaMoure’s Aaron Stemen cut the lead down to just 52-51 with 12.9 seconds remaining in the ball game.

That’s when Wahl, who became Kidder County’s fifth man when senior Jake Miller fouled out of the game with 2:49 left to play in regulation, stepped up to the challenge yet again. The junior drilled 2 huge double bonus shots with 11.8 ticks left to put the game out of LaMoure’s reach.

“I just got the ball and threw it right to the rack,” Wahl said. “You have to have confidence in that situation and I made them.”

Wahl’s 4 points in overtime were his only points of the game. Kidder County’s Mike Kalianoff and Wes Nicholson finished the night scoring 10 points each.

“We’ve wanted this for a long time,” Olson, the Region 3 Coach of the Year, said. “LaMoure is a good team, but the kids hung tough. We limited them to 1 shot in overtime and that was key. I couldn’t be prouder of the kids.”

The Pirates have advanced to the Region 3 tournament the past 4 seasons, but have failed to find a way into the championship game. The team finished fourth in the tourney the last 2 seasons, and came away with a third-place trophy in 2006-07.

Kidder County (19-5) will face Shiloh Christian, the champions of Region 5, in the second quarterfinal game next Thursday afternoon on the floor of the Minot State University Dome. The Pirates defeated Shiloh Christian 68-63 in Bismarck back on February 19. Randall scored 17 points in the game to notch his 2,000th career point.

“We’ll go in just like any other night,” Olson said. “We’ll be ready to play.”

As for the Loboes, the Region 3 tourney’s Cinderella team tried as hard as they could to cram that glass slipper on their foot, but in the end it just didn’t fit.

LaMoure took down defending Class B state champion Linton 59-45 in the first round, and then defeated Strasburg-Zeeland 50-49 in the semifinals.

“It’s just a tough one to lose. These guys have really invested a lot of time into this,” LaMoure coach Darren Thielges said. “They never quit, we just got behind too much. (Kidder County) made their free throws and they deserved to win.”

LaMoure’s Brett Hample played lights out in the opening period of play. The senior point guard knocked down three three-pointers and scored all 13 of LaMoure’s points in period No. 1, including a 30-foot bank shot that beat the buzzer and tied the score at 13-13 to start the second.

LaMoure senior Stemen scored just 1 point in the first two quarters, but made up for it after the break. Stemen ended the night hitting a pair of threes and scoring 23 points.

LaMoure, the No. 4 seed out of District 5, finished its season with an overall record of 16-9.

“You’ve got to give LaMoure credit. They fought to the end,” Randall said. “We were fortunate to come out on top.”

Third place Napoleon 60, Strasburg-Zeeland 52

Last game of the season, why not come out firing?

Napoleon scored 31 points in the first half against Strasburg-Zeeland, 21 of which came via the three-point shot, and the Imperials held on to beat the Clippers by 8 points for third.

The Imperials’ Phil Reuer hit 4 treys in the first half, while Jonah Schwartzenberger connected on three more to help Napoleon to a 31-30 lead at the break. Reuer tallied 5 treys in the game and posted a game-high 21 points.

As a team, Napoleon connected on 9 of 20 three-point shots.

Strasburg-Zeeland coach Brent Kleinsasser made sure all of his athletes got some quality minutes in the teams’ final game of the season. Kleinsasser ran in substitutions 5 at a time, beginning with the first line change with 2:42 left in the opening period.

The Clippers were led by Danny Nieuwsma with 13 points and Mark Baumgartner with 10 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Strasburg-Zeeland also tossed up its share of treys, converting on 7 of 18.

Strasburg-Zeeland didn’t commit a foul in the first half, and the first free throws of the game were put up by Napoleon’s Donovan Gross with 4 seconds left in the third. Gross made 1 of 2 shots to keep Napoleon ahead 48-43 to start the fourth.

The Imperials sealed the win with a 10-0 run late in the final period.

Region 3 Boys’ Basketball Tournament at Jamestown

Third place

Napoleon 60, Strasburg-Zeeland 52

Strasburg-Zeeland 9 30 43 52

Napoleon 17 31 48 60

Strasburg-Zeeland — Danny Nieuwsma 13, Mark Baumgartner 10, Chad Ternes 8, Bobbi Kramer 7, Ryan Miller 6, Ben Meier 6, Dillon Niewsma 2. Totals: 22-52 FG, 1-5 FT, 10 turnovers, 2 fouls, 29 rebounds (Baumgartner 8), 14 assists (Baumgartner 5), 2 blocks (Kramer, Danny Niewsma), 6 steals (Cole Niewsma 2, Kramer 2). Three-pointers (7-18): Baumgartner 2, Ternes 2, Miller 2, Kramer 1.

Napoleon — Phil Reuer 21, Donovan Gross 12, Jonah Schwartzenberger 11, Wade Rath-Wald 8, Cory Knutson 6, Brooks Becker 2. Totals: 25-47 FG, 1-4 FT, 14 turnovers, 7 fouls, 26 rebounds (Gross 11), 10 assists (Gross 3), 3 blocks (3 with 1), 6 steals (Gross 3). Three-pointers (9-20): Reuer 5, Schwartzenberger 3, Gross 1.

Records: Napoleon 13-12; Strasburg-Zeeland 17-8.

Championship

Kidder County 56, LaMoure 51 OT

LaMoure 13 20 33 45 51

Kidder County 13 27 37 45 56

LaMoure — Aaron Stemen 23, Brett Hample 13, Wade Aberle 7, Gaige Dunn 6, Zach Stemen 2. Totals: 18-43 FG, 10-18 FT, 9 turnovers, 22 fouls (Hample), 24 rebounds (Aberle 9), 10 assists (Hample 4), 1 steal (Hample). Three-pointers (5-13): Hample 3, A. Stemen 2.

Kidder County — Adam Randall 22, Mike Kalianoff 10, Wes Nicholson 10, Norm Nicholson 8, Cody Wahl 4, Jake Miller 2. Totals: 17-44 FG, 19-26 FT, 11 turnovers, 17 fouls (Miller), 38 rebounds (Randall 12), 4 assists (Randall 3), 3 steals (Randall 2). Three-pointers (3-7): W. Nicholson 3.

Records: Kidder County 19-5; LaMoure 16-9.

Tournament awards

Region 3 Athletic Director of the Year: Dave Handt, Litchville-Marion-Montpelier.

Region 3 Coach of the Year: Paul Olson, Kidder County.

Region 3 Boys’ Basketball Senior Athlete of the Year: Adam Randal, Kidder County.

Sun sports writer Michael Savaloja can be reached at (701) 952-8461 or by email at mikes@jamestownsun.com

Tags: class b, kidder county, sports, basketball