Another near miss: Trenton edges Loboes for third

• Anthony Olson

LaMoure-Litchville-Marion’s Anthony Olson shoots while being guarded by Trenton’s Lane Huck, left, and Jade Bentz in their Class B state tournament third-place game Saturday in Minot. Olson made the all-tournament team. (Chris Aarhus/The Sun)

Talk about it

MINOT — The perimeter shooting of Trenten Hove kept LaMoure-Litchville-Marion from taking third place at the Class B state tournament on Saturday.

The senior point guard from Trenton hit four 3-pointers to make up Trenton’s final 12 points including the dagger with 18 seconds to go in a 43-42 victory.

“That was big; I’m glad he stepped up for us,” said senior Jade Bentz, Trenton’s leading scorer over the course of the season. “He said he had a poor game (Friday). He redeemed himself to me.”

Bentz wasn’t shabby, either, adding 10 points and 11 rebounds for the 24-3 Tigers, who won Region 8 to earn their trip to state. The 6-3 forward said he was eager to prove a point to those believing the Tigers’ region to be one of the less competitive parts of the state. Region 8 teams have actually won their first-round game four of the last seven years.

“They always underestimate us,” Bentz said, “and look what we came here and did. We did some damage in the tournament. They never thought we’d take third.”

Hove, who finished with a game-high 21, hit his second 3-pointer of the fourth quarter to put the Tigers up 37-31, but the Loboes used a fierce rally to take 42-40 lead on a pair of free throws from Anthony Olson with 1:47 remaining.

However, it was Hove’s final trey that rounded out the final score, as Olson unsuccessfully tried to muscle up a shot from the low block with 5 seconds remaining. Olson tallied 17 in the loss.

“It was a matter of it’s a close game and they hit one more shot than we did,” L-L-M coach Darren Thielges said. “(Hove) hit some shots, give the kid credit. He was comfortable at the top of the key. We were just late closing out sometimes and he hit a shot.”

Though the Loboes’ run ended with fourth place, they came a long way, winning Region 3 despite not having a starter taller than 5-foot-11.

“I knew we had a great group of guys,” Thielges said. “They were competitors from the time they were in third place. They played hard even though they’ve always been undersized. No one evidently told them they can’t compete with bigger teams.”

L-L-M returns starters Brady Thielges and Olson, along with top reserves Drew Thielges and Parker Stemen for next year.

Class B Tournament

At Minot State Dome

Third place

Trenton 43, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion 42

Trenton 8 16 29 43

LaMoure-Litchville-Marion 9 18 28 42

Trenton: Trenten Hove 21, Jade Bentz 10, Lane Huck 4, Austin Wooten 3, Michael Rademacher 3, Blaine Durward 2. Totals 15-46 7-12 43

LaMoure-Litchville-Marion: Anthony Olson 17, Jared Meiklejohn 12, Brady Thielges 7, Drew Thielges 4, Kenneth Hodem 2. Totals 15-43 9-10 42

Records: Trenton 24-3, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion 22-4.

Sun sports writer Chris Aarhus can be reached at (701) 952-8462 or by email at caarhus@jamestownsun.com

Tags: class b, sports, basketball