Demons will play in final

BISMARCK — For the second straight night, Bismarck Century took a lead with a late basket. Only this time, it wasn’t late enough.

Taylor Schafer, fouled while attempting a desperation 3-point shot, hit three straight free throws with three-tenths of a second on the clock. Those points gave Bismarck High a 40-39 win Friday against Century in the semifinals of the North Dakota Class A boys high school basketball tournament.

“It’s March Madness,” Bismarck coach Steve Miller said. “It’s never over until the buzzer goes off.”

Century had beaten Grand Forks Red River 51-49 in the quarterfinals on Thursday. On Friday, Tyler Rudolph pulled up off the dribble and swished a 12-footer from the right wing with three seconds left for a 39-37 lead. On the ensuing inbounds, Ben Jolliffe — the quarterback on Bismarck’s state-champion football team — hit Dylan Werner at midcourt with an in-bounds pass. Werner made a quick pass to Schafer on the right sideline, and he was fouled throwing up shot. That sent the junior to the line.

“I was happy to be in that situation,” Schafer said. “All that pressure — I love it. I was a little nervous when I stepped to the line. But I hit the first one and I knew I’d make the other two.”

Bismarck will play Fargo Shanley in the championship game tonight at 8 p.m.

The Deacons defeated Fargo Davies 86-60 in the second semifinal. No other details were available at press time.

Grand Forks Red River 69, West Fargo 62

Grand Forks Red River outscored West Fargo by 20 points from the free throw line and held off the Packers 69-62 Friday in the consolation round of the North Dakota boys Class A basketball tournament.

The Roughriders (21-3) made 34 of 46 free throws. Chad Bartosh scored nine of his 15 points from the line and Blake Kemnitz had 10 of his 12 points on free throws. Mac Kroeplin went 7-for-7 on his way to 16 points and Jake Robson was 5-for-5 in a 13-point effort.

Red River was 13-for-32 from the field.

Brady Rotert had 19 points to lead the Packers (15-9). Ben Huber added 15 and Justin Heisler 12.

Bismarck St. Mary’s 74, Mandan 56

Bismarck St. Mary’s raced out to an early lead and cruised to a 74-56 win over Mandan in a consolation game Friday at the North Dakota boys Class A basketball tournament.

The Saints (20-3) stayed alive at the tournament thanks to a 45-27 halftime lead. They shot 63 percent from the floor and made 11 of 12 free throws in the first half. The finished the game shooting 52 percent from the field.

Ben Weisbeck led the way for St. Mary’s with 24 points. Darius Sparks added 16 and Brian Obritsch 11. Weisbeck had three three-pointers.

Mandan (10-14) was just 2-for-5 from the line in the game. The Braves were led by Erron Collins’ 16 points.

Tags: sports, basketball