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Published March 16, 2013, 07:15 AM

Patriots rally into title tilt

For a pass-first point guard, Alex Hopkins turned out to be a great long-range finisher Friday. The senior guard was 5-of-6 on 3-point shots. That included the game-winning trey with 19 seconds remaining as Bismarck Century rallied to edge Fargo Shanley 54-51 in the semifinals of the North Dakota Class A girls high school basketball tournament.

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    Kevin Cederstrom / Forum News Service Bismarck Century’s Hannah Larson defends Fargo Shanley’s Ashley Fraase during the Class A semifinals on Friday at the Bismarck Civic Center.

BISMARCK — For a pass-first point guard, Alex Hopkins turned out to be a great long-range finisher Friday.

The senior guard was 5-of-6 on 3-point shots. That included the game-winning trey with 19 seconds remaining as Bismarck Century rallied to edge Fargo Shanley 54-51 in the semifinals of the North Dakota Class A girls high school basketball tournament.

Hopkins finished 6-for-8 overall from the field, scoring a team-high 17 points. The senior entered the tournament with a 6.4 scoring average.

“My role is bringing up the ball, passing and playing defense,” Hopkins said. “I usually only shoot about five times a game, and they’re not all threes.

“This was really exciting. I feel like I haven’t shot as well as I could. I finally was on.”

West Fargo 68, Bismarck 48

West Fargo stormed out of the gate, taking a 41-13 lead at the half and never looking back to beat Bismarck 68-48 Friday in the semifinals of the North Dakota girls Class A basketball tournament.

The Packers (21-3) shot 53 percent in the first half and trailed off only slightly in the second half to finish the game at 47 percent. They will play Bismarck Century in the championship game.

Lexi Lennon had a double-double with 15 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists. Cassidy Thorson added 13 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

Bismarck (16-8) shot just 34 percent. The Demons got 13 points and seven rebounds from Naomi Rust. She was the only Bismarck player in double figures.

Mandan 62, Grand Forks Red River 56

McKayla Howling Wolf scored 20 points to help Mandan defeat Grand Forks Red River 62-56 on Friday in the consolation semifinals of the North Dakota girls Class A basketball tournament.

Howling Wolf hit four of the Braves’ six 3-pointers and helped Mandan (13-11) erase a six-point halftime deficit, outscoring the Rough Riders 32-20 over the final 18 minutes. Hannah Hanson and Courtney Goetz each added 11 points.

Ellie Ripplinger led Red River (20-4) with 20 points. Nicole LaDouceur finished with 16 and Jennifer Trader had 12.

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