Class B roundup: Central Cass rolls in opener

FARGO — Central Cass seized control early on Thursday and never let up.

The Squirrels got off to an explosive start in their 70-37 win over Grant County during the quarterfinals of the Class B state girls basketball tournament at the Fargodome.

Central Cass rattled off a 12-0 run midway through the first quarter and built a 24-8 lead after the opening eight minutes.

“That calmed everyone down,” Central Cass head coach Ryan Mears said. “It settled all of the girls’ nerves if they had any. We were relaxed from that point on.”

The No. 8-ranked Squirrels (23-3) advance to play No. 3-ranked Napoleon at 6:30 p.m. today in the semifinals.

Hannah Breske scored 25 points to lead Central Cass. She had the Squirrels’ first 10 points.

“Right off the tip we wanted to get control of the game right away instead of reacting,” said Breske, who also finished with six rebounds. “We wanted to be the team that started out quick and not get behind.”

Central Cass never trailed during regulation. Faith Dooley added 19 points and nine rebounds for the Squirrels.

Grant County – a co-op of Carson, Elgin and New Leipzig – trailed 39-17 at halftime and shot 22 percent (13 of 59) from the field for the game.

“When you come out and you can’t start quick, plus getting behind like that, it is so hard to play,” Grant County head coach Nicole Bentz said. “Faith Dooley is a great inside player, and we were not able to defend her the way we wanted to.”

Senior Ashley Bentz of Grant County scored 25 points and surpassed the 2,000-point milestone. Bentz needed 11 points to reach 2,000 entering Thursday and now sits at 2,014 career points.

Grant County plays Beach in the consolation semifinals at 1 p.m.

Breske scored 18 of her 25 in the first half and was 6 of 9 from the field in the opening 16 minutes.

“It was a huge spark for our team too,” Breske said of the Squirrels’ efficient first half. “We started playing harder on defense and started hitting all of our shots. It was huge.”

Central Cass 70, Grant County 37

CC 24 39 55 70

GC 8 17 31 37

CENTRAL CASS (23-3): Breske 9-18 5-7 25, Dooley 8-14 3-10 19, Cramer 3-6 1-2 8, Titus 3 0-0 8, Tronson 1 1-3 3, Sweep 1 0-0 3, Goettle 1 0-0 2, Romsdal 0 2-4 2. Totals: 26-56 12-26 70.

GRANT COUNTY (20-6): A. Bentz 8-29 4-4 25, Tatro 3 0-0 7, Koepplin 1 0-0 2, S. Bentz 1 0-0 2, Wetzel 0 1-2 1. Totals: 13-59 5-8 37.

3-pointers: Breske 2, Cramer, Titus 2, Sweep, Bentz 5, Tatro. Total fouls: CC 12, GC 14. Rebounds: CC 40 (Dooley 9), GC 32 (Werner 8). Assists: CC 13 (Goettle 5), GC 3 (Koepplin 2). Steals: CC 11 (Cramer, Titus, Tronson, Erickson 2), GC 6 (Bentz 3). Turnovers: CC 13, GC 17.

Thompson 58, New Town 52

The Thompson Tommies held a lead for less than 90 seconds Thursday night at the Fargodome.

Good thing for the Tommies that lead came at the end. Thompson scored the game’s final 12 points to rally for a 58-52 victory against New Town in the first round of the North Dakota Class B state tournament.

“We started to believe, and we got confidence,” said Thompson freshman Shaice Marx, who scored 10 points off the bench. “I think the first couple quarters we didn’t have as much confidence as we should.”

New Town (23-2) had its 22-game winning streak snapped. The Eagles, who led by as many as 11 points in the first half, didn’t trail until less than two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Senior guard Taylor McGrady paced New Town with 16 points on 5-for-10 shooting from the field.

— Eric?Peterson

Minot Ryan 58,?

Benson?County 53

FARGO – Minot Ryan defeated Benson County 58-53 during the quarterfinals of the North Dakota Class B state girls basketball tournament on Thursday at the Fargodome.

The No. 1-ranked Lions (25-0) advance to play No. 4-ranked Thompson in the semifinals at approximately 8:15 p.m. on Friday at the Fargodome.

Hannah?Stewart had 22 points and 12 rebounds, and Anika Rovig added 18 points and five assists.

Benson County plays New Town in the consolation semifinals at 3 p.m. on Friday.

The?Wildcats were paced by Andrea Jorgenson, who led four players in double figures with 17 points.

Benson County drops into the consolation bracket and meets New Town this afternoon.

— The Forum

Tags: class b, sports, basketball