Carrington gets past E-K-M in regional semifinals

Kadyn Mehring isn't one to light up the scoreboard from 3-point land.

Just ask her.

"No, not at all," said Carrington High School's 5-foot-9 junior forward. "We just move the ball and whoever gets open gets the shots.

"We believe in our teammates, whether it's me or anybody else."

Mehring nailed a pair of biggies from downtown Tuesday at the Jamestown Civic Center for the fourth-ranked Cardinals. The first during a 12-2 Carrington run to close the first half, and the other while helping the red birds preserve a late, fourth-quarter lead against seventh-ranked Edgeley-Kulm-Montpelier in the semifinals of the Region 3 tournament.

Carrington held on to defeat E-K-M 62-61 and will face second-ranked Medina-Pingree-Buchanan in Thursday's title game at 7:30 p.m. Carrington lost last year's championship in overtime to E-K-M.

"We just wanted to get revenge," said Mehring, who led Carrington with 13 points. "We just knew what we needed to do."

Carrington's run to end the second quarter handed the Cardinals a 25-21 lead at the half and flipped the switch in a back-and-forth game. And after allowing E-K-M's all-state junior forward Katie Entzi 12 points in the first half, the Cardinals limited Entzi to just a pair of field goals and six total points after the break.

"We changed it up left and right," Carrington coach Andy Braaten said. "We were man (defense), we were zone. We went back and forth ... but for the most part we were in the correct defense."

After trailing by as many as 14 points in the second half, E-K-M tossed up a hail mary at the end with no timeouts remaining. Kaitlyn Schiele nailed a 3-pointer, and Taylor Mathern connected for two more from downtown in the final minute, slashing the lead all the way to just one point at the final buzzer.

But 8 of 10 shots at the foul line by Carrington over the final 34 seconds helped Carrington seal the victory.

"We just kinda dug too deep of a hole," E-K-M coach Rory Entzi said. "Between being down, and missing shots that at the time didn't seem that big when we were down, they were shots we needed to make."

Compounding trouble for the Rebels in the first half, senior guard Tallie Hanson sat 12 minutes after picking up a third foul 3 minutes, 52 seconds into the game. Katie Entzi finished with a game-high 18 points.

"I'm proud of the girls," coach Entzi said. "We kept fighting back, but it took a lot out of us."

The Cardinals will be looking to earn their first trip to the state Class B girls basketball tournament since placing sixth at state in 2016.

"Everybody on that other bracket is just as tough," Braaten said. "Hopefully we can come out and just have some fire and give the crowd another good game."

(4) Carrington 62, (7) Edgeley-Kulm-Montpelier 61

EKM 12 21 40 61

CAR 11 25 49 62

EKM-Katie Entzi 18, Kaitlyn Schiele 16, Maren Berntson 9, Taylor Mathern 8, Tallie Hanson 8, Haley Olson 2. Totals: 22-57 FG, 11-14 FT, 6-13 3-pointers (Hanson 2, Mathern 2, Schiele, Entzi), 35 Rebounds (Schiele 7, Entzi 7), 18 Fouls, 9 Assists (Schiele 3), 16 Turnovers, 1 Block (Entzi), 9 Steals (Entzi 5).

CAR-Kadyn Mehring 13, Addison Hoornaert 11, Emerson Hoornaert 10, Jill Endres 10, Haley Hewitt 8, McKenzie Johnson 6, Bella Hone 4. Totals: 22-55 FG, 14-18 FT, 4-14 3-pointers (Mehring 2, A. Hoornaert 2), 31 Rebounds (3 with 7), 15 Fouls, 4 Assists, 15 Turnovers, 1 Block (Endres), 9 Steals (Hewitt 3, E. Hoornaert 3).

Records: CAR 20-4; EKM 20-4.

1/2: Carrington's McKenzie Johnson looks across the floor while E-K-M's Taylor Mathern applies defensive pressure Tuesday during the Region 3 tournament at the Jamestown Civic Center. John M. Steiner / The Sun

2/2: E-K-M's Taylor Mathern (13) is chased down by Carrington's Haley Hewitt Tuesday during the Region 3 tournament at the Jamestown Civic Center. John M. Steiner / The Sun