Northern Cass fends off Wolves at UJ Shootout

Northern Cass girls basketball flustered Kidder County and sophomore forward Kennedy Harter on Saturday at Harold Newman Arena.

The Jaguars' 6-foot Emma Lucus and 5-11 Morgan Nelson limited the Wolves' 5-11 Harter to two points in the first half during the annual UJ Shootout hosted by University of Jamestown basketball. Harter rebounded to score 10 after the break, including seven in the fourth quarter where both teams held the lead.

But it was too little, too late.

Harter, all-state guard Madelyn Schmidt and junior forward Josephine Braun all fouled out of the game for the Wolves over the final five minutes in a 52-48 victory for Northern Cass.

"She was a little shell-shocked, but I still wanted to go to her," said KC girls basketball coach Dan Welder on Harter, who had two fouls at the break. "She stepped up in the second half a little bit more and that was nice to see. Defensively we changed things up a little bit, but (the Jaguars) are a good team.

"They're long, they're athletic ... they beat us fair and square."

The Wolves (2-1) staked themselves to an eight-point, 21-13, lead in the second period behind a pair of 3-pointers and 13 of the senior Schmidt's game-high 17 points. But the Jaguars answered with 15 straight points before the Wolves' Hailey Pfaff buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer to limit the damage to 28-24 Northern Cass after two quarters.

The Jaguars (2-0) opened the season with a 19-point win over Mayville-Portland on Thursday and are looking to improve on last season's 16-7 campaign that ended in a fourth-place finish at the Region 1 tournament.

"We had a good first game coming out last week, so we had some confidence coming in," said Northern Cass sophomore guard Helle Crockett. "I think we can do some big things."

Crockett's pair of 3-pointers and 10 points in the second half arguably made the difference. Northern Cass led by as many as nine after the break before Harter and the Wolves stormed back in the fourth after trailing 39-34 to begin the final frame.

Four of Harter's 12 points and a pair of bonus shots by Pfaff helped give the Wolves a 43-42 advantage with 4:45 remaining. The lead would change hands three more times before Lucus would keep the Jaguars out front with a pair of free throws at 49-48 with 1:37 to play.

Harter fouled out of the game sending Lucas to the line. Both teams converted 18 of 27 shots at the foul line.

Schmidt was limited to 4-for-4 at the line for four points total in the second half after possibly tweaking a leg muscle in the second quarter. Lucus finished scoring nine points.

All of the Wolves' 48 points were scored by the team's five starters. KC, which has 10 athletes rostered, started the year with a 54-53 win over fifth-ranked Shiloh Christian.

"We'll learn from it. That's the biggest thing," Welder said. "We know our bench has got to play better and that's the way it is."

Northern Cass is scheduled to host Thompson in Hunter on Monday.

"We have a lot of confidence," Crockett said. "We've put in a lot of work this year so we'll see how it goes. We're excited."

UJ SHOOTOUT

AT HAROLD NEWMAN ARENA

Northern Cass 52, Kidder County 48

NC 13 15 11 13 -- 52

KC 15 9 10 14 -- 48

NC -- Helle Crockett 16, Emma Lucus 9, Morgan Nelson 7, Allie Slinger 7, Maddy Zwetzig 6, Haidyn Crockett 5, Abby Richman 2. Totals: 15-42 FG, 4-15 3-pointers (Helle Crockett 2, Haidyn Crockett, Zwetzig), 18-27 FT, 36 Rebounds (Nelson 7, Haidyn Crockett 7), 17 fouls (Haidyn Crockett), 16 Turnovers, 5 steals (Helle Crockett 2).

KC -- Madelyn Schmidt 17, Kennedy Harter 12, Hailey Pfaff 10, Josephine Braun 6, Avery Rath 3. Totals: 13-38 FG, 4-14 3-pointers (Schmidt 2, Pfaff 2), 18-27 FT, 22 Rebounds (Braun 5, Pfaff 5), 22 fouls (Braun, Harter, Schmidt), 13 Turnovers, 8 Steals (Schmidt 4).

Records: Northern Cass 2-0. Kidder Co. 2-1.

SCORES

BOYS

Midway/Minto 84, Napoleon-GS 61

Kidder County 67, Hankinson 61

Central Cass 79, Barnes Co. North 19

GIRLS

10:40 a.m.: Lisbon 47, Napoleon-GS 43

12:20 p.m.: Medina/PB 57, Hankinson 30

3:40 p.m.: Langdon/EM 44, Kindred 43

5:20 p.m.: Northern Cass 52, Kidder County 48

8:40 p.m.: Edgeley/KM 38, Enderlin 27