Minto-Midway Mustangs, D-V-E Titans pickup opening round wins
District 4 tournament opens in Grafton
The Midway-Minto (M-M) Mustangs and Drayton-Valley-Edinburg (D-V-E) Titans opened up the District 4 Tournament with wins Friday night at Grafton High School. M-M defeated Park River-Fordville-Lankin 60-31, and D-V-E defeated North Border 50-46, in overtime.
Midway-Minto 60,
Park River-Fordville-Lankin 31
Midway-Minto took charge early and walked away with a 60-31 win over the Park River-Fordville-Lankin (PR-F-L) Aggies in the opening round of the District 4 Tournament.
“Our kids played in a different atmosphere they weren’t used to,” PR-F-L head coach Larry Omdahl said. “They weren’t really mentally ready.”
The Mustangs went on a 9-2 run in the first quarter, en route to a halftime lead of 30-11.
“We played hard from the beginning,” M-M head coach Shane Robinson said.
That run started after Esten Beneda’s opening bucket made it 2-0. M-M controlled play until midway through the second quarter, when PR-F-L bounced back with a bucket by Jordan Johnson which made the score 14-4 in favor of M-M with about four minutes left in the first half. M-M went on a 16-7 run to close the first half.
PR-F-L saw their play step up in the second half, scoring 20 points, while holding Midway-Minto to 30 points.
“We got out to a slow start,” Omdahl said. “But the second half was better, we got better adjusted to their defense.”
The Mustangs were led in scoring by Lucas Mondry with 12 points, followed by Dalton Irwin and Nick Schmitz with nine points each.
Schmitz led the Mustang’s with seven rebounds.
The Aggies were led in scoring by Andrew Hylden with seven points, followed by Jordan Johnson with six points and Esten Beneda with four points.
Hylden and Spencer Rehovsky each had five rebounds to lead the Aggies, and Chad Jelinek had four offensive rebounds.
Drayton-Valley-
Edinburg 50,
North Border 46 (OT)
In a game that meant a lot for both teams, the Drayton-Valley-Edinburg (D-V-E) Titans defeated the North Border Eagles in exciting fashion, 50-46 in overtime.
The biggest baskets came in the final minute of the game, when North Border’s Austin Volk drained two free throws after a Ben Phelps foul, tying the game at 43.
The Eagles played the role of the comeback kids most of the game.
“We had a very slow start offensively,” North Border head coach Cooter Symington said.
D-V-E freshman Jacob Larson broke the scoreless tie midway through the first quarter on a pass from senior center Syris Jenson.
A foul by North Border Charlie Bjornstad sent Austin Markel to the line for two free throws. Markel made both, putting the Titans up 4-0.
North Border made a run, scoring eight unanswered points and going ahead 8-4, in the later stages of the first quarter.
D-V-E’s Paul Tharalson answered the Eagle run with five points in a row, putting the Titans up again late in the first 9-8. The teams exchanged baskets the rest of the quarter until Markel put the Titans up by five on a three point shot, the pass coming from Bradley Keena.
“Our defense played well in the first half,” D-V-E head coach Cory Laxdal said. “And we distributed the ball well on offense.”
The third quarter was marred by missed shots and turnovers.
Austin Volk finally scored to cut the Titan lead to 10 points.
By the end of the third quarter, the Titans had extended the lead back to 11 points.
North Border then put together a strong fourth quarter, scoring 17 points and tying and sending the game into overtime.
“We didn’t shoot well,” Laxdal said.
Jenson put the dagger in NB’s side with a basket late.
Severtson missed a bonus free throw, followed by an Austin Volk missed three at the end.
“They showed a lot of heart,” Symington said. “They also worked their tails off.”