Killdeer clobbers Hazen, 59-45

Mar. 5—KILLDEER — The Cowboys rode herd on the Hazen Bison during a 59-45 home-victory on Monday, March 4, 2024 in the Division A-Region 4 quarterfinals to set up a date with top-ranked Beulah at 4:30 p.m. MST, on Tuesday, while Standing Rock Community shocked the Trinity Titans in a 55-45 win. That game in the bottom-half of the bracket means the Warriors will face Shiloh Christian, who walloped Watford City, 67-40 in the other quarterfinal matchup.

Hazen was buffaloed by the Cowboys' unbelievable second-half performance after taking a narrow, 26-25 Bison lead into the halftime break. Riley Walters and Preston Schwab connected on 3-pointers for Hazen (9-13) in the first quarter and Tyson Wick scored 8 of his game-high 15.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys (14-8) came out gunning themselves as junior guard Kale Hansen, classmate Owen Schleppenbach, sophomore standout Jaxon Resse and senior Ethan Hendickson all scored 4 first-half points in a brilliant team-effort and Nekori Dahlen scored all 8 of his points in the opening 16 minutes of play.

Hansen connected on a 3-pointer in the third quarter en route to helping his team to 15 points, and Jekori Dahlen scored 4 along with Cooper Bang in the frame. But the fourth quarter was critical for both teams, as the Cowboys lassoed the Bison to the tune of a single-digit 8-point output and Bang scored 5 of his team-high 11 along with Reese, who equaled his effort at 11. Nekori Dahlen ended up with 8 — along with Schleppenbach — while Hansen came close to double-digits at 9 points.

After coming in winless in Division A-Region 4 at 0-4, Standing Rock Community shocked the Titans with a stunning, third-quarter defensive display. The Warriors posted a 13-10 advantage at the end of one, but Trinity thundered back with a huge, 19-point second quarter to give them a slim, 29-28 lead as the teams headed into the locker rooms.

Senior guard Jake Shobe was solid from the field with 8 points in the first 16 minutes, while freshman phenom Emerson Simnioniw connected on a trey and classmate Landon Knote joined him from behind the arc for a pair of shots on his way to 8 of his own.

Standing Rock's senior center Marcus Henry was the first-half pacesetter for the Warriors (12-10) with 12 points and fellow senior Brently Harrison was close-behind with 10 of his game-high 18 in the opening two frames.

But the third quarter was a killer for Trinity (14-8), as they were held to only 3 points on senior guard Jace's Kovash's efforts, while Henry notched 4 more of his double-digit 17.

In the final period, Shobe came alive for 5 of his team-high 14 points and Kovash poured in 4 more on his way to 11 in the game, but the Titans were upended 14-13 in the last eight minutes on their way to the exits.

For more information about prep basketball in North Dakota, please keep reading your Dickinson Press and/or visit the websites at

https://ndhsaanow.com/teams/basketball-boys

and

https://ndhsaanow.com/teams/basketball-girls

.