Cards qualify for Region 3

Just how they planned it, no doubt about it.

The Carrington Cardinals have had the uncanny knack for making life difficult for themselves at times, but more often than not in 2022, they’ve made do with their circumstances.

The heartache of their three-point first round loss to Griggs/Midkota from Saturday afternoon, February 26, fresh in their minds, the third-seeded Cards went to work, eliminating Barnes County North, 65-41, in loser-out play last Monday at the District 5 Tournament in Jamestown, and taking a shockingly-easy 58-34 Region 3 qualifier on Tuesday against Edgeley-Kulm-Montpelier.

With the wins, CHS, now an even 11-11 for the season, advanced to the regional round of play for the first time since 2019.

Because district tournament results supercede regular season seeding, the Cards will be the District 5 fourth seed and the G-M Titans (a 63-54 winner over Oakes in their regional qualifier) will be the third seed.

The elimination game featured the highest-scoring quarter for any team at the tournament, with the Cards exploding for 26 points in the second quarter after 20 in the first to overwhelm the Bison. After that point, Carrington cruised, getting an opportunity to rest their starters in most of the second half.

Lucas Hendrickson had another two big games, scoring 17 in the loser-out win and 15 in qualifying play. Grady Shipman added a pair of double-figure evenings as well, with 10 and 12 points in the Cards’ final two District 5 tourney outings.

Additionally, Hudson Schmitz finished with 16 points in the Monday elimination contest.

The season-concluding game for BCN (2-17) was their ninth consecutive loss, and 17th in 18 games following a season-opening win over Maple River. Oliver Hanson’s 10 points were the top performance.

Coming into the qualification round, the Cards and Rebels had split their regular season series, with E-K-M winning, 69-51, at the Stutsman County Tournament and CHS taking the District 5 counter in Edgeley by a 58-49 final.

First quarter play was close, with the Rebs edging out to a 12-11 lead at the end of one, but the Cards had a good second quarter effort to go up, 24-18, into the locker room.

That was nothing compared to what they were about to unleash in the third quarter, blowing the doors off E-K-M in the third with 21 of the stanza’s 25 points and leaving the game’s final result without any doubts.

Josh Bickett and Schmitz each scored eight points for the Cards to supplement Hendrickson’s and Shipman’s 27 combined points.

Jacob Nitschke (12 points) was the only player in double figures for a talented, but young, E-K-M team, whose season came to a close at 14-8.

CHS faces District 6 champion Linton-HMB at 6 p.m. tonight in the first round of Region 3 at the Jamestown Civic Center.

Loser-Out

Carrington 65,

Barnes Co. North 41

Cgtn. 20 26 13 6 65

BCN 8 15 11 7 41

Carrington: Lucas Hendrickson 17, Hudson Schmitz 16, Grady Shipman 10, Jack Erickson 6, Hudson Topp 6, Josh Bickett 5, Tate Larsen 5. Totals: 26 FG, 11-16 FT, 14 fouls. Three-pointers: Hendrickson, Schmitz.

Barnes Co. North: Oliver Hanson 10, Jonah Harstad 8, Casey Everson 7, Will Schwehr 7, Colten Straub 5, Cade Piatz 2, Justin Schlenker 2. Totals: 14 FG, 11-19 FT, 17 fouls. Three-pointers: Everson, Straub.

Region Qualifier

Carrington 58,

Edgeley-Kulm-Montpelier 34

Cgtn. 11 13 21 13 58

E-K-M 12 6 4 12 34

Carrington: Hendrickson 15, Shipman 12, Bickett 8, Schmitz 8, Topp 6, Erickson 5, Larsen 2, Cole Seaburg 2. Totals: 23 FG, 10-14 FT, 9 fouls. Three-pointers: Hendrickson, Shipman.

E-K-M: Jacob Nitschke 12, Dalton Madcke 7, Dylan Carlson 6, Adam Nitschke 6, Joseph Kramlich 3. Totals: 13 FG, 3-3 FT, 16 fouls. Three-pointers: Carlson 2, J. Nitschke, Madcke, Kramlich.