Thunder falter in semi round, but qualify as Dist. 6 #3 seed

Medina/Pingree-Buchanan fell victim to the first round bye curse in their District 6 Tournament semifinal matchup against the fourth-seeded South Border Mustangs.

The Thunder came out flat in a 52-35 defeat at Napoleon High School Monday night, February 28, which put M-P-B on the opposite side of the scoreboard for the first time this season against league foes.

Limping out of the gate with a mere four-spot in the first quarter didn’t help matters for Coach Bob Young’s team, as the Mustangs took a nine-point advantage following the first quarter horn.

South Border kept up the pressure with a 15-6 second period, and led, 28-10, at the break. The ‘Stangs upped that lead to 21 after three.

Just four players scored for M-P-B in the loss, led by sophomore Rylen Wick with 16. Scoring 10 was junior guard Josh Moser.

Trevor Schmidt submitted a big stat sheet for the Mustangs with 22 points, and Kaden Bader’s three long bombs contributed to his solid supporting effort with 15 tallies.

Both teams shot well from the foul line, with M-P-B going 10-for-12 and South Border not much worse at 10-for-14.

The letdown of the semi-final setback put the Thunder in the Region 3 qualifying round against #6 seed and winless Strasburg-Zeeland last Tuesday night.

M-P-B wouldn’t give the Clippers any daylight for a season-defining upset, waltzing to a 65-26 win to snag the district’s third seed.

Wick led the Thunder with 20 points, and Mark Thomas finished with 13. The Clippers were paced by seven points from Brandon Eberle.

The Thunder enter the Region 3 tournament today (March 7) with a 15-6 record, and matched up against District 5 second place finisher Ellendale (18-2) in the 7:30 p.m. nightcap. The Cardinals were also the top seed going into their tournament, but dropped a 61-48 decision to LaMoure/L-M for the championship last Tuesday in Jamestown.

District 6 Boys’ Basketball

Tournament, Napoleon

Semifinals

South Border 52, M-P-B 35

SB 13 15 13 11 52

M-P-B 4 6 10 15 35

M-P-B: Rylen Wick 16, Josh Moser 10, Gage Magstadt 5, Sawyer Wanzek 4. Totals: 8 FG, 10-12 FT, 15 fouls. Three-pointers: Wick 2, Magstadt.

South Border: Trevor Schmidt 22, Kaden Bader 15, Connor Kosiak 8, Luke Scherbenske 5, Kaleb Thiery 4. Totals: 15 FG, 10-14 FT, 10 fouls. Three-pointers: Bader 3, Scherbenske.

Region Qualifier

M-P-B 65,

Strasburg-Zeeland 26

M-P-B 28 16 7 14 65

S-Z 8 10 5 3 26

M-P-B: Wick 20, Mark Thomas 13, Moser 9, Magstadt 7, Adam McClellan 6, Wanzek 3, Camden Cassula 2, Roper Foerderer 2, Hunter Mitchell 2, Carson Ova 1. Totals: 22 FG, 16-27 FT, 10 fouls. Three-pointers: Thomas 3, Wick, McClellan.

Strasburg-Zeeland: Brandon Eberle 7, Delson Droog 5, Brock Tougas 5, Sawyer Haak 4, Devin Feist 2, Loren Wolf 2, Jack VanderVorste 1. Totals: 11 FG, 2-8 FT, 20 fouls. Three-pointers: Eberle, Droog.