The Official Newspaper for Foster County
The Official Newspaper for Foster County
Grady Shipman and Jake Otto (in white) attempt to halt the progress of NR-S' Kailar Jacobson along the baseline. In the immediate foreground are CHS' Owen Hagel and NR-S' Easton Benz.
Taylen Mehring puts some wrist action into this three-point attempt. Luke Yri of NR-S is also pictured.
The Carrington Cardinals, slogging through six consecutive defeats to open their season, were aiming to put together their most complete effort over 32 minutes in hopes of getting into the winner's circle.
They just needed the motivation, and the rival NR-S Rockets provided the fuel.
It would end up being 32 plus four for Carrington to break through their black cloud, and score a 59-57 upset over the Rockets in the series where overall records don't seem to matter.
Josh Bickett's 21 points carried the Cardinals (1-6), and the junior point guard also accounted for all six overtime points.
"It was a great atmosphere, and nice to get into the win column," said CHS Head Coach Jason Otto, who also got his first win of his tenure as the Cards' program head. "The Rockets have a good team, so I was pleased we came out and competed well."
The loss for NR-S (4-3) put an emphatic halt to a four-game winning streak. Bennett Meier scored 19 points for the Rockets, and Luke Yri's 12 points, including three shots from the arc, kept Coach Tyler Cook's team in contention even while their struggles to make stops was a concern.
Kailar Jacobson also scored 11 for the Rockets, whose inconsistency from the foul line would also be their undoing in the close game with a 10-for-18 (55.6 percent) showing.
The Cardinals' role players off the bench, including freshman guard Taylen Mehring and senior forward Owen Hagel, made their mark for the winners. Mehring canned three treys and finished with 11 points, and Hagel had all seven of his tallies in the second half.
"Our bench played well, and guys are starting to fit into their roles," said Otto. "We knew we had to get off to a good start, since NR-S has been playing well recently. It was good to see some guys step up and make some plays when we needed."
This past Thursday, the Cards returned to Class A - Region 2 play in Minnewaukan to face the FW-M Indians, who have sprung some impressive wins since All-State forward Deng Deng has returned to the lineup and are 6-2 after a rare 0-2 start.
For the remainder of the upcoming week, Carrington will be busy. Tonight (January 15) they will be at Rugby for a non-region Division A contest, followed by a very-tough Thursday night Region 2 game against #2-ranked Grafton, and go to Cando Saturday for a date with the second-rated team in Class B, North Star.
Inter-Division Boys' Basketball
Carrington 59, NR-S 57 OT
at Carrington
NR-S 12 17 9 15 4 57
Cgtn. 7 22 16 8 6 59
Carrington: Josh Bickett 21, Grady Shipman 12, Taylen Mehring 11, Owen Hagel 7, Jake Otto 4, Ryder Bickett 2, Drew Matt 2. Totals: 23 FG, 6-10 FT, 21 fouls. Three-pointers: Mehring 3, Shipman 2, J. Bickett, Hagel. Fouled out: Otto.
NR-S: Bennett Meier 19, Luke Yri 12, Kailar Jacobson 11, Easton Benz 7, Easton Simon 6, Ashton Reimche 2. Totals: 21 FG, 10-18 FT, 16 fouls. Three-pointers: Yri 3, Jacobson, Benz.
