Class B state tournament: No. 1 Linton holds off Watford City

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MINOT — Kelsey Larson’s steal with just over 10 seconds left helped top-ranked Linton hold off hard-charging Watford City 66-63 Thursday at the state Class B boys basketball tournament.

The unbeaten Lions (24-0) led 65-63 with time running down. With the Wolves (22-3) looking for the tie or the lead, Larson stepped in front of a pass and Linton ran the clock down to six seconds.

Justin Purintun’s free throw made it a three-point game and the Wolves’ last-second shot was well short of the mark. Larson had 16 points and Tyler Roemmich 12 for Linton.

The Lions led 54-38 with 3:58 left in the third quarter. The Wolves got it to one point, 64-63 with 46 seconds left.

Christian Schulz led Watford City with 20 points and Kevin Sanford had 17.

Dakota Prairie rallies past Berthold

Dakota Prairie survived a barrage of 3-pointers in the first half and rallied to beat Berthold 65-52 Thursday in the opening round of the state Class B boys basketball tournament.

Gus Kueber had 27 points and 16 rebounds for Dakota Prairie (20-6). The Knights were 23-for-25 from the free throw line and made all 14 shots in the fourth quarter, capping a comeback from 15 points down in the first half.

Lucas Bloms had six of Berthold’s seven first-half 3-pointers, helping the Bombers (22-4) to a 33-23 lead. Bloms finished with 28 points, but Berthold did no hit a 3-pointer in the second half.

Alex Herman had 18 points and Brody Morken 12 for the Knights. Morken’s 3-pointer with 5:03 left gave Dakota Prairie the lead for good.

Hansen helps North Sargent beat North Star

North Sargent’s Tysen Hansen had 22 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Bobcats to a 75-64 win over North Star Thursday in their first game at the state Class B boys basketball tournament.

Ryan Drevlow had 16 points and six rebounds and Phillip Enderson added 13 points and six rebounds for North Sargent (22-4), which outrebounded the Bearcats 46-22. The Bobcats had 20 offensive rebounds.

North Star (23-3) took its last lead of the game at 59-58 on a field goal by Tanner Komrosky with 4:55 to play. North Sargent responded with a 12-0 run to go up 70-59 and withstood a late run by the Bearcats that pulled them within 70-64.

Calvin Teubner led North Star with 19 points and Komrosky and Grant Lindahl added 12 each.

Tags: class b, sports, preps