Milnor's beats Shiloh Christian 60-56

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MINOT — Determined to at least replicate Milnor’s 2004 performance at the Class B state boys basketball tournament, Wyatt Mund put the Bison on his back.

The 6-foot-4 junior forward scored 19 of his game-high 32 points in the second half, including the game-winning bucket with 9 seconds remaining as Milnor rallied past Shiloh Christian 60-56 in the quarterfinals Thursday at the Minot State University Dome.

Milnor (20-6) takes on LaMoure-Litchville-Marion at 5:30 p.m. today in semifinal action, while Shiloh (17-8) drops into consolation play against Dickinson Trinity at noon.

Milnor took second to Dickinson Trinity in 2004, a game Mund recalls viewing with his friends in elementary school.

“I remember watching it back in second grade,” he said. “The whole team just loved it. We’ve practiced hard; this is what we love.”

Mund’s performance was nothing short of dominant, scoring 17 of his team’s 21 points at one point in the second half. He finished 11-of-16 from the field, also posting 16 rebounds.

“Wyatt’s been that player for a couple years,” Milnor coach Ben Nelson said. “We’ve played great team basketball all year. Wyatt hasn’t been concerned about how many points he’s scoring. Today when the opportunities were there, he took advantage of it. That’s a credit to him.”

Tied at 56 with only 17 seconds to go, Mund took the ball coast to coast and scored on a layup for Milnor’s first lead of the game. Junior standout Briton Bussman stole the inbounds pass with six seconds to go and went in for a layup to secure the victory.

“I knew we had to be aggressive,” Mund said. “We missed open shots in the first half and second half. I knew they were gonna go for us, and they did.”

Shiloh Christian led 56-52 with 2 minutes, 22 seconds to go, but failed to score the rest of the way. The Skyhawks watched Milnor rally thanks to baskets form junior Briton Bussman and Colin Yagow. Bussman finished with 17 points.

Shiloh was led by Donovan Lambert’s 18 points.

The win is the first for a Region 1 team since North Sargent took fourth in 2009. The last three Region 1 teams (Oak Grove twice, Central Cass) went into state undefeated, only to lose the first round.

“We take a lot of pride being from District 1,” Nelson said. “We’re happy to get this win for (the region). We’ve had a couple good teams come in and get ousted in the first round.”

SC 23 36 43 56

Milnor 15 26 42 60

SC: Donovan Lambert 18, Walter Bearstail 11, Aaron Yellow Wolf 9, Blake Emmel 8, Andrew Hartman 7, James Inman 3. Totals 20-49 7-10 56.

Milnor: Wyatt Mund 32, Briton Bussman 17, Landon Mund 5, Colin Yagow 4, Andrew Martinson 2. Totals 23-53 14-19 60.

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