Shanley edges St. Mary’s in record-setter

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BISMARCK — Sometimes A.J. Jacobson has to be reminded to take charge in a game.

On Thursday, the Fargo Shanley senior didn’t need a reminder. He just did it.

Jacobson had seven points, four rebounds and an assist in overtime as Shanley beat Bismarck St. Mary’s 100-95 in a record-setting game in the quarterfinals of the Class A state boys basketball tournament at the Bismarck Civic Center.

Shanley became the first team in the history of the tournament to score 100 points in a game. And the teams’ combined total of 195 points also was a record for combined points by two teams in a state tournament game.

“I tell A.J. so often that there are times to be patient and there are times you have to put us on your back,” Shanley coach Shane Alderman said. “I didn’t tell him that today. But he knows. He was huge. He put us on his back.”

Jacobson finished with 27 points, 13 rebounds, four blocks and three assists in a strong all-around game. Patrick Strom led Shanley with 28 points and Ben Glogoza added 16.

In a game that was full of drama, including a big late comeback by Shanley in regulation and a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Darius Sparks of St. Mary’s to force overtime, it was the 6-foot-6 Jacobson who dominated overtime.

His trey from the top of the key gave Shanley a permanent lead at 94-91 with 1 minute, 54 seconds left. After two free throws by Scott Nagel pulled the Saints back to within one, Jacobson scored on a running jumper for a three-point edge again. Then, in the final 30 seconds, Strom hit four straight free throws for an insurmountable 99-93 lead.

“I like the ball in big spots,” said Jacobson, a Mr. Basketball finalist. “I like the big moments.”

Shanley needed a big comeback.

St. Mary’s finished the first half on a 14-2 run to take a 46-37 lead. The Saints maintained leads ranging from five to 16 points for the first 15:50 of the second half. When Ben Weisbeck hit a jumper from the top of the key with 2:26 left in regulation, the Saints were ahead 83-72.

“We weren’t being aggressive enough,” Alderman said. “And it was frustrating for us, that they were so hot and we were getting beat off the dribble.”

But Shanley answered with an 11-0 run, pulling even at 83. After Trent Bohan snapped the run with a free throw for a one-point St. Mary’s lead, Jacobson hit two free throws with 10 seconds left, then blocked a shot to get back a possession that resulted in two more free throws by Strom and an 87-84 lead with two seconds remaining.

“Coach tells is if there’s still time on the clock, we can win,” Jacobson said. “We like to get the tempo up. We’re known for our streaks. It worked out for us tonight.”

The late run included five points produced on possessions off forced turnovers.

There remained drama, however. Bohan made a long inbounds pass to Weisbeck, who quickly flipped to Darius Sparks on a right wing where he hit a long 3-pointer at the buzzer to tie the score and force overtime.

Bohan scored 28 points and Weisbeck 26, to go along with 11 rebounds, for St. Mary’s. Sparks added 16 points.

FS: Patrick Strom 7 10-12 28, Dylan Alderman 5 7-11 17, Connor Dunn 2 3-4 7, Dan Arnold 1 0-1 2, A.J. Jacobson 9 7-9 27, Grady Meyer 1 0-0 3, Ben Glogoza 8 0-2 16. Totals 33-72 27-39 100

SM: Ross Kopp 1 1-2 3, Scott Nagel 4 2-4 11, Brian Obritsch 4 2-2 11, Darius Sparks 6 2-2 16, Trent Bohan 10 2-6 28, Ben Weisbeck 10 5-6 26. Totals 35-76 14-22 95

Halftime: SM 46-37. End of Regulation: 87-87 tie. 3-pointers: FS 7 (Strom 4, Jacobson 2, Meyer 1), SM 11 (Bohan 6, Sparks 2, Nagel 1, Obritsch 1, Weisbeck 1); Total fouls: FS 21, SM 28. Rebounds: FS 53 (Jacobson 13), SM 36 (Nagel 11, Weisbecck 11); Assists: FS 9 (Alderman, Dunn, Jacobson, 3 each), SM 19 (Weisbeck 6).

Bismarck Century 51, G.F. Red River 49

Matt Anderson has experienced the thrill of victory, of winning a state title. That made defeat even more difficult.

Anderson and his Grand Forks Red River teammates’ bid for a second consecutive state title ended Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Class A state boys basketball tournament.

Ben Holen’s layup with less than one second remaining gave Bismarck Century a 51-49 win against the Roughriders.

“We all know the feeling of winning from last year,” said Anderson, who along with Mac Kroeplin and John Hoplin were returning starters from that team. “That makes it even tougher to lose like this. After going through what we did last year, to lose in the first round is really disappointing.”

Red River rallied from a six-point deficit to pull even at 49 with 19 seconds left. Red River, with only four team fouls, twice fouled Century. With six seconds left, Robert Hutchins took an inbounds pass on the right wing. He dribbled across into the lane near the free-throw line and whipped a pass to an open Holen for the game-winner.

“We ran a high screen and Red River’s bottom guys on defense pulled out to help defend on the top,” Century coach Darin Mattern said. “That allowed Ben on the baseline to drop down to the basket. We run the play a lot; it doesn’t always work. But Hutchins made a great read.”

The outcome came down to a last-second and an earlier big run for the Patriots. Balanced Century was led by Dalton Feeney and Tyler Rudolph, each with 10 points.

Red River led 28-23 at halftime and was still up 37-35 when Chad Bartosh scored on a layup with 11:39 remaining. But Century answered with an 11-3 run capped by an Alex Quist trey from the right corner with 5:58 left.

Bartosh and Kroeplin dominated the Red River offense, scoring 22 and 14 points, respectively, to account for all but 13 points.

GFRR: Chad Bartosh 8 3-5 22, Blake Kemnitz 2 0-0 4, Matt Anderson 1 0-0 2, Mac Kroeplin 5 3-3 14, John Hoplin 1 0-0 2, Jake Robson 1 3-4 5. Totals 18-43 9-12 49.

BC: Tim Wegner 4 0-0 8, Robert Hutchins 3 0-0 6, Dalton Feeney 4 0-0 10, Alex Quist 1 0-0 3, Tyler Rudolph 5 0-2 10, Ramey Schatz 1 1-2 3, Ben Holen 4 0-0 8, Hunter Walsh 1 0-0 3. Totals 23-55 1-4 51.

Halftime: GFRR 28-23. Total fouls: GFRR 9, BC 12. 3-pointers: GFRR 4 (Bartosh 3, Kroeplin 1), Century 1 (Quist 1). Rebounds: GFRR 33 (Hoplin 8), BC 28 (Rudolph 13). Assists: GFRR 9 (Kemnitz 8), BC 8 (Hutchins 3);

Bismarck High 57, West Fargo 42

West Fargo hasn’t gone through many long stretches of shooting struggles like it did here Thursday. The Packers were just 4-of-21 in the first half in the opening game of the Class A state boys basketball tournament.

I think our defense had a little bit to do with it,” Bismarck coach Steve Miller said.

The Demons’ stifling defense got Bismarck off to a fast start. Then Bismarck held off a West Fargo second-half rally to claim a 57-42 win.

West Fargo shot only 21 percent from the field in the first half. The Packers had three stretches of five or more possessions in the half in which the Packers couldn’t score a point.

“You don’t see that too often,” Packers coach Greg Limke said of his team’s shooting in the first half. “We’ve had times where we haven’t shot well. Obviously, this was awful. But we needed to do a better job on the other end to keep it close.”

Taylor Schafer scored 23 points to lead the Demons. Tyler Unruh and Troy Hausauer each added 13.

“I thought our defense was really good,” Miller said. “We were alert and helping on the off side. We wanted to push them outside more and control (Derek) Hogenson down low. We challenged most of their shots and got in the passing lanes.”

BHS: Tyler Unruh 6 0-0 13, Taylor Schafer 7 4-4 23, Josh Seibel 0 1-4 1, Ben Jolliffe 1 0-0 2, Dylan Werner 0 3-4 3, Troy Hausauer 5 2-2 13, Tyler Clairmont 0 2-2 2. Totals 19-45 12-16 57

WF: Justin Heisler 2 3-6 7, Caleb Mattila 2 0-0 4, Travis Schock 0 3-4 3, Brady Rotert 4 5-7 13, Kory Wolden 2 0-0 5, Derek Hogenson 2 2-2 6, Alex Hogenson 1 0-0 2, Luke Johnson 0 2-2 2. Totals 13-51, 15-22 42.

Halftime: BHS 29-13. 3-pointers: BHS 7 (Schafer 5, Unruh 1, Hausauer 1), WF 1 (Wolden 1). Total fouls: Bismarck 17, WF 20. Rebounds: BHS 39 (Hausauer 9), WF 31 (Heisler 7). Assists: BHS 6 (Joliffe 3), WF 1 (Huber 1).

Fargo Davies 75, Mandan 47

Bart Manson threw a little boxing terminology at his Fargo Davies basketball team.

“He told us (before the game) that we had to come out and throw the first punch, to attack, attack, attack,” Eagles guard Tanner Kretchman said.

This one was a knockout for Davies. The Eagles jumped to a 19-2 lead and were never headed, running to a 75-47 win against Mandan on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Class A boys high school basketball tournament.

Davies will play Fargo Shanley in today’s semifinal round at 8:15 p.m.

“Our defense created a lot of turnovers,” Kretchman said. “That allowed us to get out and get some easy baskets. We like the transition game. It definitely is up there with one of the top two or three halves we’ve played this year.”

Kretchman poured in 24 points, including 4-of-6 on 3-point attempts, to lead Davies. Backcourt mate Andrew Kozlowsi added 16 points, while Eric Peterson was 7-of-8 from the field in scoring 14 points and leading Davies with eight rebounds.

Erron Collins and Keetan Wanner each scored 14 to lead Mandan.

Davies, a third-year school, is making its first state tournament appearance. While Manson stressed a fast start, not even he was expecting what happened.

“You never think a 19-2 start,” Manson said. “What surprised me was the defense. Normally teams are going to make some shots.”

The box score was unavailable.

Tags: high school basketball, class a boys state tournament, sports, basketball