Ouch, that stings! Hornets defeat Rockets by 6

The New Rockford-Sheyenne Rockets suffered another stinging defeat on Tuesday, as the Harvey/Wells County Hornets weathered a fierce comeback attempt to win 55-49.

The first quarter of Tuesday's game looked like many of the Rockets' recent games this season - turnover, fast break the other way, easy points for them, and repeat. By the end of the first quarter, the Hornets had established a double-digit lead. But that was before NR-S senior Kaden Jensen sank a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to narrow the score to 7-15.

However, that first quarter buzzer beater would be one of the few baskets NR-S scored in the first half. Despite getting decent looks and uncontested shots, the ball simply wasn't falling for NR-S. At times, the basket seemed comically reminiscent of the hoops found at rigged carnival games. Meanwhile, the Hornets were breezing past Rockets' defenders for easy layups the other way.

Facing a 16-point deficit midway through the second quarter, it seemed as though NR-S was facing another embarrassing defeat. That's when things finally got interesting.

In the final minutes before halftime, the Rockets began hitting their shots, and as if a light switch was turned on, everything started going the way of NR-S. The Rockets' defense stiffened and suddenly, it was the Hornets who found themselves unable to hit their shots. What resulted was a 9-3 run to end the half, closing the deficit to ten and sending the Rockets into halftime with momentum on their side.

NR-S picked up where they left off in the third quarter, continuing to capitalize on their opportunities, while minimizing their mistakes. A series of three consecutive 3-point plays sent the NR-S crowd into raptures and brought the deficit down to just three points. An intense back-and-forth battle ensued, and for a while, it seemed that NR-S would come out on top.

With just under six minutes left in regulation, NR-S senior Nick Burglund launched a long 3-pointer from beyond the arc, giving the Rockets their first lead of the night. The Hornets fought back, however, and before long the score was once again knotted up.

The game remained close, but with just over a minute remaining, the Rockets once again found themselves with a deficit to climb out of. Soon after, an errant pass by NR-S freshman Bennet Meier with 40 seconds left gave the Hornets' Tate Grossman a wide-open look at the basket, which he took advantage of to deliver a violent slam dunk.

Clutch free-throw shooting and strong defense was all the Hornets needed to close out the game from there, giving the Rockets their third heart-breaking loss of the season. NR-S remains winless in District 7, and now has a 2 - 8 overall record.

Junior varsity, meanwhile, managed to do to the Hornets what varsity couldn't - consistently outscore and dominate from start to finish. The b-squad, with the help of excellent 3-point shooting from Brody Weisenburger, dominated the Hornets for a 66-49 victory. The c-squad, again with excellent 3-point accuracy from Weisenburger, managed a similarly dominating victory of 58-38.

The Rockets traveled to Lakota on Friday for a matchup with the Lakota Raiders.

Region 4, District 7

Boys' Basketball

Tuesday, Jan. 25

NR-S 49, H/WC 55

at New Rockford

NR-S 7 9 19 14 - 49

H/WC 15 11 12 17 - 55

NR-S: Nick Berglund 25, Kaden Jensen 8, DJ Mudgett 6, Haydon Meier 4, Koby Duda 3, Bennett Meier 2, Trevor Waldo 1. Totals: 13 FG, 5-12 FT, 14 fouls. Three-pointers: Berglund 3, Jensen 2, Duda 1. Fouled out: Duda.

H/WC: Tate Grossman 17, Alex Erickson 14, Madden Thorson 13, Gabe Allmaras 7, Keaton Keller 2, Isaac Friese 2. Totals: 20 FG, 9-13 FT, 16 fouls. Three-pointers: Thorson 1, Grossman 1. Fouled out: Allmaras, Grossman.

B-Squad

NR-S 66, H/WC 39

NR-S 16 9 21 20 - 66

H/WC 4 13 14 8 - 39

NR-S: Brody Weisenburger 20, Porter Granger 14, Easton Benz 8, Mudgett 7, Connor Knatterud 5, Easton Simon 5, Kendrick Hopfauf 3, Keaton Cudworth 2, Kailar Jacobson 2. Totals: 13 FG, 7-12 FT, 11 fouls. Three-pointers: B. Weisenburger 6, Benz 2, Hopfauf 1, Granger 1, Knatterud 1. Fouled out: K. Jacobson.

H/WC: Avery Williams 9, Teagan Tipton 9, Tallen Thorson 7, Michael Felchle 7, Ashton Reimche 4, Ethan Eckart 2, Noah Ziegler 1. Totals: 11 FG, 2-4 FT, 13 fouls. Three-pointers: Tipton 3, Williams 1, Felchle 1. Fouled out: Reimche.

C-Squad

NR-S 58, H/WC 38

NR-S 12 16 16 14 - 58

H/WC 6 8 9 17 - 38

NR-S: Hopfauf 14, K. Jacobson 12, B. Weisenburger 11, Alex Weisenburger 8, Kage Walford 7, Knatterud 4, Cudworth 2. Totals: 17 FG, 9-17 FT, 15 fouls. Three-pointers: B. Weisenburger 3, Hopfauf 1, Walford 1.

H/WC: Lucas Copenhaver 8, Jonathan Bender 5, Eckart 4, Ty Jenner 4, Boston Fike 4, Michael Crowder 4, Tyler Swang 4, Ryan McKinvan 3, Felchle 2. Totals: 12 FG, 1-3 FT, 16 fouls. Three-pointers: Copenhaver 2, Eckart 1, McKinvan 1. Fouled out: Felchle.

8th Grade

NR-S 41, H/WC 19

NR-S 8 7 16 10 - 41

H/WC 8 0 5 6 - 19

NR-S: Simon 15, A. Weisenburger 11, Benz 6, Shaun Reimche 6, Zach Dockter 3. Totals: 7 FG, 6-7 FT, 9 fouls. Three-pointers: Simon 2, S. Reimche 2, Benz 1, Dockter 1, A. Weisenburger 1.

H/WC: Stats unavailable.

7th Grade

NR-S 33, H/WC 12

NR-S 7 6 10 10 - 33

H/WC 3 2 1 4 - 12

NR-S: Layton Jacobson 11, Aaden Benson 10, Malaki Kukowski 6, Thomas Allmaras 4, Kyle Thompson 2. Totals: 15 FG, 3-8 FT, 8 fouls.

H/WC: Stats unavailable.